Rossendales - Council Tax Debt - Query

smudger499

This morning we had a early morning call from a man who stating he was from 'Rossendales' and had a liability order for my daughter regarding unpaid council tax.

Now my daughter has lived in the UAE for the last 3 years.

We advised him of this and he left a letter asking for it to be forwarded to her. The letter basically stated they were chasing her for unpaid council tax from 4 years ago and will be back to 'collect goods'

I am quite happy to provide her current address and telephone number.

Any advice on where i stand in this matter. This is not my debt.

P.S. my daughters advises me she does not owe the council any money and this is a mistake on their behalf has has tried to sort it out with the council several times.

sourcrates

Hi,

CIS is our resident council tax expert.

Hopefully he will pick up your post soon.

In this case Rossendales will be acting as bailiffs, but cannot force entry to your home, however if they have your address as hers, they could enter through an unlocked door to list goods, so prudence says keep them at arms length.

CIS

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi,

CIS is our resident council tax expert.

Hopefully he will pick up your post soon.

In this case Rossendales will be acting as bailiffs, but cannot force entry to your home, however if they have your address as hers, they could enter through an unlocked door to list goods, so prudence says keep them at arms length.

Someone called :rotfl:

P.S. my daughters advises me she does not owe the council any money and this is a mistake on their behalf has has tried to sort it out with the council several times.

Legally she owes it. The granting of the liability order by the court is legal confirmation the monies are outstanding as far as they are concerned.

What is the particular argument ?

We advised him of this and he left a letter asking for it to be forwarded to her. The letter basically stated they were chasing her for unpaid council tax from 4 years ago and will be back to 'collect goods'

I am quite happy to provide her current address and telephone number.

Any advice on where i stand in this matter. This is not my debt.

I'd also recommend contacting the local authority in question. As soon as we had evidence we would updated the enforcement agent and they'd return the case as 'out of area' on the basis they couldn't enforce.

From an enforcement agent's point of view he has to be satisfied the debt cannot be collected before he drops the case. He cannot however collect on any goods which do not belong to the debtor.

Craig

smudger499

Thanks for the advice.

My daughter has contacted Rossendales and advised them of her current address and telephone contact number and requested they should deal with her directly.

The argument is that she rented a flat out for 6 months - paid her council tax and advised them when she vacated. However the flat remained empty for 2 months or so, she thinks and they attempted to bill her for that. Somewhere along the line they never acknowledged her leaving after 6 months.

My original intention was to ask a question (did'nt make it clear) that under the Fair Debt Collection Act (think thats what its called) can Rossendales the keep calling at my house threatening to remove goods even though my daughter hasn't lived here sine March 2013 and we have provided them with here current address and telephone number?

The document clearly states that the order is for Council Tax against another property - not mine.

Once again Thanks for advice.

CIS

The argument is that she rented a flat out for 6 months - paid her council tax and advised them when she vacated. However the flat remained empty for 2 months or so, she thinks and they attempted to bill her for that. Somewhere along the line they never acknowledged her leaving after 6 months.

Leaving a property doesn't automatically remove you from council tax liability - it depends on the circumstances.

Enforcement Agents act under the Tribunal, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and associated legislation. They can attend a property looking for debtors goods but once it is clear that that the debtor is not at the address in question they should back off. If they refuse to accept clear evidence then make a complaint to the local authority and the enforcement agent company.

Craig