debts letter for Sister-in-law - she don't live here ...advise please

[andy63]

Hi, I am new in the forum searching for advise.

 

Starting last week I got several letters to my sister in law with her maiden name

and said "to be open by addressee only",

 

since she used to live with us but after she got married she moved out,

 

i return one of the letter to sender saying no such person, and bin the others.

 

After doing some research with the letter's return address,

it seems like it is from a debt collection company call lowell financial,

which known for high pressures people for paying whatever they think you owe them.

 

Did I make a mistake returning the letter by making contact with them ?

 

should I alarm my sister in law ?

 

Appreciate anybody's advise

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi andy63 and welcome to CAG!

 

As you have already returned the letter saying that there is no such person at the address you had better wait to see if they write again.

 

Presumably you didn't open the letter? The problem with Lowell's is that they are issuing a lot of Statutory Demands at the moment and if the Court finds in their favour they then push for bankruptcy. Hopefully the letter was not one of these because if Lowell's obtain judgment in her absence it may be difficult for her to fight back after the event.

 

Is there any reason why you are not forwarding your sister-in-law's post to her?

 

DD

[andy63]

Hi Daniella, thanks for the prompt reply.

 

Honestly speaking we didn't get along very well and haven't been in contact for some time and I didn't recall her maiden name at first glance of the letters, and presume that it was some sales ads. It was after what shows up at the research of return address that concerns me.

 

Now you are getting me VERY concern, because if there is some truth of postings from others, i need to alert my kids beware of strangers knocking the door.

 

Is there any way to make sense into these people not to continue this conduct of what I'd call harassment because they might be just guessing her whereabout ?

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi Andy,

 

Not many debt collectors actually turn up on the doorstep, but they can do. I wouldn't worry too much at this stage though.

 

They aren't actually harassing you. At the moment they are just sending letters to your sister-in-law.

 

The thing is, you've told them there is no such person, but if she applied for credit from your address they will be pretty certain she was living there at some time.

 

You are not obliged to give them any information. If they continue to send letters you can either forward them on to her, which I would do if you have her address, or continue to send them back marked 'Not Known'.

 

If they still continue, then you could write to them and say she doesn't live at your address. If they then continue, you can write to them about harassment. As you've only returned their letters so far, they have not had official notification from you that she isn't living there, so you must do that before you can talk about harassment.

[andy63]

Ah...Thanks for clarifying.

 

It is that after reading all these postings of unpleasant experience of other people dealing with debt collect agencies lead me to think in worst case scenario, and forgot that it was not me they are after. I just want to live a tranquil family life, all these debt collect things were like drama movies and newspaper scenarios suddenly became real and fall into my everyday life, that is an annoying thought.

 

Judging from my understanding so far, i believe they will keep sending letters and i will returning them, since I am not the addressee anyway.

 

Very appreciate your advise, Daniella

[oleg]

If the letters come from Huddersfield, other Debt Purchasers / DCAs use that document outsourcing co. including Marlin and Wescot.

Don't worry too much about SD from Lowell, they issue them only if they believe the debtor owns a property or other substantial assets. As they don't even know your sister-in-law's married name and address, this is clearly not the case here.

When someone i advise received mail from Lowell for someone not living at their address i sent a stern email to their director of legal and compliance threatening to report them: that shut them up.

If it were my sister-in-law, I'd be only too glad to let Lowell do whatever they like to her . . . even Marlin!

[Desperate Daniella]

Ah...Thanks for clarifying.

 

It is that after reading all these postings of unpleasant experience of other people dealing with debt collect agencies lead me to think in worst case scenario, and forgot that it was not me they are after. I just want to live a tranquil family life, all these debt collect things were like drama movies and newspaper scenarios suddenly became real and fall into my everyday life, that is an annoying thought.

 

Judging from my understanding so far, i believe they will keep sending letters and i will returning them, since I am not the addressee anyway.

 

Very appreciate your advise, Daniella

 

Eventually if they keep getting the letters back they will start looking for her somewhere else.

 

As you say, you are not the one they are after.

[andy63]

ha ha ... thanks for pointing out other possible source of these annoying letters, oleg

 

Just a thought after reading the other posts, is that there ARE really bad people with bad business practices out there, people I had dealt with are mostly nice and decent, I would be in a state of panic if it isn't for advises from helpful people like Daniella and oleg in this forum.

[citizenB]

Do you know if your sister in law is on the electoral roll at another address ? If so, then they will likely find her from that - or perhaps even from other credit reporting if she has entered into more credit agreements

[andy63]

Thanks for the tips, citizenB.

Maybe that provide clues on how these letters get to my household.

[Desperate Daniella]

ha ha ... thanks for pointing out other possible source of these annoying letters, oleg

 

Just a thought after reading the other posts, is that there ARE really bad people with bad business practices out there, people I had dealt with are mostly nice and decent, I would be in a state of panic if it isn't for advises from helpful people like Daniella and oleg in this forum.

 

Thank you for your kind words. I was in a complete state of panic before I found CAG, thank God, so I know what you mean.

[mikeymack2002]

Don't forget this time of year is the time for you to update who lives at your address, this is for electoral role purposes, double check it carefully and make the adjustments to your reply to the letter, if your sister in-law appears on it remove her name sign and return that way the DCA's lose this option to trace to your address.

 

MM

[andy63]

Thanks for the tips, mikeymack2002

 

That puzzles me because the election register and council tax bill are all under my name, she only lived a brief period then she moved out, can't figure out how these people link her to my address.

 

I would expect they continue sending letters stressing the issue, still undecide on if bin/ignore them or return them risking make contact ......

[andy63]

just as update...got another letter with a different return address HD8 1DY, will not bother finding out, straight "return to sender, unknown at this address", very annoying

[oleg]

That's the address I referred to in my previous post. Both Lowell and Wescot have the "Addressee only" stuff on the envelope but not Marlin. Wescot are owned by Arrow Global who may have purchased the purported debt but statistically speaking it.s more likely to be Lowell.

.

As for electoral roll, s-in-law would be listed on historical data and DCA will try any old flimsy links to try to tease out some sort of response.

These companies don't believe in any ethics other than jungle law.

[andy63]

That's the address I referred to in my previous post. Both Lowell and Wescot have the "Addressee only" stuff on the envelope but not Marlin. Wescot are owned by Arrow Global who may have purchased the purported debt but statistically speaking it.s more likely to be Lowell.

.

As for electoral roll, s-in-law would be listed on historical data and DCA will try any old flimsy links to try to tease out some sort of response.

These companies don't believe in any ethics other than jungle law.

indeed....

keep thinking how come these companies are allowed to do these nasty things with impunity .....

[exdca]

Guysa

What Lowell will be doing is fishing for information.

 

They will either of had this address at some time,

or are picking it up as a previous information at somewhere like Experian. T

 

he kind of sources that these people use are electoral role, previous addresses, BT telephone directory etc.

There are also databases they use showing who has lived at an address since the early 90's

so they could have used one of those.

 

I would phone Experian and check to see if your sister is at this address.

 

Regarding information to Lowell, I would reply with an address.

 

I would randomly pick one somewhere and say that as far as you are aware this is where she is living.

 

The idiots will probably supply this back to Experian etc and your sister will be left in peace.

[dx100uk]

no the op should not be opening nor replying at all

to mail not directly addressed to them

 

dx

[exdca]

Absolutely, I was meaning to draft a response to the return mail address. Sorry for any confusion caused. By doing this it means that the company can get into problems for sending any more mail.

[Desperate Daniella]

Guysa

 

 

Regarding information to Lowell, I would reply with an address.

 

I would randomly pick one somewhere and say that as far as you are aware this is where she is living.

 

The idiots will probably supply this back to Experian etc and your sister will be left in peace.

 

Please don't even think of doing this. Think of the person who actually lives at this random address and the consequences to them. They won't be left in peace if their address gets on this kind of database, and they are pestered by debt collectors as a result.

[andy63]

if as dx100uk suggest , do i make a mistake by returning the letters ?

 

should i have just ignore them from the beginning ? but it is an uncomfortable thinking that some people who are known for doing nasty things to people are sending letters to somebody else who moved out and who knows what they will do next.

[oleg]

In my experience of dealing with debt mail for people no longer at my address, the only way to stop it is to write to the companies' compliance officers threatening to take further action if they don't desist.

Simply ignoring or returning mail leads them to believe there's a chance the addressee is doing it.

[andy63]

but even if i write them, if they choose not to believe they might still think that the addressee is doing it....

[mikeymack2002]

If they chose to ignore then a complaint to the relevant authorities will be your next step, as will using the harassment letter to them (the DCA) will nip this in the bud for you.

 

MM