Advice on debt collectors for previous tenant

[CaterpillaNavilla]

My family moved into a rental a couple of months ago. The agent hinted that the previous tenant has left in a hurry and gone awol. We get loads of post for him, which I was giving to the agent but have now started marking ‘return to sender - not at this address’.

there was a car abandoned on the drive when we moved in, which I think the council has taken as it was reported to them by the landlord.

this morning I had someone come to the house asking after him, saying they were there because there was outstanding finance on the car.

we talked, I gave him the estate agents number, he left - no bother. Now I’m freaking out a bit - will we have bailiffs turning up next after other debts? Is there anything more I can do?

Not sure there is as you're already sending back post. My sister had this, she kept her council tax bill, id and tenancy agreement close to the door, they were all polite and went away. It stopped after a few months. Annoying, but v little you can do I think.

Keep turning them away - you could show your tenancy agreement to show the date you moved in. Check your credit rating - you can be “connected” to someone at the same address and if they have a terrible credit rating this can infect yours. I discovered this the hard way some years ago when trying to buy a sofa on credit!

I had a debt collector show up looking for the previous tenant. As the previous poster said just show them your tenancy agreement or council tax bill. They are happy with that. I'm still getting their TV licence after 10 years though.....😳😳

That's not true. It's the name first address second.They won't connect anyone else from the address to your credit report.

Crikey that doesn’t seem fair!

Thanks for the advice - I have the council tax bill to hand and will print off a copy of the tenancy agreement too

It’s actually precisely what happened to me: renting a flat where the previous tenant did a runner leaving all kinds of debts. Tried to buy a sofa, failed credit checks, investigated why and was told that the address had a “marker” on it which infected my credit rating. I had to provide proof of my tenancy etc to remove reference to the previous tenant from my records.

It took me several years of good credit to clear the bad credit on my address, and we had bailiffs and debt collectors coming round for two years as she didn't stop using this address to buy stuff on credit.

Bailiffs and debt collectors are well used to finding tenants gone and their info out of date. Usually they accept your explanation, only want proof if it a recent debt. Some firms only get 2 year old debts to collect on.

Yes I've had this, man before me kept using the rental address it seemed long after he left and bailiffs turned up more than once.

I had my tenancy agreement saved handy on my phone and showed my ID and never had any bother from them other than the mild inconvenience of answering the door and explaining

If bailiff turns up just flash them your ID or tenancy agreement, without allowing them in.
But they probably won't. You have nothing to worry about as they can't take stuff off of a totally separate person.

We had this in a previous house ,I showed our paperwork and no-one ever came back for their debts

I know that some posters will continue to say that addresses are 'blacklisted' (utter nonsense of course!) so here you go 👌🏻

@twentysevendresses what is your problem??? I had debt collector turn up and look for the previous tenant. As I quoted I showed them my paperwork saying i was the tenant and they were happy

Apologies I was responding to @VanCleefArpels post about being linked to your address and being blacklisted. No idea how I clicked on your name...fat fingers on the drop down name list!! Again...apologies my post wasn't aimed at you at all 😢

@shellyleppard I have reported my post...again, sorry! Your post is perfectly reasonable (and this has also happened to me, so I know how annoying it is when Bailiffs come knocking, but also how easy it is to placate them so that they go away without incident).

Check this out if you have any problems OP:

https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/removing-an-incorrect-address-in-your-credit-report/#:~:text=filing%20a%20dispute.-,How%20to%20Dispute%20an%20Incorrect%20Address%20on%20Your%20Credit%20Report,accounts%2C%20Experian%20can%20remove%20it.

Thanks for the link @EatCrow

This is reassuring to read. I moved into a housing association property two months ago. I've had letters for previous tenant which I've returned. Yesterday I found a hand delivered letter addressed to her with the name of a debt collection company in the back. My neighbour said she saw a van turn up but my adult children didn't answer the door. I'm out at work during the day so I've left a council tax and utilities letter in the porch in case they return.