What would you do? New owner and letters coming.

user1977

SevenOfNine said:

it used to be illegal to open someone else's post, but have a look at the Postal Services Act 2000 & see if it still holds true.

I don't know what the historic law said, but that Act is only relevant to items wrongly delivered i.e. addressed to a different address from yours. There's no law prohibiting you from opening things addressed to previous residents of your address (though usual principles about fraud, theft etc still apply).

MaryNB

SevenOfNine said:

Ask the neighbour for the address he/she is sending it to. If they won't give it to you then I definitely wouldn't give the mail to them. They're taking the mail from you so MUST know where to send it on, or at the very least have a method of contact, but  if they don't want YOU to have it you should ask yourself why & be curious.

You've already had a hand delivered letter from a debt collecting company, do you want the unpleasant hassle of a visit from them, or any others the previous occupant of your property may have chasing them! 

Don't open the post, write no longer at this address & put it back in the post box. It's not your problem what happens to it then, it used to be illegal to open someone else's post, but have a look at the Postal Services Act 2000 & see if it still holds true.

The 2000 Act and 2011 Act say it's illegal to open someone's post if the intention is to act to their detriment or without reasonable excuse. It's not a blanket ban. 

I opened post sent to a rental I lived in a few years ago. A previous tenant had significant debts, refused to change her address and refused to give a forwarding address. I opened the letters so I could contact the companies chasing the debt to say she didn't live there anymore. Due to the volume of letters I was worried about bailiffs. It wasn't to her detriment because she was refusing to accept them. 

london21

theartfullodger said:

Have you, london21, set up redirection of your mail with the Royal Mail, please?

I have not because my previous address is the family home. But if it was another person's address, i will inform companies of my change of address and set up redirection. 

london21

Thanks all for the responses. I will give a grace period of a week for them to change their address and set up redirection. I will inform the neighbour that after 1 week all letters will be returned to sender. 

Section62

SevenOfNine said:

They're taking the mail from you so MUST know where to send it on...

Not necessarily.  And because of the circumstances described I would be holding on to the mail from now and not handing anything over to the neighbour. (with the intention to RTS if there is no contact from the vendor as per below)

Unless the vendor themselves asked me personally to hand post to the neighbour I have no idea whether or not that is what they really want.  The neighbour could be lying, and it could have been them (not the vendor) who put the note on the door.  I would assume that if the vendor really wanted their post to go to the neighbour they would have told me about it as well.

I would explain to the neighbour that I don't feel comfortable giving them post addressed to someone else without the explicit consent of that person. If the neighbour is acting in the interests of the vendor they should understand that getting such confirmation is a sensible thing to do to protect the interests and privacy of the vendor. It is then up to the vendor whether or not they contact the OP directly, and if they do, the OP can inform them of the time limit they are imposing on the arrangement. (personally I'd give 3 or 4 extra weeks because of the time it can take some organisations to update their records)

london21

Section62 said:

SevenOfNine said:

They're taking the mail from you so MUST know where to send it on...

Not necessarily.  And because of the circumstances described I would be holding on to the mail from now and not handing anything over to the neighbour. (with the intention to RTS if there is no contact from the vendor as per below)

Unless the vendor themselves asked me personally to hand post to the neighbour I have no idea whether or not that is what they really want.  The neighbour could be lying, and it could have been them (not the vendor) who put the note on the door.  I would assume that if the vendor really wanted their post to go to the neighbour they would have told me about it as well.

I would explain to the neighbour that I don't feel comfortable giving them post addressed to someone else without the explicit consent of that person. If the neighbour is acting in the interests of the vendor they should understand that getting such confirmation is a sensible thing to do to protect the interests and privacy of the vendor. It is then up to the vendor whether or not they contact the OP directly, and if they do, the OP can inform them of the time limit they are imposing on the arrangement. (personally I'd give 3 or 4 extra weeks because of the time it can take some organisations to update their records)

When I completed and went to the property. I saw an hand written note posted on the door that the post man should give letters to the neighbour. I took this down. 

theartfullodger

If debt collector actually turns up see how long you can waste their time for.  A most unpleasant bunch of dodgy cheats, much fun to be had with them.  And if they persist, call police regarding their harassment.

Section62

london21 said:

When I completed and went to the property. I saw an hand written note posted on the door that the post man should give letters to the neighbour. I took this down. 

But you don't know for sure the note was put there by the vendor, even if it is on the inside of the door.

There's sufficient doubt about the vendor's wishes that you can quite reasonably say 'no' to what the neighbour is saying unless the vendor themselves gets in touch with you - without it looking like you are being unkind or selfish. You are, after all, looking out for the vendor's interests in making sure they are aware of what the neighbour is suggesting.

That creates the opportunity for you to communicate directly with the vendor - and let them know you don't intend to provide a permanent (and free) post forwarding and debt management service.

theartfullodger

It's amazing how many envelopes just "fall open" on the mat.  Terrible quality of modern glue....

lookstraightahead

london21 said:

Thanks all for the responses. I will give a grace period of a week for them to change their address and set up redirection. I will inform the neighbour that after 1 week all letters will be returned to sender. 

Harsh! 

I hope you've changed all your addresses as you shouldn't have your bank statements going to an old address, even if you can pick them up.