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

other younger folk too. Its not only the old'uns who get scammed.

Thats what the non emergency police number is for. I dont agree its a waste of police time. Im a senior and i'd tell anyone mentioning me downsizing or selling to them to 'Do one' but other senior folks are more easily spooked.

What do you find intimidating about this letter? Is it distasteful - yes. Is it assertive - yes. It reads like a cold call, just in a letter. Off it goes to the recycling bin, if the doorbell rings on Friday at 11am, the door remains closed or they’re told the couple isn’t interested.

Contact the police and dont open the door to anyone you dont know in the meantime!

Sorry but think this would be a waste of police time at this point.

Just because they are elderly doesn’t mean they are excessively vulnerable. If they have been on holiday I’m assuming they are more than capable of looking after themselves.

Tell them to bin the letter. They can either wait in for the guy to tell him in person that they are explicitly not interested in his offer and do not want any further contact or they can leave a note to that effect. Only then if the developer escalates things by insisting on another visit, getting contact details or try’s to gain entry to the property would I take this further, but even then i doubt the police would be very interested.

If they had a couple of burly sons living five minutes down the road, who were able to frighten off any potential scammers or bullying developers into leaving their elderly parents alone, they probably would have gone to them first, rather than their neighbour. The fact that they did not suggests that they don’t have family who can help them.

Have you seen the actual letter to confirm that it is intimidating? Without knowing what was in the letter apart from your third hand knowledge, I'd be reluctant to condemn it. It might have been perfectly polite but the elderly owners took exception to it for their own reasons @Twasasurprise What?! The OP hasn’t suggested that her friend has any comprehension difficulties and she clearly recounted enough of the letter to the OP to know that a sum was offered under the market price and that someone would be calling on them on Thursday. How much more do you need to condemn it as intimidating to two elderly people who have told the OP’s friend that it has frightened them? It very clearly wasn’t the standard ‘give us a ring if you want to sell’ type of letter.

Some of these replies have really shocked me. It’s very clear that some of you have little to no understanding of how vulnerable and scared the elderly can be about something that they’d have dealt with quite capably only ten years earlier. Thank goodness that the police are a bit more understanding of what a target they can be.

No harm in ringing the police and reporting this as the couple are vulnerable.
Then if anyone does call to the property they have a line of contact to go from to then report whoever sent this.
Do they have a ring doorbell or cameras at home .

I’d report as non emergency to the police. Doubt they’d do anything, but at least it’s recorded in case it’s part of something bigger.

Then I’d make sure there was someone with the couple at the time said visit was to take place.

I personally would just chuck the letter in the bin and assume no one was even coming, and if they did I’d tell them to piss off. But I know elderly relatives would fret massively over something like this. It is kind of creepy to be honest, I wouldn’t welcome that letter either!

Totally agree. If they went out the very arrogant person who seems to think they are already half-way to owning the house, would probably have gone round their garden, tried the doors and generally sized up the house even more. The best option is for them to be there but have someone else (preferably large and intimidating) to answer the door and tell them where to go in no uncertain terms. It is pretty obviously an intimidatory tactic that is being used on people perceived to be vulnerable.😔

The Land Registry is open to the public and anyone in the world can log in and for £7 can get a copy of someone’s title if it is registered, which most properties are these days . The title will reveal the owner’s full names, how much they paid, what date they completed their purchase, if they have a mortgage and who the mortgage lender is etc which is how most developers get the information so nothing mysterious about how the information has been obtained. However it is unacceptable to suggest you are going to turn up on someone’s doorstep. Agents or other interested parties generally make a generic enquiry in the hope the owner might be interested in selling and wait for a response. My son is trying buy in a certain area and has letter dropped along preferred roads and many have responded politely saying they are not looking to sell and wished him well in his search but some have pointed him in the direction of someone who is and it will save paying estate agents, win win situation for both parties. Perhaps ensure someone is with the elderly couple at the time notified to circumvent any possible pressure on them.

It’s really not hard to find out the names and date of births of people from their address

Amazed how many people are saying ignore despite having the info they have lived there 58 years so therefore one could assume they are now in their 80s at least.

How unsettling must that be for them and frightening. People of that generation normally keep problems to themselves so, the mere fact they have approached a neighbour means they either have no family members to help or, cannot ask and are doing their best.

How would you feel if it was your parents home.

Having a word with the police to get advice would be my suggestion.

They can't all have been influenced by the woke agenda laid down by this Government and would surely know how to deal with intimidation.

Yes OP I would make the police aware. It feels like whoever this is is targeting vulnerable older people with the intention of using coercion to defraud them.

Until they wake up one morning and find that fraudsters have sold their house from under them.

I think this is very naive given the age and vulnerability of the couple and the tone of the letter.
People like this can be very pushy and even aggressive and deliberately target the elderly and vulnerable.
I don't think there's any harm in reporting it OP, and agree about having some support there on Thursday if possible.

I wouldn’t ignore it. Do you know how many people fall victim to scams like this - they ignore the letter and then find that their house has been sold by fraudsters and they have little/no legal recourse. I would be waiting in for them and tell them in no uncertain terms that the house is not for sale and that the letter has been passed on to the police. Then I would go onto the land registry website, register as the home owner and request that all interest in the property from other parties registered on the website be notified to me so that the police can be informed.

I agree, but unfortunately, being elderly usually means not being as physically capable as they once were. It's a horrible world at times that we live in.

Yes but their families should be able to support them without involving the police for goodness sake!

as I said upthread, I have received shedloads of those letters. All of them are phrased in a more polite and conciliatry manner and include the business details of the sender, usually an EA, and none of them set a date and time when the letter writer would visit.

Are you in your 80s and feeling upset and frightened though? If it was your parents/grandparents would you be so glib and unfeeling?

Have you seen the actual letter to confirm that it is intimidating? Without knowing what was in the letter apart from your third hand knowledge, I'd be reluctant to condemn it. It might have been perfectly polite but the elderly owners took exception to it for their own reasons.

Suggesting people who have felt upset and frightened do something and ‘Then get on with their lives’ is vastly underestimating how upset and fright can affect 80+ year olds.

i would be concerned about the potential for “cuckooing” which has been in the news this week. The homes of vulnerable people are being taken over by criminals for illicit activities.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd7p7p4xdq9o?app-referrer=deep-link

Well I'm rather of the view that you are over-reacting here. Name, address and age bracket are easily available information, and that type of letter is regularly sent out by people who have been on a "how to get rich by investing in property" course - they send out 100s of letters and maybe 1 or 2 % are interested - that's all they need.

Just put it in the recycling and forget about it. No need to involve the police - they have far more important things to do.