Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Vendor nightmare - break in and visiting property

31 replies

Frustrateduk2019 · 03/01/2019 13:56

So turned out the vendor didn't hand over all the keys and broke into our house 6 days after completion and we moved in. Luckily I was in, her excuse was that she needed to do meter readings. I took the key off her and spoke to our solicitor and estate agent. The estate agent said he had words, and we changed our locks.

Problem is now the vendor keeps coming to the property asking about her letters, which we have forwarded onto her new address as requested.

It turns out that from googling the po box address on some of ghe letters are debt collection agencies, also a concern is credit cards arriving for members of the family who were not living at the address.. We have sent this back to the sender.

However - Where do we stand with the vendor keeps coming to the property?
Would like to know what you would do and what rights we have ?

OP posts:
EcoCalc · 03/01/2019 13:57

Call the police, and have your solicitor write to hers to bill her for your locks

pjllama · 03/01/2019 14:01

Call the police! She has no right to be there anymore!

TwoBlueFish · 03/01/2019 14:03

Tell her that you will be returning all mail to sender and that she should set up redirection with the post office.

Blondiecub0109 · 03/01/2019 14:05

Make sure she is off the electoral roll at your address - google your local authority electoral roll officer - don’t get robbed off with waiting for the next canvass, insist they take anyone not living there off. Also religiously return to sender all letters not addressed to you. I’ve had go through this a two different properties.

Original poster
Frustrateduk2019 · 03/01/2019 14:12

She keeps finding excuses on coming over. Today again was about letters
Just need her to stop coming over and dont know where we stand.

OP posts:
SassitudeandSparkle · 03/01/2019 14:16

You can't stop her coming round, you don't have to answer the door though. Just keep forwarding on their mail as you have done.

FaceLikeAPairOfTits · 03/01/2019 14:26

I wouldn't send post on to her, given how she's behaved, I'd return everything to sender.

wowfudge · 03/01/2019 14:27

Don't forward the mail - return it all to sender. Every single item. She should have set up mail forwarding before she moved out. The longer you keep forwarding it, the longer she'll keep coming round.

Tell her she isn't welcome and her repeated visits are tantamount to harassment. Shut the door and don't answer it to her again. If she comes back or shouts through the letterbox, etc then call the police. If you make it clear she isn't welcome but she persists in coming round, then you can do something about it.

Original poster
Frustrateduk2019 · 03/01/2019 19:47

Thanks all

OP posts:
Haworthia · 03/01/2019 19:49

Is she committing fraud? Taking out credit cards in family members’ names at YOUR address (and then hoping to intercept the cards as they arrive) sounds very fishy indeed.

If any more cards arrive, I would think nothing of opening them and then notifying the bank about what she’s doing.

Bringbackthestripes · 03/01/2019 19:54

Do NOT open any of the mail addressed to her.

According to the postal services Act 2000

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.

Original poster
Frustrateduk2019 · 03/01/2019 19:58

The cards were not opened but returned to sender

Going forward all post will be sent back to the original sender rather than forwarded on.

It looks like it's her partners dad's name from what I remember her saying when we initially viewed the property. Solicitors have instructed that if she comes to property again then I will report to the police.
We changed the locks last time but decided to not charge them, but to keep turning up is ridiculous

Just hope I don't get any bailiffs turning up after them...

OP posts:
PenguinPandas · 03/01/2019 20:08

The first incident is police level matter but I would always change locks on a property you buy to stop this happening. I would not forward mail would return to sender if you know her new address put it on it. If its debt collectors they will continue to send even after this but should stop with new address.

Officially you aren't allowed to open mail but if I had mail coming from debt collectors I would be phoning them and giving her new address etc. Can't stop her calling round, would either not open door or would tell her not forwarding mail and are returning it to sender and suggest she pays Royal Mail for mail forwarding or gives new address. If she continues to harrass you report to police. I wouldn't go to police yet but would if it continues.

Haworthia · 03/01/2019 20:48

Everyone always gets their knickers in a twist on MN about opening mail not addressed to them.

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

If OP opened mail, clearly containing a credit or debit card, addressed to Vendor’s relatives, with the intention of reporting to the bank, then she isn’t “acting to their detriment” and she does have “a reasonable excuse”. So what’s the problem?

theworldistoosmall · 03/01/2019 20:55

I wouldn’t bother opening anything. Everything returned to sender not known at this address.
If bailiffs/debt collectors come give them her new address and let them know when she moved.

walkingtheplank · 03/01/2019 21:08

We had bailiffs turn up the day we were moving in. Thankfully they could clearly see that we were the new owners.

It took around 4 years for the debt collection letters and credit card statements to stop. I did contact a few of the companies that I'd allready returned mail to and they all accused me of being the old owner trying to deceive them. I even had the new address but they weren't interested. How strange.

PenguinPandas · 03/01/2019 21:14

That is strange didn't want new address. I have had this with phone numbers, sometimes new phone numbers are ones people have changed from due to debt collectors etc. I explained we had bought house and they did say a lot of people pretend to have moved but they believed me and asked me if they knew where person lived. Calls stopped after that. I didn't know exact address but thought they still lived in same town.

HandsOffMyRights · 03/01/2019 21:28

We moved house two years ago. The purchase was horrendous and the vendors dodgy bullies. Threatening to pull out, 6ft 4 husband coming round my house to 'visit' when me and the kids were alone. Warning us to tell our solicitor to hurry up. He smashed a For Sale board on the estate agent's desk!

There were debts left right and centre.

These previous owners had a mail redirect for six months which was fine when we eventually moved in. They were also still friends with the postie (this is important to the tale)

For the past 18 months we've had letters, parking fines and when I checked, their cars were even registered to my address with the DVLA. It was a real faf and even now the DVLA thing is bubbling on.

Turns out the postie was also keeping mail from me. He claims he was returning to sender, but I suspected he was sending it on to the owners, so I reported him. I mean, their banks/credit cards could have been registered to my address! The post office assured me he had been reminded it was wrong to withold post(!) Unbelievable.

Some letters I simply return to sender. Others, if they look 'serious' I open. I want to know if a debt collector's coming. Good job I opened some as they were indeed red letters/warnings. I have no qualms about opening them.
I call the companies up/write to them and keep a copy of everything.

Many years ago the police did a dawn raid on my rental flat as the previous owner had got up to all sorts. Fortunately, because I'd kept all final demands etc, I was able to prove I was not this person!

I would say it's not appropriate to call round, get your solicitor to write to theirs and bill them.

I'd open relevant letters and return others to sender.
There are some CFs about.

Artus · 03/01/2019 21:28

This happened to us a few years ago. We had the police twice, bailiffs, child support agency a d some very dodgy characters knocking on the door. We were easily able to prove our identity and it stopped after a year or so. Vendor didn't leave a forwarding address!

redsummershoes · 03/01/2019 21:35

why didn't you change the locks? I would never rely on being given all sets.
our house was a hmo before we moved in. no fecking way did they only have 2 copies...

Original poster
Frustrateduk2019 · 04/01/2019 11:51

We didn't change the locks initially as I went away the day of the move and when i came back my partner and to go so no time until a week after the move to change the locks

However have been advised that we can go down the harassment line if needed

Thanks for all your input

OP posts:
bibbitybobbityyhat · 04/01/2019 11:56

I would have called the police the day she let herself into your house to read the meters!

ChangoMutney · 04/01/2019 12:01

Take all the post to the EA and tell her to collect it from them. It’s not uncommon for vendors not to leave a forwarding address so this is what EA’s advise the new owner to do, I know it’s the other way around in your case, but the EA will be used to it.

wowfudge · 04/01/2019 13:07

No way would I be making a trip to the EAs with this woman's post. Return it all to sender - stick it in the nearest post box and have done with it.

purplerainbows · 04/01/2019 13:13

That's crazy, I'd return everything as not known at this address