Previous resident of house claiming they still live here

[pips23]

I bought my house last summer. Prior to that it was rented out and the girl who lived here had to go into emergency accommodation with the council. I have no further information about her as obviously I didn't buy from her.

Since then I get weekly debt collection letters for her. Some of them are threatening action if she doesn't pay. Numerous companies and lots of debt.

I originally sent them back to sender with 'no longer at this address' then rang the companies to tell them when they continued.
Now the companies are saying that they have confirmed she still lives here but she obviously doesn't. I don't know what to do or how they are confirming she is living here. Would she be telling them or has she not changed her address at the bank or something?
I'm obviously concerned about this debt being connected to my house. Is there anything I can do?

We had this and also armed police at 6am on more than one occasion when he missed court appearances it was scary but I actually got angry in the end. I wrote to all local police enclosing copies of deeds with my name on, purchase details and council tax and threatened to sue for harassment if it carried on. I did the same with all the debt letters, returned them with proof enclosed and sent bailiffs packing with same. Eight years on the toad still uses this address occasionally.

Oh and I used the sellers solicitors address as care of for a forwarding address.

We had debt collectors knocking at the door in the property purchased. I had no idea the previous resident had debts as I was mailing back all the letter with his name on it marked “not at this address”. So debt collector was a surprise. I showed him my ID and documents from the solicitor which we got when buying this property. He left and I never heard anything since. It was 6 years ago

Depends who the “companies” are. If they are banks or other official organisations you can complain to the ombudsman and they’ll be told to stop harassing you. If they are private companies you just need to keep ringing them and telling them to stop. Tell them GDPR gives you the right to have your address removed from their database or you will report them!

It is not unless you intend to do so for your own financial gain e.g. commit fraud.

Don’t bother @Reugny - Kenny is quite convinced they are right despite people trying to tell them otherwise.

I had a very persistent debt collector. Got so fed up that in the end, I drew up an invoice for £75.00 for admin fees and enclosed a ledger that stated they had 30 days to remove the address from their books or I would send an invoice every time and enforce it if not paid.

Never heard from them again.

As several people have already stated... IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO OPEN MAIL. Just for the benefit of well, you know who. OP it is a pain but try not to worry. IF any bailiffs etc. appear you just need to show id.

@Kennykenkencat I think the responses show that the majority of people replying would find bailiffs and debt collectors more stressful than sitting on the phone.

I also would find it reasonable to open any post arriving at my house- there's nothing to say I actually check it's my name on the front if I receive a pile of letters, just open them together without individually checking. But even if I did see it wasn't mine, if I saw an envelope I suspected was a debt collector (I see enough at work to recognise the main ones), I would open it and ring. Again, I have dealt with enough of these to know that return to sender and not at this address letters get ignored- I don't think they actually open them, never mind open, find the right account and amend- but if i call then they open the account and update the system right away. I've called maybe 20 different agencies/ accounts in the last couple of years, and the only ones who havent have been banks and council tax.

How do you know what companies sent the letter?
If you opened the post yourself then you’ve committed a criminal offence.
I would be very careful.

Oh come on 🤦🏻‍♀️

Debt collector turns up don’t open your door but pass them/ show them a copy of your council tax bill and id.
Nothing can happen to you OP- don’t be intimidated by these companies and bully boys, not your debt, the person doesn’t live there. They can’t take you to court for not being this person

Debt is connected to a person not a house.
Not your debt, not your worry. Just return to sender. I wouldn't make contact, they probably won't believe you anyway.

@Kennykenkencat it's not necessarily illegal to open someone else's post in the UK.

Opening someone else’s mail is allowed in certain circumstances under the Postal Services Act 2000. It is only an offence if you open someone else’s mail ‘without reasonable excuse’ or if you ‘intend to act to another’s detriment’.

You are talking bollocks. @Flapjackquack has quoted the legislation and yet you still argue?

@Kennykenkencat oh I see many people have already corrected you.

@bobbytorq - I missed the full stop for a second 😂

🤣

Sorry, but the typo/autocorrect here has made me laugh 🤣

Same happened here. The guy who knocked was perfectly pleasant when I said they'd moved. I showed him some documents to prove that this was now our home, and gave him the details of the estate agent who sold it to us, and who would be able to confirm that the previous owner had left (it was useful that the same agent had sold her the house that she moved to).

But yes, the landlord's details will help if you find yourself in that position..

so you are saying I can open all the mail that comes to my house for other people,

Bank statements, credit card statements, medical appointments, their childrens medical appointments and it is perfectly legal?

Back in the days of landlines we used to get calls from debt collectors for previous residents of a house we lived in. The callers were nasty and quite threatening. In the end I said that if there were any more calls they would be viewed as harassment and reported as such to the police. The calls stopped. I would call the company who are hassling you again and say the same.

Please don’t worry. We had debt collectors turning up here looking for the former tenant, and also for the former neighbours.

they aren’t terrible people, just people trying to do their job and appreciative of any info you can provide. Usually if they see a car in your driveway they will run the number plate with someone they know who has access. Usually sorts it.

I work for a company that purchases debt from other lenders.

What’s most likely to have happened is that the companies have conducted a trace through the credit reference agencies, which confirms that she still has active credit at your address, with no onward address showing. Sometimes these things take time to filter through, either because she hasn’t updated her address yet on her bank account/other credit accounts, or hasn’t added herself to the electoral role at her new address, or applied for any new credit there. Essentially, until she does, yours is her last known validated address.

All you can keep doing is telling them that she doesn’t live there; you’re not required to do any more than that. There are no implications for you or your own credit at your address.

In a nutshell, yes. Technically, it would still constitute a data breach, but in this case that would be the fault of the company that sends the mail if they’ve wilfully ignored previous attempts by the OP to inform them that the person no longer lives there.