I have received yet another letter from a debt collection company addressed to the previous tenants who moved out over five years ago. We must get 2-3 a month and I normally just write return to sender on them and stick them in the post box.

This one, however, did not have a return address so I opened it. The letter claims:

We have information verifying that you are in fact resident at the above address, bring us to the conclusion you are choosing to ignore repeated requests for payment.
In the circumstances we are instructed that court proceedings may be issued without further delay.

What is the best way of responding and is there any way I can stop receiving these infuriating letters?

Talk to them – they won’t want to pay for a court order if they can’t collect the debt from you.

It happened just after we moved here. One phone call and it all stopped.

I’d be wary of saying you opened the letter though.

I have already spoken to one company in the past. The letters stopped for a while, but back to normal now.

The envelope was franked, so tis easy to deny opening the letter.

let them take you to court what proof can they have as you are not the actual person. they write this sh1t to see if you panic/react it will just be a standard letter. Let them incur costs it wont be enforcable as they dont actually live there
Ignore it

Talk to CAB. In no circumstances DO NOT OPEN the door to a bailiff unless they have a court order (get them to stick it through your letter box if they do have one and tell them you will talk to the court/legal aid to confirm that it is valid). From my chat with CAB it would appear that inviting them in or even opening the door gives them the right to enter your property to retrieve funds etc.

s2a – but only the property of the person named on the order which will not be the OP.

Talk to them and explain – they’re people – last thing you want is court orders against your property on file, even if they’re not in your name. You imply it’s not the same company this time, in any event?

Ignoring it won’t work. They’ll continue to believe that you’re the debtor, and will go for a court order. Things will continue to escalate, so you need to engage at some point.

If you can prove that you are legit, and tell tham the address of the previous tenant (or simply state “don’t know”) then they have to leave you alone, legally speaking.

So talk to them.

opening the door gives them the right to enter your property to retrieve funds etc.

But only from the person who owes them the debt. As the OP isn’t that person it is theft.

You can write to them (better than phone as at least there’s a record of it) stating that they don’t live there any more, but you do.

People with debts (utility companies, etc) sell those debts to other companies to collect. These companies just use a scattergun approach to sending out scary-sounding letters in the hope that some clue about the whereabouts of the person so they can actually track them down and get some money from them.

Just return any post not addressed to you as “not known at this address” whether there’s a return address marked or not – if there isn’t one then Royal Mail can open it to find one as it works its way back through the system. Worth making sure that records like the electoral register are up to date with current residents’ names too.

I’d take advice from the CAB. A solicitor’s letter might be all that’s required. People take much more notice of a letter from a legal professional.

Hope this stops, but perhaps you could threaten them with a claim for compensation for the enduring harassment and intimidation you have suffered/suffering.

I’d also ask if the conveyancing solicitor should have dealt with any outstanding liabilities attached to the address when you were buying the property.

Good luck!

The letters seem to come from different debt collection companies every so often. Like SB says the debt is probably being sold on.

It is just a pain to constantly have to return letters and then have the worry that if some company does not get its letter back they will apply for a court order, get one and effectivly break in.

Now, I know bailiffs aren’t supposed to break in, but I wouldn’t put it past them.

Seems like my only option is a stiffly worded letter – I feel like the UN only without the blue helemets.

I had this at my last flat i rented. I called them up explained the situation, passed them on to my tenacy agent, after that i didn’t hear anything from them at all. Up to that there was some intense door knocking and according to my neighbours they were looking for a way in, to one point someone called the police, if they spot an open window then its fair game for them.

“But only from the person who owes them the debt. As the OP isn’t that person it is theft.”

I’m not convinced by that. Look at it from a different view. This is a scenario I have know of in the past.

Husband, Wife & Son, all living in the same house. Son builds up debts he can’t pay. The parents have tried all aproaches with son to stop spending etc etc. Baliffs get involved and seize property from the house (as its the address his accounts are linked to) the majority of stuff taken was actually the parents, and not the sons.

So IMO contact the baliff and prove that you are the sole occupier of the property. Does the letter confirm who the original debt is with. If so ring them too and confirm the person no longer lives there and tell them to sort it out.

Debt/Baliffs is a crappy area and no real ombudsman etc to take complaints to. Sort it out now yourself (and yes at your expense) to save yourself hassle and problems down the road.

If it’s a court appointed baliff, to deal with council tax, court fines etc. they can push their way in and basically, you don’t really have a lot of choice.

If it’s not a court appointed baliff, and they are dealing with dealing with any kind of private debt, they can only gain access if you invite or allow them in.

I’ve been through all this with a previous tenant’s debts and almost every debt collection company I’ve had to deal with has been ansolutely fine once I’ve shown or faxed them a tenancy agreement with my name on it rather than the debtors name. One bailiff even told me to open every letter that came through for the previous tenant/debtor and then contact the collection company involved.

On a couple of occasions, I’ve just shown my tenancy agreement to a bailiff at the door, he’s gone away happy that I’m not the debtor and I’ve never heard from them again.

After about a year, it all stopped and that was with about fifteen or twenty different companies chasing the guy.

I get loads and just ignore them.
Had one balif turn up once, but they were quite happy to accept I wasn’t the person they were interested in.

As above really. Had this problem at Uni. We phoned up and explained the situation then followed it up with a letter detailin the new tennacy agreement with different names and the date we moved in. Letters stopped and not more contact.

They must get this all the time but ignoring the letters is what some debtors will do so that won’t discourage them.

Bailiffs? I’m up to here with them (points to selfs’ neck). It’s my job to unleash them and occasionally reel them back in again.
Bung an email over and I’ll go through some stuff with you tonight if you like,
DON’T IGNORE IT! Even though it’s not your debt, please don’t do nothing. Down that path lies tears and hassles before it gets sorted out. Why not get it sorted out before hand. It will save you a whole world of undeserved pain.
Just this morning I’ve spent quite a while trying to get a vehicle released that shouldn’t have been taken.

Go see a lawyer. They are demanding money with menaces. Get the lawyer to threaten to sue them for this. They will back off. Then get the lawyer to sue them for his fee and maybe your inconvenience.

Not just speculation. I have a solicitor friend who did this.

I had this same scenario. Muppet who moved out had a string of parking offences unpaid, they had escalated to thousands of pounds.

I spoke to them on the phone loads of times, eventually a guy came knocking, I explained the situation and that I did not have a forwarding address. Showed him a utility bill with mine and my Mrs name on it, and my photo drivers licence registered to the address. He apologised for the inconvenience and left, never been contacted since.

It is just in their process, form letters, threats of court etc… You prove that you live there not the previous tenant and it will stop.

Go see a lawyer. They are demanding money with menaces. Get the lawyer to threaten to sue them for this. They will back off. Then get the lawyer to sue them for his fee and maybe your inconvenience.

Not just speculation. I have a solicitor friend who did this.

I seriously doubt that this is necessary at this point.

They are demanding money with menaces

oh for FFS the OP opened a letter addressed to someone else. No one has ‘menaced’ him and demanded money!

I’d call them.

We lived in our last house for seven years. For the first three or four years we got regular letters from bailiffs and debt collection agencies chasing debts racked up by the (numerous) former occupants.

In each case I opened the letter, called the number provided for the debtor to get in touch, explained that we had bought the house on dd/mm/yyyy and could they please note that on their records. In each case the polite people on the other end of the phone would apologise and we’d never hear from them again. Perfect!

Also, never had any questions about why I’d opened someone else’s post. If asked I would have said because I knew the letter was about debts linked to the house, I’d never heard of or from the name the letter was addressed to and I wanted to sort it out!

Edited to add that I was never asked for proof, they just took me at my word.

They are demanding money with menaces

oh for FFS the OP opened a letter addressed to someone else. No one has ‘menaced’ him and demanded money! [/quote]

I meant in strictly legal terms. My understanding is that the OP feels worried that someone might turn up and take his stuff away if the debt is not cleared. Is this untrue? or do you have a better understanding of the law, in which case maybe you should give the OP some more advice.

they are not allowed to enter your house without you inviting them in. They will knock on the door and when you answer they will ask “can I come in and discuss” – if you let them in your are deemed to have invited them in and once in they more powers.

the exception to this are bailiffs acting on behalf of Inland Revenue and VAT

SamCooke the Op’s only question was;

is there any way I can stop receiving these infuriating letters

my response of ‘talk to the people sending them’ seemed to cover it?

But I’m not a lawyer and there may be a more expensive and time consuming way of achieving the same result that I’ve failed to spot?

Who’s writing to you?

It’s quite common for let’s say “morally ambiguous” companies to buy old debts and then scattergun letters out. They send very threatening letters in the hope that you’ll just pay to make them go away.

We started getting them here, addressed to my OH, for some debt or other that didn’t exist. OH was like “oh, it’s only a couple of hundred quid, let’s just pay it, I don’t want to get into trouble.” I was more of the “it’s a couple of hundred quid, and they’re not getting the steam off my piss” persuasion.

It’s down to them to prove that a debt exists. If the debt is more than six years old, it’s not legally enforcable unless you’re foolish enough to be tricked into admitting it.

I wrote them a shitogram telling them to roll it tightly and grease it lightly, and that I’d start criminal proceedings for harassment if they didn’t sod off. That was a couple of years ago, I’ve not heard from them since.

(I know they’re not addressed to you personally, btw, just making the point that you might be dealing with chancing b’stards rather than a legitimate company).

my response of ‘talk to the people sending them’ seemed to cover it?

Why so aggressive? I thought he had contacted them.

I have already spoken to one company in the past. The letters stopped for a while, but back to normal now.

But if it’s argument you are looking for then you’ll have to wait for someone else to pick it up. I’m giving advice based experience. I don’t really mind if it is followed or not. If it is as it seems, then it should be expensive, not for the OP anyway.

Nevertheless, your advice of ‘talk to them’ may well work, this time.

Good luck with giving up the cigarettes.

if it’s argument you are looking

I think I was looking for a response that was in proportion to the level of anxiety exhibited and the question as expressed by the OP.

And when a different company gets in touch ‘next time’ the same approach will work then.

I think I was looking for a response that was in proportion to the level of anxiety exhibited and the question as expressed by the OP.

Well, when you are sure, let me know

I will, in the meantime do hold your breath.

Just ignore the letters, bung ’em back in the post RTS.

The bailiffs can only seize goods belonging to the person who has the debt. It’s up to them to prove that person lives there. Any other action of their part will be illegal.

I’ve been in this exact situation, with two burly neanderthals on my door, demanding to come in and seize goods because of the debt of the previous tenants. Ended up with me calling the police, and the police telling the bailiffs they would be arrested if they din’t get lost. Bit scary; I had hold of a lump of wood in case the bastards tried stepping over my threshold. Legitimate self defence too. Police backed me up on that one!

Bailiffs use threat and intimidation far too often. Some of them are just scum. I had one last year threatening to come round for a non-existant debt! Without a court order, too. Laughed at him down the ‘phone, told him he was welcome to come and sit around outside my door all day if he wanted. Bloke tried giving it, but he din’t turn up the next day. Tosser.

They can only act according to the law. Any court order will be in the name of the person with the debt, not the current tenants.

I’d give them a ring and warn them to desist or face court action for harassment. Once they know you’re not to be pushed around, they’ll back off.

Mate of mine’s neighbour had bailiffs come round (again wrongly) to his neighbour; while the thugs were arguing the case through the door, their vayn got towed for being illegally parked. How I wish I’d seen that….

Bailiffs use threat and intimidation far too often. Some of them are just scum. I had one last year threatening to come round for a non-existant debt! Without a court order, too.

Did you try talking to them? They may have just gone away.

Did you try talking to them? They may have just gone away.

Mate; I had them outside my door, threatening to force entry, with a debt for ‘Mrs —-‘, and chose to ignore me showing them my tenancy agreement which clearly stated the date I’d moved in. I tried talking to them, they wouldn’t listen. Only backed off when I grabbed the lump of wood and told them I’d use it to defend my property if they tried to illegally enter my home. The police were only slightly more polite than I was. Basically, they had no right to even come on my door. This followed no warning; they just turned up one morning out of the blue.

The one on the ‘phone; I rang his company, following sorting out the error with BT. There was no actual provable debt, and no court order had been issued. This bloke wouldn’t listen, kept saying ‘I’ll be round in the morning’, in a very aggressive manner.

Talking to thugs like that doesn’t work.

Now tell wwaswas

We had a balliff call round once and drop off a notice through the door – wasn’t our name, and the postcode was wrong. Road with same name in neighbouring town 6 miles away. Quick phone call to them sorted it.

Re seizing property, I thought balliffs could only claim property belonging to the debtor, and that anyone else living in the house wasn’t subject to the debtors issues.

Basically, they had no right to even come on my door

I feel sick!

had this with a former housemate, he was being chased for debts he’d run up on the Council Tax at a former address.

Bailiffs kept phoning for him but he’d refuse to talk to them. Then they started arriving so he was always out at his girlfriends place.

They (stupidly) told me they could only take stuff from the front room & that they were not allowed upstairs. Then they told me if he did not pay up they would be round with the van.
I told them all the stuff in the front room was mine & that i had all the reciepts to prove it, if they came through my door and touched anything i would have them arrested for theft & would sue them through the courts for any costs incurred. Strangely enough, they stopped making threats 🙂

He buggered off soon after tho! (housemate)

Actually, just thought of something that seems to have been missed by everyone including myself.

If you’re not sposed to open mail addressed to someone else, then you can’t be aware of it’s contents, right? Ergo, bunging them back in the post marked RTS is all you need to do.

Seriously; don’t lose sleep over it. There is absolutely nothing the bailiffs can do. If they do come round (unlikely), just call the police and tell them some men are outside threatening you.

I appreciate that sometimes bailiffs need to be used as a last resort, but too often, they resort to illegal intimidation and threats, and rely on the fact that many people don’t know how they stand, legally. Even with a court order, if it’s not in the name of anyone residing at that address, then there’s absolutely nowt they can do.

Almost forgot the best one!

Many years ago, I owed nearly a grand in Poll Tax. Y’know, the unfair tax imposed by Thatchler. Refused to pay it. One Sunday afternoon, two blokes show up at the door, with a notice to seize goods. Quickly shut the door, went out the back, through me next-door neighbours, then taunted them from outside. Bear in mind that the police ended up refusing to attend such occasions, speshly where I lived.

3 hours they stayed there for. I went shopping and everything, then went back in through me neighbour’s.

They never came back. 🙂

send them a letter stating that the person who they want no longer lives there, and state that they should not contact you again. Also state that any further contact by them will leave you know choice but to take action against them under the protection from harassment act. This has worked for me in the past