Previous owners - bailiffs

[DobbyLovesSocks]

Posting for traffic - I'll also try not to be too vague

We moved house 2 years ago and went well. Previous owner (A) had a mail re-direct and since thats ended we got a few bits of post (mostly junk). In December we received a letter from a nearby council. I put it back in post box, return to sender (RTS) not known at address etc and forgot about it. A week or so later we got another letter from same council and, assuming it was same letter or something I opened it to see if I could contact someone to explain they'd moved. It was at that point I realised it was regarding parking fines. There was no phone number so I emailed the council to explain. They advised me to send any letters back.
I then contacted our estate agent to see if they could get hold of A to let them know and to change their address with DVLA. At this point I assumed it was an honest mistake/oversight on A's part. EA was helpful and gave us new address for A. Next letter we received I wrote on envelope to redirect to A's new address or RTS.
Fast-forward to today and at some point a repossession company have put a letter through our door stating payment needed in full or they will repossess items to the value of the fine. We phoned the number on the letter straight away and explained the situation. To be fair to them they were very understanding but have told us that A is still using our address for things. DH handlEd the call so I'm not sure exactly what was said or what exactly is meant by 'using our address' but now Im very worried.

Am I able to & how do I find out what else my address is being used for? I've contacted the EA again to advise of the situation. Thanks

I had years of this when I moved into my new house. It had previously been home to fraudsters. Many credit card debts, parking fines, loans in multiple names at my address. We had bailiffs round every week. Usually at 7am. Some were nice and gave advice.
What I learned:

1. Never let a bailiff into your house because if you let them in once they can then force entry on further visits.
2. Keep proof of home ownership and date of ownership by the front door to show bailiffs.
3. Return all letters with “not known at this address.”
4. The DVLA will not help you. Cars were registered to our address and they would not change that as we were not the car owner, even though we owned the house!

It was a pain in the neck but gradually eased off. We still get the odd letter for one of the many identities.

Previous owner of our house left a lot of debts. I called each company and told them he was no longer here, eventually that (and returning to sender) will filter it’s way onto some kind of “gone away” list. We never had bailiff visits although some of the debts were significant.

Never give the opportunity to enter your house.

Thank you. The bailiff DH spoke to said they'd already clocked the two cars at our property and knew they were ours. I've put the chain on the door just in case

Anyone know how I check our address (is blacklisting still a thing?)

I've had the exact scenario. Except for estate agents weren't able to find forwarding details.

I've opened the door to two different baliffs. They were both lovely. All I did was show my council tax bill. Not sure why you aren't meant to open the door to them, if the bill is not for you, and you have proof. They're hardly going to take my stuff away, are they?!

I now need to contact DVLA to advise he no longer lives here.

My lot stopped as soon as I phoned with proof of my owning and not the previous very dodgy bloke. It was quite concerning, but they must get this a lot. I directed them to the estate agent who sold to us and dodgy bloke his new house. Heard nothing since.

I would have a council tax letter with some photo id ready if they come to the door again. If you don’t want to open the door then pass it through a window for them to check. Log all calls you have made etc.

I would have copies of:
ID at the door,
Copies of recent utility bills.
Council bills.

Have a file of copies ready at a spot you both agree on for ease of access.

How awful.

Have your phone ready to record the interaction too.

Hi there, we had this problem when we moved into our rented property. For the first 4 months we were having daily visits from bailiffs and the police. All I did was keep a copy of the tenancy agreement with id by the front door but even then I had a few bailiffs who didn't believe me and had to call the police to confirm. It all changed when I found out that it was the landlords nephew! Then I just sent the bailiffs directly to the landlord - he had no idea what his nephew had been up to! As soon as he realized the extent of the problem he helped us all the way. Last I heard nephew was inside and we haven't had any problems for a while now.
Stand your ground. Good luck

Thanks all. I'll make copies to leave by the front door

Give bailiff the forwarding address

Be careful of leaving all that ID by the front door. Perfect opportunity for someone to steal and then use.

.. They can't force entry into your property and the whole foot in the door thing has been illegal since 2014. They can try the door and access your property via 'normal means' (they can't climb through windows or trick you into thinking they are someone else) but are allowed to just walk in.

All you need to do is provide them proof your not the debtor and they will be on their merry way. Phone whichever enforcement company sent them and let them know the debtor has moved (probably need to show CT bill or other utlitiy bill etc, let them know his new address) and they will go. You can write to the dvla and let them know he moved out and they will update their records. Any letters just return back to them with his forwarding address on it.

They will have probably checked the cars on your drive to see if they belong to the debtor (they obviously don't) and due to this they are legally unable to clamp/seize/do anything with them.

You don't need to 'record interactions' they are normal humans and most are even housetrained.

Brother is an enforcement officer so I know my stuff

We were in the exact same situation, the previous owner left s lot of debt and we had debt collectors knocking on my door.
Tell them to check the land registry to see he has sold the house and to remove his address from their database. If you have the detail of his solicitor, send them that so they can get in touch and d take it up from there.

Definitely provide the new address to anyone who wants it. You don't need this crap happening to you.

We had the same when we purchased our house.

Previous tenants had left several debts and finally the balliffs turned up. They were very pleasant & understanding. It wasn't difficult to prove our identities, etc.

Eventually the post dwindled over time.

Send the company/enforcement agent proof, or a copy a the council tax/tenancy agreement.

The cars have to be registered in full to the name of the debtor, the enforcement agent will know they don't belong to the debtor already as they will have done/be doing a dvla check on them. It has to be a full match to the registered keeper, which is the name on the driving license, which is the name on the warrant.

The enforcement agent has absolutely no interest in taking your things or getting into your house. They want cash (idelly paid in full) From the debtor. Which isn't you. So you don't need to worry.

@Pisspoorspeller the foot in the door thing has been illegal since a lot longer than 2014! (Formerly an enforcement agent myself still working within the industry).

OP generally speaking if you have proof you are now in residence and a forwarding address the bailiff will take note and pass it back to his office so they can attempt to locate their Debtor (Forwarding addresses are like gold dust to them so they should be pleased).
Although you tell their office by phone, unless you send in paperwork to confirm what you've told them they still often send someone out to confirm what you've told them manually (Debtors lie about their identity surprise surprise!).

The advice you've got so far is helpful. Don't let anyone in, most bailiffs are good but there's are still one or two bad eggs out there who would try to make it your problem.
Keep your proofs nearby somewhere handy so your not searching for them if you do get visited.
If you do need to leave the door for a moment, close and lock/chain it.

Expect other bailiffs and debt collection agents for other things if this person has decided to try and leave their problems at their former address.
It will subside in time.

We had this problem, when we bought our current home.
We opened the door to them, but never invited them in. Yes, we learnt to keep morgage paperwork and ID within reach to prove we were not the debtors.

Tbh they were all lovely, we couldn't help them locate the people they needed. They stopped turning up over time.

I had bailiffs turn up once when I was working as a nanny.
I told them I'd never heard of the previous owners and that they family had lived there for x number of years.
They left and that was it!

Mind you, we're talking early 1990s so I don't know if/how much things have changed.