past tennants debts at my address

faerie_girl

Hi, me and my partner have been in our privatly rented flat for about three months. We have bee getting some very offical looking letters to our address all to someone who must have previously lived there. i have sent a lot back saying they dont live at this adress but we keep getting more. So i opened two that came the the other day. Both were from debt collection agency saying it was all going to court for no-compliance and basically for the balifs to come. there is about £3000 just within these two letters.

I know it is probally wrong to open the letters addressed to someone else but i had a bad feeling about them.

Could i have baliffs knocking on my door to collect the debt?? I am worried. how would i prove this guy doesnt live here. i have my tenancy agreement with mine and my partners name on.

My address will also have a bad credit rating which isn't ours. what can i do?

sorry bout so many questions im just a bit worried. any help/advice would be apreciated.

Fruitcake

I am not a legal expert so I can only suggest what I would do in these circumstances.

If it was me, I would do nothing. If you contact the debt company in any way shape or form they will hound YOU for the debt.
Don't worry about opening mail addressed to someone else, it is not an offence once it has been delivered.
It is unlikely that you will get an official visit, however, bailiffs are not allowed to enter someone's home without a court order and then only if a Police Officer is present.
A court order will not have your name on it, so the order would be invalid, something you can easily prove to the accompanying Police Officer. This is why it is so important not to contact the debt company. If you did they would try and persuade the court that you were the debtor trying to pull a fast one, so they could get your name added as well.

If anyone turns up without a court order, or without a Police Officer, you do not have to say or do anything. (The same applies to 'phone calls.) If they do not go away, call the Police and tell them someone it trying to force an entry into your home.
If they make any attempt to enter your home, scream and holler for the Police and shout that you are being robbed. Dial 999 and say someone has broken in and you are being robbed right now. Do this even if they go away.
The Police take a dim view of some of the methods employed by debt collection companies.

If for any reason you do start to get mail addressed to you personally about this debt, write to the debt company once and once only. State that you do not acknowledge the debt as being yours. Any attempt to take any of your possessions by any means will constitute theft and will be treated as such. Any further demands for payment will constitute harrasment and extortion. Say that this matter is closed and that you expect no further contact from them other than confirmation that they will cease all and every action regarding this subject.
Keep a copy and send the letter by recorded delivery. CAB may be able to help with drafting such a letter. Trade Unions will help as well if you are a member of one.

Most of all, do not worry.

Fruitcake

You Only Listen To Me When I'm Wrong

changkra

Fruitcake wrote: »

I am not a legal expert so I can only suggest what I would do in these circumstances.

If it was me, I would do nothing. If you contact the debt company in any way shape or form they will hound YOU for the debt.
Don't worry about opening mail addressed to someone else, it is not an offence once it has been delivered.

Are you absolutely certain about this, as i was under the impression that is IS illegal to open someone else mail without there permission, regardless of whether or not it has been delivered. If my memory serves me right ti is Royal Mails propety until it is given to the addressee.

As for the rest of your post I totally agree with do not contact them in any way, but keep returning the mail. Also you will get allot more info on the debt free board, so do have a look there.

Fruitcake

changkra,

I am absolutely certain about opening mail addresed to someone else. The Royal Mail deliver to an address not a person. If this were not the case the postie would not be able to deliver a letter if there was nobody home, you wouldn't be able to open a letter to you if your name was spelt incorrectly, PO Box addresses would be illegal , etcetera, etcetera.

Once the post has arrived on your property, the Royal Mail's responsibility has been discharged. At no time is the post being carried the property of the Royal Mail.

Fruitcake

You Only Listen To Me When I'm Wrong

Debt_Free_Chick

You cannot be held responsible for a debt that doesn't belong to you. I don't doubt that some debt collectors will make you work very hard to prove that you are not the person who owes the money (after all, just think of how often someone has "tried to pull that one") but if you do not owe the debt, you should be able to prove who you are.

Contact the sender of the summons and inform them of your situation i.e. that you moved in x months ago and that the person to whom the letter is addressed no longer lives at the property.

If bailiffs call, then have some ID ready to show them - firmly, but politely, explain the situation to them and offer ID to prove who you are. (Similarly, insist on ID from them so you know who they are). Do not hand over any original ID - offer them the opportunity to inspect it, but not to retain it.

As for opening mail - here's the law

Note section 84(3)

"A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person's detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him."

So it's only an offence if you open the mail with the intention of acting to the addressee's detriment i.e. with the intention of "causing them harm".

Ideally, you want to get these people off your back and get them onto the job of tracking down the debtor. Now then ... do you think this will happen if you "do nothing"?

changkra

Thanks for clearing that up DFC:)

aMIGA_dUDE

When they come around tell them to do search on electoral roll to prove you are not responsible for that debt.

It will make your life easer in long run if you are registered on the electoral roll. Just go down to you local council to find out if your not on there and if you not it very easily get self on there as the electoral roll is updated once a month.


Also it can help if connect the Mailing Preference Service (for FREE) with previous tenets names.

http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/

olly300

Bailiffs don't offered turn up with the police. They use tricks like putting ladders up to open windows to get you to open the front door or will talk to you through that window. This is why there are so many complaints.

The best option is to stop them turning up in the first place.

owensmum75

I had a similar problem and just phoned the debt company who sent the letter and all letters stopped. Simple as that!

Emmzi

Pedant's corner - it is illegal to open someone else's mail, but prosecutions are very rare.

"The Postal Services Act 2000 is clear that an offence is created if anyone intentionally delays the post or intentionally opens a mail bag. The Act goes on to say: "A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person's detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him."

source: BBC news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_3687000/3687109.stm

1jim

but they would have to prove you opened the letter and that you knew it wasnt addressed to you, you went down stairs, the mail was on the mat face down, you opened it and then reliased the post was not yours. problem and worry over