Debt collectors visit notice for previous residents

alchemistkevin

queen_of_string wrote: »

i had this when I bought my house, which had been previouslly repossessed. I had 3 lots of different debt collectors at the door. All of them were polite, friendly and did not return once I had explained the situation to them. I hope you have a similarly positive experience.

I honestly hope if someone turns up that's the worst that it'll go to. I have a lot of expensive gear at home and will be furious if someone either touches it or behaves impolitely with my family.

alchemistkevin

iwanttosavemoney2008 wrote: »

We get this too all letters now addressed to th eprevious owner i let my kids open them cos then they've got mail to open while i do mine and apparently he has been confirmed as living here (this was 3 months ago) though we have had the house for 4 years and if he doesnt pay in 7 days they are going to court then he had 10 days and they were going to court then he had 15 days or someone was comming round then some one was comming to remove goods from the house if he didnt pay within 10 days still not heared anything and noone has been.

I'm leaving it and leaving it so that when the debt collectors come and remove goods from the house (because apparantley they can do it whilst noone is home according to the letter:rolleyes: ) I can rage at them.:mad:

If they had done their homework and had actually confirmed thatr he was living here then they would know that he's not. I would have phoned them and told them he didn't live here if not for that letter (which was the first)

I know not helpful to your situation but this felt a good place to get it off my chest

I agree with the others let the agency know that he no longer lives there and you should be ok

Do keep us updated if someone does come around please. Thanks

torbrex

alchemistkevin wrote: »

Thanks, I'm usually never home during working hours though someone from the family or a child minder might be present during working hours and it was the harassment to them that I want to avoid.

Guess, I'll write them and see what they come back with. If it were your agency, would you take a signed letter from that address as a proof that the person you're chasing has moved away and stop sending letters and most importantly debt collectors? (just curious)

My agency would be more likely to send someone out as written evidence can be falsified whereas a face to face meeting can usually be more informative with question being asked from both sides in the process of eliminating a particular address from an enquiry. We would come at a time you specify to ensure we were not bothering your family unduly and as we are asking to see personal and possibly legal documents, we always carry checkable ID,

We only become debt collectors when we find the debtor.

dieselthebusdriver

I agree with letting them come round and see evidence for themselves. My partner and I have been living in our current rented accomodation for only 6 months and we've had 3 different sets of Bailiffs round as it would seem the previous tennant had a fair few debts to pay! So far we've had his mobile phone network round, the gas people and someone from a loan company. Luckilly we live on a block of flats with an intercom system so 2 out of three never made it past the intercom as I told them that Mr. Watshisname no longer lived here but the third insisted on seeing for himself so I went downstairs with proof that we now occupied the house and not Mr Watshisname! Bailiff was appologetic and I even managed to get a written appology! (Even though I never asked for one!) So yeah, let them come round. You have nothing to hide!

123oleary

i had a similar thing with a debt collection agency called asset risk management (or something like that) when i called them to explain the situation they were very rude and aggressive and insisted on keeping my address on file. in the end i manage to get an email to the customer service department of the people originally owed the money (creation finance ) and im pretty sure this was passed to the appropiate department because i haven't recieved any more letters now for 6 months.

geordie_joe

I moved into my rented house last October and the previous tenant seems to have forgotten to pay her bills before she moved.

I have 3 different DCAs after her. Two are not so hot, they only send letters once a month and never phone. Probably because there was no landline at this house when I moved in.

The third is much more aggressive. They found my phone number a week after the phone line was installed. They rang me up and when I said the previous tenant had moved out they did not believe me, accused me of being her boyfriend and covering for her. And were generally nasty to me.

The silly thing is if they had believed me and been civil I would have happily told them the name of the housing association that owns the property, and that the previous tenant was still with them in another house. Could also have told them where her live in boyfriend works, he was one of the removal men who moved me in.

But because they were so nasty to me I decided to tell them nothing.

After figuring they were getting now where they decided to believe that she was no longer living here, on the phone at least, the letters still assume she lives here. They started phoning saying as I now lived in the house I was responsible for the fuel the previous tenant used, and if I don't pay for it they will have my leccy cut off. The previous tenant owes southern electric £53.

When that didn't work they started sending cards saying they were calling on certain days, but they never came.

The best one was when the postman delivered a card. It was set out like a "sorry you were out" card from a courier. It said a Civil Enforcement Officer had called today at 11:10am but I was out and he would be calling back.

This made me laugh as it was before 8:30am and I had seen the postman deliver it. It was also postmarked the day before.

Today she got another letter, which I accidental opened because it was in with my mail and the actual name wasn't visible thought the window.

It says that as she has ignored previous notices they are going to "recover this sum by whatever means necessary and appropriate in this case"

This will include;

Application for a Winding-Up order
Seizure of goods by a court appointed Bailiff or Sheriff
Entry of County Court Judgement resulting in difficulty in obtaining further credit

Not to mention "considerable costs", "Statutory Interest" etc.

Maybe I should send them a copy of my tenancy agreement and every other personal document I have, but why should I? I don't have to prove she doesn't live here, they have to prove she does.

I tried telling them she doesn't live here and they didn't believe me and called me names, so i didn't think it was worth trying to tell them where to find her, they would have just not believed me and called me names again.

paintpot

I have recently evicted a whole bunch of wayward tenants in a block of flats all of whom had debts, debts and debts. Whenever I have had a card from a bailiff or debt collector I have called them, explained that the person has moved on and they have asked me to provide some sort of info e.g. tenancy agreement, council tax bill etc and then that has been the end of it and I've had no hassle at all, in fact they have all been very pleasant as I have taken the time to call them. Some debts were for very small amounts and some are for considerable amounts e.g. £100s.

I still get debt letters from companies where it hasn't reached bailiff stage etc which I return to sender as gone away but they have to keep writing to the last known address if they don't have the forwarding address as that is the legal requirement in order to recover a debt I believe. I provide whatever info I can about the individual concerned whether it is forwarding address, phone number or any clue I get from other mail received - my justification being, a) I want them off my back, b) I don't want new tenants being hassled and c) people who leave owing money end up costing the rest of us more money in the amount we pay for products and services.

I'd advise anyone to just deal with any correspondence - it usually brings the matter to an end sooner rather than later.

ALIBOBSY

Just to point out that these doorstep collectors have no more legal powers than a milkman. If they call simply state that person no longer lives here and if they do not imediately cease all contact to your address you will report them to trading standards. Why should you have to prove anything, in fact both the legislation and the OFT debt collection guidence is very clear. It is up to them to PROVE the debt exists and that the debtor is at that address. Then if they do contact you again via letter or phone or in person report them. Dozens of these debt collection companies are being investigated by trading standards and most of them have no qualms about lying or breaking the law to extract money from the vunerable.
Only baliffs can enter property and seize goods, they can only be instructed after obtaining a court judgment.
ali x

ALIBOBSY

BTW to suggest they "have" to keep writing to the last known address is missleading as it breachs debt collection guidence.
The OFT guidence stipulates they should only pursue at an address if they are sure it is the current address of the debtor. If you tell them that the debtor is gone and the electoral register confirms your position, they should stop.

geordie_joe

paintpot wrote: »

I'd advise anyone to just deal with any correspondence - it usually brings the matter to an end sooner rather than later.

I know you are right, but in my case I rang them after my neighbour gave me a letter she had been sent asking for information about who lived in my house.

I knew they could not be after me, and as I knew something about the previous occupant, and assumed she had just left and not paid her last leccy bill I rang them.

I gave them my address and they gave me the name of the previous tenant. I said she doesn't live here anymore and the person just turned on me. Accused me of being a scumbag, thief, criminal and being in cahoots with her. Told me that every thieving towrag who deliberately doesn't pay their debts gets a friend to ring up and say they have moved.

I'm sure there are nice debt collectors around, but I have only ever spoke to one company, and because of their attitude they are getting no information from me.