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Original poster

about this letter?

31 replies

StealthPolarBear · 19/06/2009 19:19

We moved into this house two years ago and still get plenty of mail for the previous owners. They had their own business and we have strong suspicions they're in a lot of debt.
Anyway, a letter arrived the other day and they'd obviously folded it wrong so instead of the name and address, part of the letter is showing through the window (someone had realised and hand written the address but no name beside it - which I find odd, but anyway)
So obviously I can plainly see a bit of this letter, the bits I can see are:

"To of

MAY CONCERN
TAKE NOTICE that by virtue of an authority given to me by...
May 20 2009 I have this day re-attended with a view to seize...
Council as stated in the said Liability Order."

And that's all I can see. No return addrss or any indication of where it's from. What would you do?

OP posts:
BitOfFun · 19/06/2009 19:21

Open it. Get it sorted out.

FenellaFudge · 19/06/2009 19:21

I'd open it.

sagacious · 19/06/2009 19:21

I'd open it

fucksticks · 19/06/2009 19:22

I'd open it to get either a name of previous tenant so you can trace and send on letters warning them of problems, or get senders details to contact them and let them have proof that you are not the previous tenant and save yourself from any bailiffs on your doorstep!!!

Lilyloo · 19/06/2009 19:22

Def open it , you need to inform them they no longer live at the address.

SoupDragon · 19/06/2009 19:23

OPen it.

sagacious · 19/06/2009 19:23

What have you been doing with the post you've recieved?> Ie have you been returning it with address unknown or just binning it?

KingRolo · 19/06/2009 19:24

This happened to us. I accidently opened a letter that was addressed to the previous owner, it was among a pile of our post after a holiday so I just tore into it not realising.

It was a similar letter to the one you quoted above, the debt was for over 10k. There was a phone number so I rang and told them the previous owner had moved and we didn't know where. They said they would put that on their records and we heard no more about it.

If I were you I would open the letter and find the address or phone number.

seeker · 19/06/2009 19:24

Open it NOW. It's a bailiff's letter and you need to get on the phone to them as soon as you possibly can. I don't want to scare you, but they will turn up on your doorstep very soon if you don't deal with it.

smackapacka · 19/06/2009 19:25

I had a similar situation to do with an unpaid gas bill. I forwarded/returned all mail that I could. Anyway after weeks of red letters I opened one and called British Gas so they updated their records. All letters stopped. It's a severe situation that requires action I think.

KingRolo · 19/06/2009 19:25

Though as far as I know, it is actually illegal to open a letter addressed to someone else.

geordieminx · 19/06/2009 19:27

OPEN! Now!

As it has no name on you are within your right to open it... as it could be for you couldnt it?

NorbertDentressangle · 19/06/2009 19:28

I would definitely open it especially as you say it had no name handwritten on it therefore you opening it could be seen as a genuine mistake .

If bailiffs are about to turn up and remove goods worth £x then I would rather explain to them over the phone that the people they're looking for don't live there any more rather than trying to tell them on the doorstep when they're attempting to gain entry to your home.

PS-don't forget to tell us what it says though

neenztwinz · 19/06/2009 19:30

I had a similar thing happen at a previous address. I opened the letters and rang the numbers and told them the person wasn't living there any more, no bailiffs ever turned up despite lots of letters. Yes it is illegal to open mail that is not yours but you can always say you opened it accidentally. No one ever questioned my opening of the letters that weren't addressed to me

Original poster
StealthPolarBear · 19/06/2009 19:31

Well that's what we've been debating...technically it has no name but her name is clearly visible through the window.
It's a complicated situation...they moved into our old (much smaller) house "for a few months while they finalised moving into a much bigger house". So we forwarded stuff on for a few months, but then assumed they'd moved on and started just putting "not at this address". We now know for sure (next door neighbour still friendly with them) that they are still in our old house - we had our suspicions. We have in the past had a call from their own accountants asking if we knew where they had gone

OP posts:
tisa · 19/06/2009 19:34

Open it and see what else it says.

weegiemum · 19/06/2009 19:35

We didn't open a letter which came in for the previous tenants in our house.

Turned out it was from the courts and next thing we knew the police came to the door at 10pm to arrest them and we had to dig out a shed load of ID and let them look round the house to prove we weren't "harbouring" anyone. Turns out the previous tenant (who had moved out a year before we came in - place had been refurbished and was lying empty for 10 months) had been running the place as a brothel and was up for a whole load of charges!

Think that the quantity of My Little Ponys, Lego and washing lying everywhere persuaded them it wasn't us!

KingRolo · 19/06/2009 19:38

weegiemum! How awful for you!

MrsBonJovi · 19/06/2009 19:40

I believe it is illegal...but I would open it anyway

I had a situation like this with the previous tenants and Lloyds. It took me going into the branch and kicking off as we also had a lloyds account to get them to promise no more letters...especially as I did know where they now lived and showed them it in the phone book! I told them sort this out as its stressing me out with the thought of baliffs at my door or face all five of our accounts being closed.

They sorted it!

MrsBonJovi · 19/06/2009 19:41

I believe it is illegal...but I would open it anyway

I had a situation like this with the previous tenants and Lloyds. It took me going into the branch and kicking off as we also had a lloyds account to get them to promise no more letters...especially as I did know where they now lived and showed them it in the phone book! I told them sort this out as its stressing me out with the thought of baliffs at my door or face all five of our accounts being closed.

They sorted it!

MrsBonJovi · 19/06/2009 19:41

whoops!

weegiemum · 19/06/2009 19:44

Was freaky!

Police were actually very nice, one of them almost fell over on a dinky car on the floor! Apologised a lot. But had to check, given the nature of the charges.

We did once also get a phone call asking for a "name", asking if she was still "doing business".

We cvhanged the number to a new one after that!!!

Ripeberry · 19/06/2009 19:46

Steam it open! The previous owners of our house had bad debts and when we moved in they came back to our house at least once a week for 4 months! to pick up their mail, always saying they had nowhere permanent at the moment, (she, the owner of the house had shacked up with an irish traveller and he persuaded her to sell the house so that they could get a posh caravan together).
Even now, after 10yrs we are still getting letters about debts, but i just open them and say they have been gone for a LONG time.
No-one has ever turned up.

KingRolo · 19/06/2009 19:53

You'd think these debt recovery companies would check the electoral register wouldn't you, especially after 10 years.

smackapacka · 19/06/2009 20:37

I wonder if anyone has ever been chanrged for opening someone else's mail in circumstances like this? I doubt it as you're just trying to get it all sorted out.

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