Private please foreward to the legal owner letters

[Guest]

Wonder if anyone can help with this one

 

 

I live in a keyworker flat which i have rented now for several years. Just recently i have had a influx of official looking letters always addressed to " PRIVATE - Please foreward to the legal owner - then my address " (i have had 4 this week !! )

 

i have opened them and they are alll from various letting agencys looking for new flats to rent out

 

Is there anyway of stopping these and/or am i breaking any laws by opening these letters and not forewarding them to my housing agency ?

[Conniff]

It could be the letting agents know something you don't

 

Officially you are breaking the law, but as they are only junk and no one knows then no problem - the best way to stop them is to just send them back 'not know at this address'.

[Guest]

It could be the letting agents know something you don't

 

Officially you are breaking the law, but as they are only junk and no one knows then no problem - the best way to stop them is to just send them back 'not know at this address'.

 

 

Hi ,

 

 

After getting lots of mail addressed to a previous tenant at an address i used to live at (debt collection letters etc) , i did phone the royal mail about it and was told that once that letter has gone through your letterbox you can open it as its no longer the property of royal mail ????

 

I do live in an area where flats are highly sought after , but luckily as these flats are "keyworker" flats we pay around a 1/3 of the market rent and basically have them as long as we stay in the job that entitles us to one. we have had a bit of a row with the new housing assoc that took over the flats , as when a keyworker moves out they refurbish the flat and then rent them out privately (and make a lot more money !!! ). So probably the local letting agents have got wind of this and are trying it on .....

[Steve__M]

Returning to sender sounds like best option to stop this disreputable practice.

 

You are not breaking the law unless it is your intention to use information in the mail against your landlord.

[Steve__M]

rupert9bear,

 

Interesting - didn't see your post till I'd posted.

[Conniff]

Postal Services Act 2000

 

 

84 Interfering with the mail: general.

 

 

(1) A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, he

 

(a) intentionally delays or opens a postal packet in the course of its transmission by post, or

 

(b) intentionally opens a mail-bag.

 

(2) Subsections (2) to (5) of section 83 apply to subsection (1) above as they apply to subsection (1) of that section.

 

(3) A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person's detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.

 

(4) Subsections (2) and (3) of section 83 (so far as they relate to the opening of postal packets) apply to subsection (3) above as they apply to subsection (1) of that section.

 

(5) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) or (3) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.

[Guest]

Thanks for that info Conniff

 

off topic slightly , but years ago i had a registered letter addressed to me delivered to a wrong address - luckily the person there realised and came round to my house to drop it off

 

I phoned up the royal mail complaints line and was told that just because a letter was registered it does not in any way guarentee that it will go to the person that its addressed to !!! it just ensures someone signs for it !!!

[Conniff]

I think that is true that it just ensures, (but doesn't guarantee), a signature on delivery. There are threads on the forum about mail sent registered and not signed for at the other end.

[Steve__M]

"(3) A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person's detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him."

 

So presumably you are not intending to act in the LL detriment.

 

Also it seems clear to me that the postal packet has been correctly delivered to you because it has been delivered to you with an implied request that you forwarded it to the LL - so it has not been "incorrectly delivered" to you.

 

Iamnotalawyer.