AIBU to stop dealing with former owners mail?

[mistydaytoday]

We bought our house 18 months ago. The former owner has a range of different business activities that used this address - different company names etc. I also get his ton of junk mail.

For a couple of months after he moved out he'd pitch up at the house randomly to collect a pile of mail. He won't give us a forwarding address although we've asked a few times. Instead he has asked us to send him a text message, and he'll pop by and collect it, commenting once, 'This works quite well'. (We had the bailiffs pitch once looking for him so we think there might be some reason why he's not giving us his new address!)

It doesn't work for me: I don't like the former owner constantly at my house, commenting on changes I've made to the place etc. I don't want to have a discussion about it either.

Thing is, a flurry even more mail is coming now, including mail from HMRC and companies house and other important looking envelopes.

I've recently given his mail back to the Postie who is very apologetic by the amount and has said the mail will be returned to the senders address on the envelope. DH has even contacted a couple of companies by phone and asked them to remove our address from this guy's record.

But I know the former owner is probably waiting for us to text him that mail is waiting for him at our house again. And that he expects to pop by and have a nosey and get his mail.

I've really had enough, but AIBU?

Also, if I am NBU, what do I do with the mail that doesn't have a return address on it?

I'm not taking the peace piss - I just don't think you've interpreted the wording correctly (IANAL).

Take this, for example:
(3)A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.

The post has been correctly delivered to the intended address. And opening it wouldn't be intending to act to the previous occupant's detriment. And even then, there would be a reasonable excuse.

Trollicking posted the wording from Citizens Advice.

Even if debt is linked to name not address, shoeaddict83 showed how it can still cause problems - I'd rather not have to waste time trying to convince the baliffs not to tow away my car.

Peace, all of that seems to fall under the 'detriment' bit, I can't see where opening post in my own home is? Is there a law telling me I have to sort, write all over, and repost all mail to my house not to me?

Return to sender, I had (and occasionally still do) this with previous owner of our house, she also had debt collection agencies (plural) chasing after her (I had to ring them up a few time to sort her shit out ) and funnily enough she was really cagey about giving us her new address so we had to drop it off at her place of work - to top it off she's a holier than thou God Botherer who teaches RE!! I bump into her now and then and she looks right through me like I wronged HER!

Peaceandloveeveryone A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.

This literally says that if your intentions are not detrimental to anyone then you don't legally need any excuse to open incorrectly delivered mail.

It's quite detrimental to keep someone's bank statements. You only have to return once and they stop. I don't get why someone would go through someone else's mail unless trying to help.

I open stuff sent to our previous owners, we've lived here 4 years now. 2 years ago we got a bill of theirs, they'd taken out credit for some Laura Ashley furniture and used our address the cheeky bastards!
We get bailiff letters too, we have to then ring these companies to stop them coming round to the house.

I moved into my house over 15 years ago and still get post for the previous owners. Even when I return to sender, it still doesn't stop all of it. Given that the previous owners were a very elderly couple, and they only came round once to collect their post, and I know that the man later died, and so I presume his widow now has too, after all this time, a lot of it tends to just be circulars now, so just go in the bin.

This also includes post for their son which I've tried to return to sender, but again, it keeps coming. The only time I phoned up was when a pension book arrived in the post and given the security implications of that, I phoned them to tell them and returned it in the envelope within, as directed by them.

It's quite detrimental to keep someone's bank statements. You only have to return once and they stop. I don't get why someone would go through someone else's mail unless trying to help.

They don't stop with Barclays. It must have taken the best part of a year of monthly return to senders (at which point I gave up with those and simply opened and disposed of the very overdrawn acount statements) and several phone calls to get them to stop. It finally stopped when DP threatened Barclays with suing for harassment by refusing to stop sending these statements. And given the fact that by the time we moved in the addressee hadn't been at the property for at least 2 years, I don't think me opening and disposing of them was detrimental at all. He was a twat for failing to change his address for at least 3 years.

Keeping someone's bank statements isn't inherently detrimental to anyone. They weren't getting them anyway.

People might open incorrectly addressed mail sent to their home in order to ensure that no fraudulent activity is being carried out. They are not intending to act to the detriment of the addressee, unless there is indeed fraud taking place, in which case that would be a reasonable excuse to have opened it.

I disagree, your address is not linked to fraud, only your name. Yes, they are wrong to not get it re directed but I find it really uncomfortable that someone would be going through someone else's bank statements.

The point of it being to someone's detriment would only be decided by a judge I guess.

I couldn't send much back in my situation as most of it came from India. I tried - bank statements from India are quite strangely packaged, as are other items of mail. It's not straightforward iyswim. Just finding a return address, and then what do you do - pay to send it several thousand miles?

I just stick it all back in post box, return to sender, it's free. The worst problem I had was a previous tenant giving out our phone number to debt collection agencies under a false name, that's still going on four years later as the details get sold on.
I don't understand why people don't set up re direction for a year.

If bank statements get mis-directed to me, I'll shove them back in the post to re-direct. It can be a pain because most banks will keep sending the statements to the address on their records, until the account holder themselves amends the detail. I've previous called banks to get them to take our address off a previous owner's statements, and they wouldn't do this on my say-so, only on the authorisation of the account holder.

So I ended up doing a monthly return to sender on the statements.

But sometime post isn't clear, and I've opened stuff to try and find some address to return things to, as no return address was on the outside.

Which was the case for a letter from a 6th form school addressed to the daughter of previous owner. I phoned the school, and again they said they could only amend the address on the say-so of the student, for security reasons.

I suggested they undertook an exercise to get all students to confirm their addresses. I later heard on the grapevine they did so, and we didn't get any more post.

We moved into our house about 16 months ago, knew the names of previous tenants, one redirected their post, the other one had a brother that lives two doors down and asked us to pop his post through the door.

A man from some sort of organisation came looking for the man that lived here before us. Also kept getting letters from the council telling us to register which we had done online months previously, turns out previous tenant was still down as living in our house? We corrected them. Accidentally opened a piece of post for him and he owes money on a credit card

Still get post for about 4 other random people

For the next couple of months put back in a post box with a 'return to sender - not known at this address' sticker.

Then after that just bin stuff

Do not text the old owner. It's not your problem. If he calls or come round tell him you are returning to sender and he is welcome to set up mail forwarding if it's an issue.

I recently started opening the previous occupants' post and emailing the companies - banks, debt collection agency and credit cards - this is after 9 years of writing "no longer at this address - return to sender". You can do this, it isn't illegal. The recipients thanked me and the post has now, finally, stopped. Wish I had done this years ago.

I forward mail to the former owners of our house 5 years after we move in, but they've only had about 3 pieced of mail addressed to them in that time. The previous owner of your house has had plenty of time to advise people of his new address - start marking it 'no longer at this address' and sending it back to them.

OP, this person is still using your address for correspondence and it could be that he gives some people/organisations to understand that he is still living there. If you have had only one visit from the bailiffs it means they have other information on him. Your credit rating is at risk and if I were you I would try to find out where he is now, someone will know if you keep looking. A PITA for you, nevertheless.

YANBU! We get so much crap from the former owner (also 18 months). It's pretty bad not to change all your mail - I get that some might be missed. I just rip it all up now. If they can't be bothered to change their address then they don't need the mail. Tough sh*t.

your address is not linked to fraud, only your name

If someone was going to fraudulently apply for a loan using a false name and your address, would you be OK with that? I wouldn't. I think it's reasonable to act on the contents of incorrectly delivered letters if they pertain to fraudulent activity. Nobody wants the heavies turning up on their doorstep trying to harass people who don't live there.

I also find it uncomfortable that someone would be going through someone else's bank statements, but then you don't know it's a bank statement until you've opened it. The fault lies either with the bank or the addressee who has not given the bank their correct address. Not the person receiving the letters and trying to work out what to do with them.

You're right that it would be a judge that would decide whether it's detrimental. Which is why I think you're wrong to simply say it's illegal.

That's unanimous then. I'm not keen to text him or have any discussion about it because I don't really like him, TBH, and would rather just have no contact at all.

You've got me worried though about whether he's using our address for dodgy reasons.

DH opened up one of his pieces of mail after contacting the power company to get them to change their records, and it was for electricity supply with loads of different meters somewhere in Lancashire. Can't work out what he's got going on there.

We've had problems as well and Barclays really don't take a hint, but the ones that baffles are from the NHS. They seem to be regarding a complaint and we've explained that not only the previous tennant no longer lives here, she actually passed away in this house. Oh, and some spam mail from our housing association!

When the bailiffs pitched I got quite a fright because there were two intimidating men at the door. We live in an isolated place and I didn't feel safe opening the door ... But did. They left when I told them I didn't know where he was. DH spoke to them when they came back later that night and sent them to his solicitor.

And I think it's wrong to simply say that it legal

Not all misaddressed letters need be sinister ...

Over 10 years ago, when I was managing software testing on a financial system, I created loads of names, all using our address. I then fed them into our suppliers test systems which I was assured were cleared down daily.

We are still getting junk mail in those names.

Yes, it's unlawful (there's quite a chain of lies - not misunderstandings, plain old lies) needed for that data to wind up on a mailing list. But (here's the modern age) what can you do ?

Anyway, that's a certain %age of money being spent on wasted effort .

As part of the same work, we had a prepaid mobile which we used for the phone number. It would ring a few times a week. I used to enjoy hearing our office manager telling the caller there was no way they "were given the number".

Before t'internet, I used to use a variable middle initial to track where my name had come from, so I am well aware that there isn't an honest company in the UK (the worst offenders are banks, although BT did try very hard to come second).