Harassment from debt collector

larry09

My mother has been renting a house for just over a month now.

Yesterday evening she arrived home from work to find a letter that had been personally delivered (envelope contained no stamp or address) that had written on the front 'the tennant - important legal'.

The letter was from a company called Ascent Contact, whom are a debt collection agency I believe specialising in the area of mortgages. Basically the letter stated that they had been instructed by Birmingham Midshire to possibly start the proceedings of Law of Property Recievership.

The letter continue to states that a man called Ian Guthrie has been round to the house numerous time but has been unable to make contact with my mum (the tennant). The letter demands that my mum must give information to them on

1) Her name
2) Her letting agency
3) How long her lease is
4) How much she pays and how long she has been paying
5) Provide evidence of written tennancy agreement ????

It states that she will possibly have to start paying her rent directly to them.

At the very end of the letter it states (the part that worries/angers me the most) that if my mum chooses to ignore this letter, then they reccomend she contacts a solicitor.

I'm extremely confused as to why on earth they are writing to my mum regarding this issue and why are they visiting the home? Are they allowed to do know this when they know that the debt is not hers and is her landlords?

Why would they need this information from her? They are fully aware she is only renting the home. Also why would they be suggesting she seeks legal advice if she ignores the letter?


Any help on this matter would be much obliged because I cant help but feel that considering the debt isnt my mothers and they know it isnt, then surely they are not allowed to act this way (visiting the house). Should she contact this Ian Guthrie as his mobile number has been provided on her letter or would this encourage him to show up at the house?

sourcrates

Hi,
If the letter is addressed to "the tenant", that could be anyone ? is your mums name actually on the letter ?, has she had a mortgage with this company ? does she know anything about the debt at all ? if not then its not her they are chasing and she is free to completely ignore the letter, don't tell these people anything, no information whatsoever, if anyone calls round, don't let them in, sounds like a fishing trip/scam to me, basically if she knows nothing of the debt......don't worry.

larry09

hi,

no my mum doesnt have a mortgage. I believe the letter is because her landlord is behind on the property my mum is renting?

the letter knows someone is renting the home though, and is targeted at the person who is renting (who happens to be my mum).

They are basically saying she will have to start to paying her rent directly to them. Also it is a bit hard to ignore when they are coming round to your house when the debt has nothing to do with you.

I am just completely baffled as to why they are harrassing the tennant over the landlords debt, surely there is something my mum can do about it to stop it?

antonic

These people ??

http://www.ascent.co.uk/debt-recovery-services/ascent-contact/

Law of Property Receivership to me sounds like *someone* has defaulted on a mortgage with Birmingham Midshires and the Building Society now want the mortgagee to contact them.

Is your mum renting the property privately or through a Letting Agent ? - also when she started renting did she know if there was a mortgage on the property AND did the lender authorise the mortgagee to rent the property out ?.

I have a horrible feeling that if the mortgage company didnt authorise the let to your mother, then the property may be repossessed and her left to find new accommodation.

I hope this isnt the case.

fermi

Sounds as if the landlord's mortgage company has appointed an LPA receiver to deal with arrears or non payment of their mortgage.

An LPA receiver can under some circumstances have legal powers to insist that any rent due is paid to them rather than the landlord/mortgagee.

As such, I would not just dismiss this. However, I would seek some advice from National Debtline or similar.

pauletruth

sounds like her landlord is going bust. they are worried about the mortgage that they hold. check her deposit is safe and quietly start her on the path of looking for another house.

the 5 things they are asking for make sense if its a buy to let. obviously she needs to ask her landlord whats going on and she should not disclose any info that could lead to fraud.

contact them and confirm that it is them that is visiting. by finding there landline number from the web not the letter.

larry09

just to further add something that I found quite odd was that the ink on the letter was all faded, as if the printer that had been used was running out of ink. Which would be quite odd for a 'respectable' debt collection agency.

It might be nothing but I found that quite odd, considering it was personally delivered aswell.

fermi

"Debt collector" and "respectable" rarely appear in the same sentence. Except when the word "not" is used. And local agents paid to deliver these types of things tend to be shoe string outfits run from a flee pit office above the local chip shop or similar. Surprised it didn't have coffee stains or worse on it.

Anyway, sound as this one is just operating as a contact agent, perhaps trying to work out for a secured lender whether there is income from the property they can claim under an LPA.

larry09

That mention of fraud has now got me thinking. The number that is provided on the letter doesnt match the one on their website. And a google search of the number provided on the letter comes up with nothing.

pauletruth

then contact the company and ask them easiest way to check.

chanz4

Why not speak to the letting agent