I recieved a letter from Equita, today, addressed to a former guest at my home, which I opened by accident. I was horified to learn that, acting on behalf of a local authority council more than 400 miles away from my home, Equita, with less than 24 hours notice, were preparing to come to my home "With a Removal Contractor when I will remove your goods to the local auction house." The letter went on to state, "I would prefer that you were in attendance when your goods are removed." I immediately called Equita, and informed them that the person they were seeking was simply a guest in my home, and had left my property in february. Equita then wanted me to furnish them with evidence that I was the sole occupant of my property!!! (Copies of tenancy agreements/Council tax bills etc) EQUITA WERE *SO* RUDE!!!!! Following my conversation with them, and worried about their legitimacy, in light of the proliferation of identity fraud, I did a search on the web of baliffs powers. This was the first site I found; Bailiffs | Liberty Debt Solutions I learnt this, "they are not allowed to treat you unfairly and make unreasonable demands. You are protected by the law (e.g. the Administration of Justice Act 1970 which protects you from harassment) and you should not be made to feel like a criminal. Often when a debt collector or bailiff realizes you are aware of your rights and willing to stand up to them they will move on to an easier target. We have outlined below some of the behaviour the OFT regards as unfair: If you are subjected to any of the below then you should keep a detailed record of it and consider making a complaint." One of the behaviours considered 'unfair', iand 'outlined below', is; "Sending letters that look like court correspondence or *stating that they can seize your household goods.*" With this evidence for comfort, I then searched out the Office of Fair Trading at this address; Contact us - The Office of Fair Trading "1. Before you contact us We receive lots of common enquiries. For answers to these, please see the FAQs section. For consumer advice, information on specific consumer rights or to make a consumer complaint against a trader, please call the Consumer Direct advice service on 08454 04 05 06 or visit the Consumer Direct website." So I called the Consumer Direct number explaining my situation. They agreed that they would forward a complaint to the Office of fair trading on my behalf, about this company, and advised me to contact the police, regarding the threatened 'removal of my property'. The police were extremely helpful, and outlined all the legal obligations, and restrictions surrounding baliffs. They are NOT allowed to enter your property WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION!!! Forced entry (even opening a window that is closed but not locked - or putting a foot in the door, is deemed 'FORCED ENTRY') The ONLY baliffs that can enter your property in this way, are COURT BALIFFS ENFORCING MATTERS PERTAINING TO CRIMINAL ACTIVITY/CHARGES - non payment of mobile phone bills, council tax etc IS NOT A CRIMINAL MATTER!!!! Finally, I contacted the council on who's behalf Equita were acting - speaking with them on the phone explaining the situation, and sending them an e-mail. In my e-mail i quoted both my own council tax reference number and my tenancy numbers, so that via the local authority intranet system, they could indeed confirm that I am a sole occupant, and their absconded client is not a tenant at my address!! I finished my e-mail requesting no further communication regarding their client, either from themselves (the council in question) or agents acting on their behalf (Equita) This final request is also a legally binding request and any breach of this would be deemed as harassment, which is a CRIMINAL OFFENCE. Should either the Council or Baliffs acting on their behalf send any further mail to their absconded client at my address I would then be quite within my rights to seek legal action against them. I hope this helps people experiencing the same issues OceanBreeze