Bailiffs threatening to come for previous tennants

Hamstergirl_2

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me here as it is not me that has the debt problem, let me explain...

Last year I bought my second home. I am only the second person to own it but the first owner let it out so there have been several people living there before me. Since moving in I have been bombarded with letters for the previous tennants, all of whom seem to have debts of some sort. Most of the time I write to whatever debt collection agency it is and explain that they don't live here anymore - and never hear from them again. For one particular tennant though, the debt just keeps getting passed from one agency to another, each one demanding money or they will send bailiffs round or take "other action". I get the impression that is just the debt that gets passed on and not my letters saying the person doesn't live here!

So I was wondering:
1. Is there is a foolproof way of getting these debt collection agencies to stop writing to my house without having to write to each one idividually as the letters arrive? It is getting to be a right pain in the whotsit ;-)

2. Can they actually send bailiffs or put some sort of other bad credit mark against this address even though the person they want does not live there? I'm terrified of getting home from work one day and finding all my possessions gone!

Hoping for some advice, Hamstergirl.

thecornflake

Hi,

We had the same issue. We sent photocopies of our tenancy agreement to prove when we moved in to the companies (recorded delivery of course), and if they continued to call we told them they were breaching the data protection act by still holding incorrect details for the previous tenants.

Credit isn't linked to address, so that shouldn't cause any issues. You can't have a bad credit mark against an address.

Baliffs can only enter your house without your permission once they have already been round once and you have let them in. So if they do turn up, don;t let them in (I've heard of them asking to use the phone, or toilet just so they can get in and then force entry the next time).

You have to be careful if you're opening the letters to write back to them though - it's illegal to open someone else's post.

We write 'not known at this address' on most of the letters and put them back in the post box as well - a couple of these seemed to be enough to stop some of them.

Hamstergirl_2

Writing to them was a kind of last resort option as the companies we are dealing with seem to ignore the "not at this address" returned letters and just keep sending out new ones. We returned about 6 to one company before deciding enough was enough and opening it to get an address to complain to.

I just hate the feeling of being harrassed all the time when I've done nothing wrong I'm and worried about bailiffs coming. I have seen some of the bad bailiff type progams on tv and know some of the dirty tricks they use - I've even seen them convince the police and someone's solicitor that the guy had to pay the previous tennants debt despite them moving out - even though this is illegal.

Good idea about the data protection act though. I had to quote it to a "do you want new windows?" company that kept houding us - never thought of doing it to debt collectors!

I still wish there was a one hit way of getting them all to sod off though!

RAS

Write to the Information Commisioner with a copy of the nxt letter from each company (you could collect a few), saying that

1. You have informed said morons that the debtor no-one lives at the address and have tried to do so without opening the letters, but had to open some to get an address.

2. You are concerned that
a) they are maintaining false records on the debtor
b) that they are supplying private inforation about another person's debt to you.

Copy to the OFT.

Might work??????

the other thought is whether you could contact any of th credit reference agencies and let them know that bloggs no longer lives here?