Legal proceedings being threatened against previous owner of house

[norrahe]

A while back i mentioned that the previous owner of my house had defaulted on a loan, it seems now the bank has is threatening legal action against him.

He hasn't updated his records (obviously) and now we could have debt collectors on our doorstep for something that has nowt to do with us.

I'm sending a letter via recorded delivery to his bank, but am not sure if there is anything else I can do.

[Zippy]

A while back i mentioned that the previous owner of my house had defaulted on a loan, it seems now the bank has is threatening legal action against him.

He hasn't updated his records (obviously) and now we could have debt collectors on our doorstep for something that has nowt to do with us.

I'm sending a letter via recorded delivery to his bank, but am not sure if there is anything else I can do.

Not much else you can do, although it must be clear to the bank that this man doesn't live there any more. Do you fill in your electoral roll form?
This will not affect your credit ratings but you might want to use the free trials to check them.
Debt collectors have no right to enter your property unless they have a warrant (which they won't get). If they do turn up tell 'em to piss off and don't come back. If they hassle you report 'em to the (I think) FSA (similarly with the bank).
Moneysavingexpert might be the place to go if you are at all worried, but I really wouldn't worry.

[DaveB]

A while back i mentioned that the previous owner of my house had defaulted on a loan, it seems now the bank has is threatening legal action against him.

He hasn't updated his records (obviously) and now we could have debt collectors on our doorstep for something that has nowt to do with us.

I'm sending a letter via recorded delivery to his bank, but am not sure if there is anything else I can do.

We had the same thing. Guy we bought the house from took off with £50k in unpaid loans and a brand new LandRover Discovery on HP. Last we heard he was in Latvia somewhere.

You wont get anyone turning up on the door step unless you ignore the letters. Just make sure that every time you get a collections agency letter you call them and inform them that he no longer lives there and hasn't for however long it has been.

You'll probably have to go through 3 or 4 rounds of this as the debts gets sold on as each agency realizes they are not going to be able to collect from the address they have. Eventually someone will find him or they will just give up. Took almost 3 years for that to happen with us.

It's a minor hassle but no more than that.

[Wanderer]

This will not affect your credit ratings but you might want to use the free trials to check them.

Your credit rating depends on what the lender thinks of your credit report. If they see that someone at your address has CCJs against them then I'm pretty sure it will affect their decision.

I checked my credit report and there were a number of people listed as "connected persons" even though I had never met most of them (they just lived at my address before me).

If you are applying for any credit, then you may want to file a "notice of disassociation" saying that this person lived there before you and you have no connection to them having never met them.

[thunderlizard]

You wont get anyone turning up on the door step unless you ignore the letters. Just make sure that every time you get a collections agency letter you call them and inform them that he no longer lives there and hasn't for however long it has been.

that's what I'd say. Debt collectors are well used to it. If any do turn up, don't let them in and don't sign anything.

[Gonzo]

As the others have said, the first thing for you to keep in the front of your mind at all times is that they cannot do anything to you, absolutely nothing.

They will try and intimidate and bully you, that is their job. But they cannot do anything, whatever they might say. If you were the defaulter, that would be different, but you are not so don't let them make it your problem.


I am being chased at the moment. Tiscali screwed up disconnecting me as a customer when I left my last place in the UK. They cancelled my telephone, broadband, basic TV service and SKY Sports, but they kept on billing for an add-on TV package that I had been using. (No, it wasn't an adult channel ).

Eventually I persuaded them to stop billing but they were still of the opinion that I owed them £12.

This debt was sold on to a debt collection agency. I received three letters in May/June of last year from them threatening court action. They never took me to court.

In June of this year I received another series of letters from a different debt collection agency threatening to take me to court. With their charges added on the debt is now £90.

I wish they would take me to court so that it gets sorted out but I doubt they will. I did try phoning the debt collectors initially but they are thugs and you can't reason with them, they just want payment and nothing else. I suspect that is the only measure that their pay is based upon.

I understand that I can expect to receive another series of letters next June from a third debt collection agency. I won't be paying to have my mail forwarded from my old address any more by that point so I doubt I will ever see them although there is still a chance that a letter may go to my parents' address so I might be lucky.

I doubt that I will get a knock on the door for the sums involved. I can be linked to my current address from my old address through the Companies House records so it is not impossible to track me down.

[doodab]

As the others have said, the first thing for you to keep in the front of your mind at all times is that they cannot do anything to you, absolutely nothing.

They will try and intimidate and bully you, that is their job. But they cannot do anything, whatever they might say. If you were the defaulter, that would be different, but you are not so don't let them make it your problem.


I am being chased at the moment. Tiscali screwed up disconnecting me as a customer when I left my last place in the UK. They cancelled my telephone, broadband, basic TV service and SKY Sports, but they kept on billing for an add-on TV package that I had been using. (No, it wasn't an adult channel ).

Eventually I persuaded them to stop billing but they were still of the opinion that I owed them £12.

This debt was sold on to a debt collection agency. I received three letters in May/June of last year from them threatening court action. They never took me to court.

In June of this year I received another series of letters from a different debt collection agency threatening to take me to court. With their charges added on the debt is now £90.

I wish they would take me to court so that it gets sorted out but I doubt they will. I did try phoning the debt collectors initially but they are thugs and you can't reason with them, they just want payment and nothing else. I suspect that is the only measure that their pay is based upon.

I understand that I can expect to receive another series of letters next June from a third debt collection agency. I won't be paying to have my mail forwarded from my old address any more by that point so I doubt I will ever see them although there is still a chance that a letter may go to my parents' address so I might be lucky.

I doubt that I will get a knock on the door for the sums involved. I can be linked to my current address from my old address through the Companies House records so it is not impossible to track me down.

It might be worth phoning Tiscali, explaining the situation, making a "formal complaint" to the complaints department, which they will then have to take seriously. If they don't sort it out then you can usually move on to a 3rd party.

Ask Ofcom - How do I dispute a bill?

I had a similar situation with a former ISP who's final bill attempted to overcharge me about £300. I took them through arbitration with CISAS and was eventually offered compenation > the amount they claimed I owed in the first place.

[norrahe]

I rang the collection and recoveries people as mentioned on the letters, and they have agreed to remove the address from their records (whether this happens or not is another thing).

I'm sending the letter anyway just to make sure and will document the phone call I had with them.

Hopefully this will be the last.

I have checked a while back with experian whether this would affect my credit records and they have said it won't.

[SueEllen]

It might be worth phoning Tiscali, explaining the situation, making a "formal complaint" to the complaints department, which they will then have to take seriously. If they don't sort it out then you can usually move on to a 3rd party.

Ask Ofcom - How do I dispute a bill?

WHS

However don't expect the arbitration scheme to help you straight away as there is a time limit before they can help you.

Also don't bother ringing Tiscali up as they will insist that you owe the debt even if you try and explain why you do not, do everything in writing via recorded delivery giving them 14 days to reply in writing. They will reply in 21-28 days if you do this or 4 months if you don't give them a time limit.

Tiscali re-set up direct debits twice in 9 months to help themselves to money from my bank account. Luckily for me the current account I was using is with a provider who doesn't quibble if you use the direct debit guarantee to claim your money back.

I had to threaten Tiscali with court action before they left me alone.

[Wanderer]

I had a similar situation with a former ISP who's final bill attempted to overcharge me about £300. I took them through arbitration with CISAS and was eventually offered compenation > the amount they claimed I owed in the first place.

I've had similar experience to Doodab. Hit a brick wall with the ISP and eventually took it to the CISAS. Make sure you follow the CISAS procedure properly and file your case with them. They then give the ISP 14 days to respond.

My ISP responded the next day by writing off the bill (a similar amount in dispute as Gonzo) and they paid me £150 (credited to my debit card the same day) to withdraw the complaint from the CISAS. Result!