Help! :Previous owner had lots of debt & now bailiffs etc come to our house!

[naughtykitten]

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Edited February 16, 2010 by naughtykitten

[mr.ton]

Relax...they bailiffs have no authority to enter your home unless instructed to by a court.

If any turn up at the future then politely tell them to leave & if they refuse, then ring the police to report a breach of the peace.

If you are not the person in question then thats the end of the matter quite frankly.

[42man]

And do not open their letters this is illegal and the bailiff was out of order saying that....

[naughtykitten]

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Edited February 16, 2010 by naughtykitten

[naughtykitten]

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Edited February 16, 2010 by naughtykitten

[mr.ton]

If you are not the person in question then surely it can be classed at burglary if they do & theft if they take anything?

Im not too sure of the technicalities of that so perhaps someone can clarify 1 way or the other?

[flyingdoc]

To get a warrent to enter your house they would have to issue court proceedings - notice of which would be served at the house.

 

When letters arrive - if any are from a court (it says on the outside of the envelope that they are court documents) then contact that court immediately and explain the situation and ask them what to do.

 

Then return the documents to the court marked not known at this address.

 

this should prevent any default judgements being entered against the address and therefore any bailiffs being given authority to enter.

[naughtykitten]

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Edited February 16, 2010 by naughtykitten

[cerberusalert]

You say that you bought your house in April, don't you or your solicitors have the name of the vendors solicitor?

 

If you do, forward the mail & redirect calls c/o them as they are the last known contact address.

 

The beauty of using a solicitor as a forwarding address is twofold really. The first is that it'll make these parasites think twice about contacting you again, and secondly, it will make them change their modus operandi as there's no way in Christendom would they act towards a a firm of Solicitors as they do Joe Soap.

Edited November 20, 2008 by cerberusalert
sp

[Sev]

Relax...they bailiffs have no authority to enter your home unless instructed to by a court.

If any turn up at the future then politely tell them to leave & if they refuse, then ring the police to report a breach of the peace.

If you are not the person in question then thats the end of the matter quite frankly.

 

 

Exactly. By law the only person allowed on your property without permissions are Her maJesty's Police, Revenue and Customs and also Royal Mail representatives (postmen) as they all carry the crown or are under warrant from the crown. If anyone else does not leave when asked they are trespassing and can be prosecuted as such.

 

To enter a property however, as Mr. Ton so rightly said they need a warrant, which can only come from court instruction.

 

The next bailiffs that show up, it might be worth getting them to give you the collecting agency's details and also the court under who's warrant they're operating under, at least you can then get everything sorted by getting into contact with them and letting them know that you are nothing to do with her.

 

Also get a letter to the credit reference agencies ASAP.

[hillards]

When letters arrive - if any are from a court (it says on the outside of the envelope that they are court documents) then contact that court immediately and explain the situation and ask them what to do.

 

Then return the documents to the court marked not known at this address.

 

Confusing advice - it's not legal to open letters addressed to someone else, so checking what the court of issue is means opening the envelope?

 

Returning them 'not at this address' is the best option. It is not for you to know if the letters are to inform the previous owner of court and/or bailiff action. I can appreciate that it would be worrying not to know that, but you would break the law by peeking at the letters.

 

What I would do is to prepare a short document to quickly explain to such visitors that you are not the person they are taking action against. They can take this away for further investigation. If they continue to demand access you can then call the Police. Despite the court issuing a warrant, it is incorrect and they have no right to take action against you.

 

By putting it in writing it shows bailiffs, and other callers, that you are not just making things up on the spot. They then have the facts to enable them to rectify the situation.

 

Then again, if they arrive when you are out and they do break in then you have the law on your side, and a big claim for compensation! Contact your local court office and ask them for advice, as it could be their bailiffs who would action the warrant, no matter which court issued it.

 

If it's not your debt then why should you be hassled by all this? - but you need to flag it up as a problem for the official bodies to take any action, otherwise they may not know...

[naughtykitten]

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Edited February 16, 2010 by naughtykitten

[naughtykitten]

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Edited February 16, 2010 by naughtykitten

[flyingdoc]

Confusing advice - it's not legal to open letters addressed to someone else, so checking what the court of issue is means opening the envelope?

 

Each time I have recieved court papers the name and address of the issuing court has been on the OUTSIDE of the envelope- no need to open.

[cerberusalert]

Does anyone know when the electoral role gets updated? I have heard it might be the 1st December...

 

Being at this address when the previous owner's name is still on the register as at this address with all of her many debts is affecting my own credit I have found. Typical!

 

AFAIK the new electoral registers are published after NOV.

 

Your address should not have any affect on your own credit as it is unlawful to blacklist addresses. CRA's can link people to addresses, but not the otherway around!

 

Taken from Callcredit site;

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.

Edited November 20, 2008 by cerberusalert

[Fuzzgin]

Are you sure that these people are bailiffs, as opposed to debt collectors? Big difference!

[naughtykitten]

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Edited February 16, 2010 by naughtykitten

[naughtykitten]

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Edited February 16, 2010 by naughtykitten

[mr.ton]

Are you sure that these people are bailiffs, as opposed to debt collectors? Big difference!

 

Could be the DCA acting the clowns as per usual...nothing would suprise me with them

[42man]

If you know who the bailiffs/debt collectors are, I would write one letter saying that for every time you have to respond to calls and/or write letters you will charge them £20 for your inconvenience, state categorically that the person they are looking for does not live at your address, and warn them that you will prosecute them for trespass.

[ODC]

Why should you go trying to find out the previous occupants address for the DCAs and or Baliffs. Its not your problem but theirs to locate her new address.

 

These people have no legal power and cannot enter YOUR property. If they enter your property as a trespasser and attempt to take anything or commit any damage then they have committed the Criminal Offence of Burglary and can be arrested.

 

Officials can only enter your property under certain circumstnces without a warrant. The fact that they are police officers or customs oficials is irrelevant. They do NOT have blanket coverage to enter your property and if they do no act with the proper authority they too can be guilty of an offence. Both these people need ' Reasonable Cause' to enter your property without a warrant. By property I am referring to your home and not the garden.

[echo394]

Hmmm...very good question! They told me that they were bailiffs, so I'm sure that doesn't necessarily mean that they ARE bailiffs, but then again, if a debt collector said they were a bailiff to sound more 'scary' then would that incur any repercussions for them??? Should a bailiff have any particular ID to prove that that is what they are, -is there a special bailiff licence to put them apart from a debt collector? Sounds funny when I read that back, but I am being serious! I don't know much about bailiffs!

 

I've had this problem with the previous tenent who was evicted before we moved in. Lots of letters and such from dca's and finally a visit from a court bailiff. He showed me identification without being asked, asked if i was the person he was looking for when i said no he asked was i sure, um yes lol, as he had a warrant for her. I explained the situation and he was happy to go but advised that more than likely he would just be sent back so i showed him my passport and off he toddled. Not had any problems since.

[hillards]

I had a problem with bailiffs a few years ago, well, not that I wasn't ready for. They went away empty handed but what amazed me was that they showed ID that were clearly photocopies, not originals, as was the paperwork they carried from the court. Very unprofessional pair, no idea of the law.

If I knew then what I know now... If they turned up like that now I'd have the Police out straight away as I would treat them as very suspicious. ;-)

[mr.ton]

I would always not take them at their word/or their ID & would insist that they wait outside while you verify them with the court

[hillards]

Better still, I wouldn't even let them enter the garden - and it was raining!