www.iva.co.uk

I have recently moved into a rented property and have received at least 4 post marked and hand delivered letters from the bailiffs and i have only been here a week!

It seems the last lady who lived here did a runner, didn't give the letting agent a forwarding address and has run away from her problems. Maybe she was in financial difficulty or maybe she just didn't want to pay. Either way i'm now having the stress of her problems when i've sorted my own out.

I got in touch with the letting agent who has contacted one of the bailiffs who didn't address the letter specifically to the previous tenant, they have sorted this one out and i have sent all the others back with "no longer at this address" written on the front. The letting agent has advised me to have a copy of my tenancy agreement handy in case any of them knock on the door and told me to not invite them in (like i'd be that careless)

I'm at home all day on my own as i have broken my foot and am off sick from work - how long til these letters stop?!!

Sorry to hear about the additional stress but you could ring the bailiffs or senders of the letters and enclose a copy of your tenancy agreement. Advise them that you are not the person they are seeking and if they continue to send mail or attempt to visit the property you will report them for harrassment.

That sounds like a good plan, i haven't opened any of the letters addressed to the previous tenant but they mostly all have a post mark or return address so i could send them a reply or give them a call.

I believe that you can open mail not addressed to yourself provided you have a reasonable excuse and you do not intend to cause injury to the addressee. Ring your local sorting office for confirmation.

Returning to sender is a waste of time as the addressee can do this themselves and does not prove the person is not living there.

Principle 4 of the Data Protection Act 1988 states

Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.

Try advising the bailiffs that their data is incorrect and if they keep bothering you, you will notify the Information Commissioner.

That's what I did in similar circumstances and it worked for me.

Mark

Good point Mark.

We've been receiving letters chasing debt recently for the previous owners. As they moved out 5 years ago, I open the mail. I've telephoned the creditor and explained, but to be honest they didn't seem to believe me. I'm not at all worried, if they want to waste money sending someone around thats upto them.

If it wasn't my debt, they could do their worst and I'd just threaten them with court action.

Thats what I'll do Jan and gaining knowledge from this forum has given been the confidence to do that.

I find it strange that no letters warning of arrears were received, just threatening letters of bailiffs etc. ..

Phoning them was a complete waste of time and money, but at least I tried.

You do have to try, but once you realise that they are obviously thick and won't check things like the voter's list to see who lives in your house now, and they won't take no for an answer, then let them waste their time and money.

My parents keep getting letters asking about their ex neighbours, and even though they have told the solicitors they have no idea where they have moved to, they still keep getting letters.

Hope thats not distressing for your parents Jan?

No, I think they're just a bit fed up now. They have told the solicitors that they have no idea where they have gone to. The letters turn up every so often, and they just ignore them now.

I had a couple turn up at my old address, it was because i shared the building and the guy downstairs had done a runner, really shocked me into actually looking at my own money situation and i realised how much trouble i was actually in. To get rid of them it only took my passport and tenancy agreement and they didn't come back but it opened my eyes a little. TBH if it wasn't the them i would probably still be racking up hugh debts!

Good to see that bailiffs have some uses!![:D]

Every cloud and all that antm?[:)]

I think it did a little, im looking forward to 2012 and its not the olympics!!