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

I am not ageist (in my 70's myself) but every day less confident people are conned by fake roofers, drive pressure washer services and so on. This one has all the hallmarks of a scam. No one is expecting blues and twos and the Flying Squad but a call to the non urgent service is a good idea. As I have already said, police would rather know about such things BEFORE crime has occurred

This is just the sort of problem PCSO’s.are there to deal with.
You can request a visit from your local team.

I would ignore them if they turned up

suggesting we should sell because we are old? No.

addressed to us and asking us if we want to sell, yes.

it’s a very high demand area.

Your neighbours are elderly and have said they feel “upset and frightened” by the letter. Please report it to the police. Install a ring doorbell or some other form
of CCTV.

This is really misinformed. These are just the ones that you see on TV and on those programmes about rogue landlords/tenants. They make up a tiny minority of HMOs.

The majority of HMOs are tenanted with students or young professionals trying to keep their housing costs low in order to save a deposit to buy. These people are all tax payers or students receiving student finance or assistance from parents. Not benefit claimants.

It’s the personalised letter is the big issue
. It’s addressed to the residents
. Mentions that they are elderly

So:
. How do they know their name?
. How do they know they are elderly? There’s nothing to say from looking at the house from the pavement outside to say that they are elderly.
. How do they know it’s just the couple living there?

They must have been spying

OP - unless they are renting, they got their names from the UK Land Registry. This is a public document. It is likely to say when the property was last sold which would give a clue to their ages. If one if them was a company director at some point, that would give their month and birth year. Lots if ways online you can find these things out, potentially.

A property developer would most certainly know all this. A clever burglar might also. Im not saying it isnt intimidating but that is hiw they know. You can ask for your details to be redacted in the Land Registry under certain circs.

I feel like people are still minimising what is actually the most problematic part: that they 'will visit them on Thursday at 11am'.
I'm not elderly or otherwise vulnerable, but I still find that threatening and intimidating.

So isn't the usual type of letter many of us have experienced then.

That’s a lot of personalised research though and the implication they should sell because it’s just the two of them is definitely disturbing.

And do those letters have NO contact details for the person who wrote the letter and state a date and time when they will be coming to your house?

If they own their own home then it is possibly just an estate agent trying to tout for business albeit in the most underhanded disgusting way. If it is a council house then it could be someone looking for a bigger house in that area and has found the names and details out and that would be dodgy. I am not sure the police would take it seriously as dont they normally wait for a crime to be commited to even bother getting involved.

If its an EA behaving in this way they that definitely needs to be reported to the police as harassment. I doubt its a council swap as the letter talks about turning it into an HMO.
I'd definitely say this falls under either harassment or fraud/scam and therefore the police themselves want you to report it https://www.police.uk/pu/contact-us/

I'm a bit baffled by the "shrugging off" attitude of some posters.

In what world is it acceptable to cast moral value judgements on average elderly citizens and use it as a tactic for financial gain? Whether their home, which they own, is underoccupied or not, is no-one's business but their own.

The personal targeting is very unsettling, and the promise of a visit at a specified time is nothing but intimidating.

HMOs have their place, lived in one as a student, but they are ripe for exploitation by the unscrupulous. And if the person wishing to turn this house into one is using these tactics, I doubt they'll be providing fluffy towels and a chocolate on the pillow to potential tenants.

The objectionable person who sent this should be educated and told in no uncertain terms that even if this is a misguided marketing strategy of some sort, it's not acceptable. Whether that falls to the police or some other official body requires some guidance.

Honestly I'm gobsmacked on the daily about how low the bar is for supporting vulnerable members of the community.

And if this is any sort of stirring around politically contentious housing issues such as those mentioned up thread, it's just fuelling a fire that needs to be put out.

Don't underestimate the amount of free information that's out there with very little effort. Even if data protection were taken seriously there would be a lot.

Thousands of the same letters can be sent out and now and again enough of them hit the right kind of people. It’s just like a message you may get on your phone saying that you’re due for a tax bait or something.

Thousands of the same letters can be sent out and now and again enough of them hit the right kind of people.

I guess if you use the name Smith ?

I think you need to read the thread.

It can be, but it's still a shitty thing to do because it's directly "targeting" old people who feel vulnerable. Even if they're sending the letter to everyone the people it will fit are the people most likely to be unsettled. There are about 3 options, none of them reflect well on the letter writers

1. It's a letter sent out to lots of homeowners hoping to hit their mark. Shitty
2. It's specifically directed to the individual homeowners because someone has identified them as 2 older people living alone (either through the land reg or observation). Shitty
3. It's someone trying to shit stir/fear monegwr for the fun if it. Shitty

I already posted earlier, but on the reference to HMOs made me think because normally someone trying to buy a house in these circumstances would emphasize it could ba a lovely family home for a new family (and then convert it to be an HMO). It's easier to pull on the heartstrings and persuade people to sell that wayz than specifically mentioning you intendnto turn it into a HMO as.those are unpopular. So it could be a sort of prank. But a really horrible one because it's focused on winding up/potentially scaring vulnerable people.

They should ignore it and if Mr Wossname ever does knock, just say they are not interested and any further contact will be illegal harrassment.

Mr Wossname is perfectly entitled to find out the names of any property owners by paying a small fee to the Land Registry to find out whose name is on the Deeds. This is publicly available knowledge.

Your friends are perfectly entitled to own a house of any size that they can afford the upkeep of. My parents consider a 4 bedroom house to be the minimum that 2 people can get by in, with a guest room and each of them having a workroom/study - and yes it could easily be a 5 bedroom HMO with one of the 2 reception rooms being a bedroom, but no one has the right to force them to downsize if that isn't their choice.

that's fine. I could certainly tell them to fuck the fuck off, tell them they were on camera and deal with them without breaking sweat. However as I said upthread, there are loads of people my age or younger who, for various reasons, would not be able to do this. If there was not, roof/drive/window/car valet scammers would not exist.

PS people are entitled to own and live in houses even if they cannot afford the upkeep!

Mr Wossname is perfectly entitled to find out the names of any property owners by paying a small fee to the Land Registry to find out whose name is on the Deeds. This is publicly available knowledge.

Not all ownership details are on the :Land Registry. Especially if ownership has not changed in the 58 years we have been told the owners have lived there.

My parents live in a 4 bedroom house. Two bedrooms are a study and a dressing room.

They downsized by a bedroom, a reception room, a garage and a smaller plot.

I would not be happy if they received a letter like my friend’s neighbours.

Besides if the pest letter writer wants to convert my friend’s neighbours property to a HMO, the rooms are not big enough!

On that note, wish companies didn’t use mother’s maiden name as a security question. As siblings have the same MMN. As well as cousins from your DM’s sisters. Then women don’t get married to have children so these children’s MMN is their mother’s current surname