AIBU to think this intimidating house buying letter should be reported to police?

Did the letters to your mother include the tactic of specifying a time when they were going to come to her door? I'm asking because I've never been aware of any of that type of letter including that detail. (I've had the 'We're buying in your area' notes through the door - those never worry me.)

I used to run a faculty and was used to being firm when necessary. Now, as a pensioner on my own I find it a bit harder.

I guess that mid-sixties might not seem that old, but when you've no immediate family to help you out, it can be a bit scary. (ISTR inventing a son at one point, when one of the builders didn't want to take 'No' for an answer.)

As would I.

My mother lived in her house for nearly 50 years and had many of those letters - quiet cul de sac. Well into her 90s she ignored them.

Throw it in the bin.

I was in the process of getting our old house ready to rent or sell. I had three different builders trying to buy the property for less than half its worth...(Twice while my husband was very ill; once after he'd died.) They tried to frighten me into thinking that it needed a huge amount of work. One tried to convince me that the roof was in need of replacement.

One in particular behaved as though buying the house was his right. He was doing work on a property across the street and approached me in the middle of the road. Maybe he just thought that he was being businesslike, but it was a bit intimidating.

I managed to bark out "We're not selling!"

In the end, I did sell the house, through an estate agent recommended by my lawyer, but if I'd succumbed to the bossy builders, I'd have lost half the money intended for my pension.

My impression was that the builders wouldn't have tried to intimidate a young fit man. (I'm in my 60s.)

I would report to police as someone with dementia etc might fall for it and sign something they shouldn’t on the day

Bit easier to put the phone down (and block if on mobile) than it is to ignore someone at your door.

🤦‍♀️ The coldness with which you, and some others, are dismissing the fears of two elderly people is really quite something.

Yes, most of us know how easy it is to get someone’s personal details without having to either rummage through their rubbish or get the night vision goggles out. The point is that these two people don’t know. In addition to that, they’ve been told that their house is too big for them and a stranger will be banging on their door with a view to buying it from them for under market value. Of course that would be more intimidating than a cold call offering to sell them solar roof panels!

I think some of you are going to be in for a very nasty shock when you get to a similar age, because if you think we’re all going to be as strong and capable and rational and firm as we are now, and perfectly capable of either ignoring something or telling someone to fuck right off, you’re deluded. Hopefully the people around you will be a bit more sympathetic to your fears.

You can use the official 'no cold callers' sign to gormally yell people they cannot come to your property unless invited (or a delivery person of course)

Agree.
And arrange for a neighbour to be on hand if they do call round.
Yes, the Police may not do anything in this particular instance but it alerts them to what's going on and might help them prevent financial abuse of a vulnerable person. The elderly couple feel intimidated so their friends and neighbours should be supporting and reassuring them, not just telling them to ignore it.

Me too. 101 would be very helpful here - I’ve contacted them in the past with concerns about an elderly relative being taken advantage of & they took it very seriously (& scared off the scam artist!)

But if you receive a call trying to sell you something using names and your phone number purchased from a company who sold your data telling you the same thing it’s somewhat less intimidating? You hang up the phone and say don’t call me again. I think posters are imagining that someone has been sitting in the bushes with binoculars or something when in reality they did a couple google searches on the address…

Dear heavens, they've been on holiday so they must be fully capable 🙄

They have said they feel threatened.

Someone has made a point of noting who lives there, gone to the trouble of finding out their name, written a personal letter in terms that the sale is going to happen, and invited themselves round at a specified date and time to 'negotiate'.
I'm baffled that you don't see what's intimidating about that, and particularly to an elderly couple.

Definately report it as this could be people working in the area to case peoples houses, someone else may get robbed or pressured to part with money. No one should make unsolicited calls to purchase something that is not for sale. If they show up at any time shout that you’ve called the police through the door and go from there

I would have someone there in case someone comes they can be manipulated or intimidated I would have someone stern there so they know they are not alone and to just go away and not come back or send anymore letters .

But if someone upset your granny by threatening her you'd be happy to support granny and let the person move on to the next granny to threaten them. They might not have family.

You can buy access to the deeds for not very much money. It tells you who owns it. Run a check against the electoral role. The land registry will also state the last sold date and price, so it will be obvious it’s nobody young. It really doesn’t take much effort at all to find out quite a bit about a property.

It sounds like a good idea that there is someone there to witness what happens and make sure they are not bulldozed into signing anything.

This (& apologies as I clicked YABU by accident!)

That's not very "good neighbourly". We'll all be elderly and vulnerable one day.

Can you rig up a Ring doorbell and post a written note beside it, suggesting to Mr common surname they can leave a message on the Ring doorbell, including an address, full name and contact number for the Police to get back to them in due course. Then ignore anyone arriving, unannounced and unknown to the couple. A camera of some description would always be a good suggestion for vulnerable people.

Certainly threatening and possibly elder abuse. I would report it to the police. Get an email address and put it in writing to them just in case something comes of it.

I agree. That’s what community police officers are good at. Show them the letter and keep it. This could be the start of a sustained campaign of pressure and intimidation for all anyone knows.