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

[Blopi]

Friend’s elderly neighbours came back from holiday to find a letter delivered by person. It has made them upset and frightened.

It was addressed to them personally Mr and Mrs (surname)
They said that their home is too big for the couple and would be suitable for a 5 bedroom HMO. Willing to pay £Xk for it (properties have been selling for 10-15% more) and will visit them on Thursday at 11am to discuss things. Signed by Mr (common surname). No phone number or email address.

Her neighbours have zero intention of moving home as they have lived there for 58 years. They are upset on how they are targeted and wondering how did they get their names?

In the past I had these letters which have been sent to others down the estate. Though not intimidating like this letter, nor personalised.

Unfortunately my friend is working on Thursday. She would have loved to have seen if the person turned up and told

Should my friend phone the police on the non emergency line about this? As maybe something else dodgy going on

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.😔

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!

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 .

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

I agree. That’s what community police officers are good at. Show them the letter and keep it. This could be the start of a sustained campaign of pressure and intimidation for all anyone knows.

Certainly threatening and possibly elder abuse. I would report it to the police. Get an email address and put it in writing to them just in case something comes of it.

Can you rig up a Ring doorbell and post a written note beside it, suggesting to Mr common surname they can leave a message on the Ring doorbell, including an address, full name and contact number for the Police to get back to them in due course. Then ignore anyone arriving, unannounced and unknown to the couple. A camera of some description would always be a good suggestion for vulnerable people.

That's not very "good neighbourly". We'll all be elderly and vulnerable one day.

This (& apologies as I clicked YABU by accident!)

It sounds like a good idea that there is someone there to witness what happens and make sure they are not bulldozed into signing anything.

You can buy access to the deeds for not very much money. It tells you who owns it. Run a check against the electoral role. The land registry will also state the last sold date and price, so it will be obvious it’s nobody young. It really doesn’t take much effort at all to find out quite a bit about a property.

But if someone upset your granny by threatening her you'd be happy to support granny and let the person move on to the next granny to threaten them. They might not have family.

I would have someone there in case someone comes they can be manipulated or intimidated I would have someone stern there so they know they are not alone and to just go away and not come back or send anymore letters .

Definately report it as this could be people working in the area to case peoples houses, someone else may get robbed or pressured to part with money. No one should make unsolicited calls to purchase something that is not for sale. If they show up at any time shout that you’ve called the police through the door and go from there

Someone has made a point of noting who lives there, gone to the trouble of finding out their name, written a personal letter in terms that the sale is going to happen, and invited themselves round at a specified date and time to 'negotiate'.
I'm baffled that you don't see what's intimidating about that, and particularly to an elderly couple.

Dear heavens, they've been on holiday so they must be fully capable 🙄

They have said they feel threatened.

But if you receive a call trying to sell you something using names and your phone number purchased from a company who sold your data telling you the same thing it’s somewhat less intimidating? You hang up the phone and say don’t call me again. I think posters are imagining that someone has been sitting in the bushes with binoculars or something when in reality they did a couple google searches on the address…

Me too. 101 would be very helpful here - I’ve contacted them in the past with concerns about an elderly relative being taken advantage of & they took it very seriously (& scared off the scam artist!)

Agree.
And arrange for a neighbour to be on hand if they do call round.
Yes, the Police may not do anything in this particular instance but it alerts them to what's going on and might help them prevent financial abuse of a vulnerable person. The elderly couple feel intimidated so their friends and neighbours should be supporting and reassuring them, not just telling them to ignore it.

You can use the official 'no cold callers' sign to gormally yell people they cannot come to your property unless invited (or a delivery person of course)