legal action!

Panther_Black

we have had numerous letters delivered to our address to someone who has never lived here (we know this as we brought it from person who had the house built).
basically this 'person' has run up a huge debt. We have contacted the company and reported this. Last week a bebt collector came to the door and I explained it all. Then on Friday we had a threatening letter saying the address will be blacklisted - it wasn't marked private - but was to the person - we've typed up a strong letter and sent off to companies we know about, but this is really worrying us

Can anyone give us some help or know what problems we are going to have from this - we have never been in debt and do not want to be 'black listed'

Thanks

advantix

AFAIAA You cannot blacklist an address, only a person. Also, i am fairly certain there is no such thing as a blacklist anyway.

Sorry i can't offer any other advice or help but i am sure someone more knowledgeable than me will be along soon.

Panther_Black

Thanks Advantix - appreciate you answering. :beer:

FairyElephant_2

You should also report it to the police - I know they will probably be disinterested at first, but make sure it gets put on record, in case you get some of the nastier types of debt collector around in the future - I'm not trying to panic you here, just best to be on the safe side.

Years ago my ex hubby's sister (without our knowledge) used our address and some of my details to run up debts, and I had hell's work sorting it out - some debt collectors and bailiffs can be really nice, but some are downright scary!

Good luck sorting it out.

FE

Tozer

Absolutely right. Addresses cannot be blacklisted - only the people living there. Well worth writing to the particular company (is it a large, well known company?) and tell them to call of the dogs. You have protections under the Protection from Harrassment Act.

mrs.maverick

Just to correct Tozer here - Addresses can be blacklisted by the debt agencies. I know this because I used to own a house that was let out to tenants, and there were so many bad debts the agencies were always sending in baliffs. And when we later had decent tenants in they were unable to get credit because they were informed that the house was blacklisted.

Poppycat

http://www.thesite.org/homelawandmoney/askthesiteqandas/moneyqandas/bankruptcyblacklist

Question

I was made bankrupt a while ago but I've now been discharged. The only problem is my house was blacklisted while I was bankrupt and I don't know if it still is. How do I find out if it's off the blacklist and, if it's not, is there anything I can do to get it off?
Answer

There were guidelines laid down in 1993 about redlining (i.e. blacklisting) a certain address because of the poor credit history of individuals living at the address in question. This means that, since last year, the practice of assuming a connection based on shared surname and address should no longer happen.


also below


Recently I moved home, and since arriving in my new home I have had lots of red letters addressed to the previous occupant, which is worrying me greatly. Will I be tarnished with the bad credit rating of the person I bought my home from and is my address 'blacklisted'?
R.C., Aberdeen

Mark says:

In short, the answer to both questions is no. It is a common misconception that an address can be 'blacklisted'. Credit reference agencies hold information attached to individuals at the addresses where they currently live, or have previously occupied. For example, you may still have information attached to you concerning the time you occupied your previous address, such as Electoral Roll details. However, this information remains attached to your personal credit file, rather than to your previous address. This is why potential lenders will ask you for details of your previous address during a credit application - they need to see the conduct of any accounts held by you at that previous address, but this information relating to you will not attach itself to the person who bought your home. Nor will any information about the previous occupant of your home appear on your credit file. As for the mail you are now receiving, do not open any of the letters addressed to the previous occupant of your home - simply mark them as 'Not Known At This Address' and return them to the address stated on the back of the envelope. This will make the organisation in question aware that their customer no longer lives at your address, and this correspondence should then cease.


http://www.callcredit.co.uk/consumer/ask-the-expert

ecoelle

This happened to us for about the first year we moved to our house.
Moving in day...all excited...arrived at our new home to a piece of paper from the gas boars saying 'pay up today or we cut you off' then letter after letter for people who were students who had lived here before, the annoying thing was the house had been empty for 18 months before we bought it and the landlord had not dealt with this problem, we had numerous 'companies' coming to the door and even asking me for my passport to prove i was not the student in question it is horrible but what i eventually did was to make sure i got numbners from any callers and then rang them to let them know the people no longer lived here. Also if letters arrive with the company name on the outside, like BT for example (i know they put their logo on) i rang them to tell them the situation and made sure that i also rang the police because we were getting letters from them regarding the old occupants unpaid parking fines and such. The worst thing was the people coming to the house, some were lovely and understanding but one guy was very threatening, putting his foot in the door to stop me closing it before he'd even spoken to me, well i promptly told him to get off my property, i think he was a bit shocked but then he was fine about it. Most companies are very understanding but going to your local CAB may be useful just to clarify the legalities of this whole 'blacklisting' thing. I think they are making it up though so i wouldn't worry too much.

Tozer

The fact that bailiffs and debt collectors may try and trace someone at their last known address doesn't mean that the address is blacklisted. How could it be (other than registering what is known as a 'caution' at HM Land Registry stopping any sale)?

Equifax and Experian deal with PEOPLE not PROPERTY.