[Sven945]

I moved into a rented house about six weeks ago, and this morning I got a card through the door addressed to one of the previous tennants. It says:

I CONFIRM THAT I WILL BE CALLING TO DISCUSS THE RECENT COMMUNICATION FROM CSL

ON:.....WEDNESDAY........
BETWEEN: 9.00am - 9.00pm

If this is inconvenient please contact us using the telephone number and reference printed on the address side of the card.

Regards,

J.White.

Power 2 Contact Ltd,
Registered Office: Capella Court, Brighton Road, Purley, CR8 2PG.

Certainly very vague, and a search on google tells me they are a debt collection agency.

Now, since it's all about one of the previous tennants then I know I should have nothing to worry about, but I've heard lots of scare stories about things like this.

Any advice on what to do? Things I should/shouldn't say? There's a (geographical) phone number on the front which I could phone, but I very much doubt that they'd forget about it all after a phone call telling them that the person they want doesn't live here! I've found a goldmine of advice for if the debt was actually mine, but nothing (other than more scare stories!) about what to do about debt that isn't mine.

[cosham]

All you need to do is prove who you are,driving licence,tenancy agreement with the date you moved in should help,letters addressed to you that sort of thing. Most debt collection agencies are ok, but if they get nasty call the police straight away.Good luck with it anyway.

[Deathwarmedup]

When I moved house a few years ago we had bailiffs turn up for the previous tenant. As soon as I showed them I had nothing to do with the person they were after they went away. I showed them my driving licence and signed a form they produced saying who I was and how I had nothing to do with the matter. They were very polite about it all and I've not been bothered since.

[THE MIXER]

Ring the number tell them that you moved in x amount of weeks ago and this guy aint here anymore, tell them the agency you rent the house off of and tell them to call them

Then ring the agency yourself saying that you have a card saying that a debt collector is coming round, they should be able to sort it out

BTW I wouldn't try to get any credit you might be declined as this house your living will probably be blacklisted

also I dont want to worry you but its probably why the last guy has done a runner as there might be more of these cards or letters on the way

[Claratana]

This happened to me once. The guys that came round looked very scary - they were typical 'heavies' - but were fine when we explained that we had just moved in.

Then we started getting anonymous hand delivered notes addressed to the previous tenant which were also quite threatening.

When we called the police their response was when we told them who used to live in the house was: "If you find him, let us know because we're looking for him too!"

[THE MIXER]

Keep the door locked at all times as if one of these guys has been to your house before and been invited inside by the last person (debtor) they can just walk in univited next time and take stuff,

However they cant do this unless they have been in the house before but you wont know that though

[StressMonkey]

It only took a phone call to stop a debt collection agency looking for the former occupants at our house. We just told them the date we bought the house.

Might be different as they could check with the land registry that we were telling the truth.

[StressMonkey]

Originally Posted by THE MIXER

Keep the door locked at all times as if one of these guys has been to your house before and been invited inside by the last person (debtor) they can just walk in univited next time and take stuff,

However they cant do this unless they have been in the house before but you wont know that though

I thought the law on entering premises changed so baliffs didn't need to have entered before in order to break in? I know there was some talk of changing the law about six months ago. Hopefully I'm wrong about the law being passed, just because of situations like this.

[Sven945]

Cheers, thanks for your help everyone. I'll give them a ring on Monday morning to explain the situation. Of course it won't stop anyone coming over, but at least it might mean that I won't have to explain my bit to someone who may look like they are desperate to beat me up!

Originally Posted by THE MIXER

BTW I wouldn't try to get any credit you might be declined as this house your living will probably be blacklisted

I've had credit checks here from Virgin Media and also BT and not had any problems at all. Are you sure that a property can have problems like that, even if it can be proven that the person responsible has moved on?

Originally Posted by THE MIXER

Keep the door locked at all times as if one of these guys has been to your house before and been invited inside by the last person (debtor) they can just walk in univited next time and take stuff,

However they cant do this unless they have been in the house before but you wont know that though

Are you sure about that? Especially since it's completely different people living in the house, I very much doubt they'd have any more legal right to enter than if they'd never been before (which would be none).

[dtr TV expert]

Phone them up on the number provided and state your situation.

[fraggle33]

We had this when we moved into our place.
The woman who lived here before us was in soooooo much debt!
The debt collectors came round, I had to show driving licence, a bill and my marriage certificate to prove that I was not her!
They never came again, don't know if they found her, I think she went somewhere abroad, hope she stays there!!!

[jackol]

Originally Posted by THE MIXER

Keep the door locked at all times as if one of these guys has been to your house before and been invited inside by the last person (debtor) they can just walk in univited next time and take stuff,

However they cant do this unless they have been in the house before but you wont know that though

FFs, what are you on about! As the poster doesnt owe anything then no one can take anything from him/her.

[jackol]

Originally Posted by fraggle33

We had this when we moved into our place.
The woman who lived here before us was in soooooo much debt!
The debt collectors came round, I had to show driving licence, a bill and my marriage certificate to prove that I was not her!
They never came again, don't know if they found her, I think she went somewhere abroad, hope she stays there!!!

You didnt have to show them anything! Simply say "they dont live here anymore, now p**s off". Thats what i did, never heard nothing since. I certainly wouldnt go running my house looking for documents that prove who i am because some tosser on the doorsatep doesnt believe me.

[Sven945]

Okay... That was incredibly easy! I just phoned them up, explained the situation, gave some details (name, which I was slightly uncomfortable with, but I assumed there's be no way of sorting it without giving my name) and it's apparently all sorted!

Thanks again for your help everyone.

[Deathwarmedup]

Originally Posted by jackol

You didnt have to show them anything! Simply say "they dont live here anymore, now p**s off". Thats what i did, never heard nothing since. I certainly wouldnt go running my house looking for documents that prove who i am because some tosser on the doorsatep doesnt believe me.

Paragon of politeness aren't you.

[Sven945]

A kind of follow up thing... Is having a previous tennnant with unpaid debts likely to affect me? If I were to get a credit card then I'd probably have it registered to my home address (I'm a uni student and I'm still "based" at home rather than in this house), but could it affect me in the future? For example on things where I need to list addresses that I've lived in for the past five years.

If so, is there anything that I can do about it? Or is it just a (very unfortunate) fact of life?

[JasonWatkins]

Baliffs are the only people who can enter your house legally and un-invited.

[ForestChav]

Nah, I don't think an address can be blacklisted, only an individual.

[jackol]

Originally Posted by JasonWatkins

Baliffs are the only people who can enter your house legally and un-invited.

No they arent!
Police, fire, custom and excise, gas and electricty board. A whole host of people can and wil enter your property.

[jackol]

Originally Posted by Deathwarmedup

Paragon of politeness aren't you.

If he hadnt been so big headed and obnoxious i may have helped him. As it was all i did was put the onus on him to prove i wasnt the previous tenant.

[birdmj]

YOU are under no obligation to do anything, however you should naturally be civil. The bailiff / DCA is doing a job, you are living at a location that they have on their list.

You do not have to make any expenditure (phone calls, letters that cost you postage etc) unless you wish to.
You can leave a notice on your door thats sufficient.

However, I strongly suggest that you call them and bring this to their attention. Be specific, tell them if you have a forwarding address for the person they are seeking. If the police are involved then you should definitely inform them of any information you are party to.

You should NOT give the bailiff entry to your address, their seizure order relates to the previous tenant. However it doesn't matter. The bailiff cannot seize (or engage in Walking Possession) of anything that is not the property (or joint property) of the person nominated on the order.

You should immediately call the police if any person seeks, forcefully or otherwise, to gain unlawful entry to your residence.

[JasonWatkins]

Originally Posted by jackol

No they arent!
Police, fire, custom and excise, gas and electricty board. A whole host of people can and wil enter your property.

police can only enter with probable cause or a warrant. they can't just walk in uninvited.

the emergency services can enter for emergencies obviously - that includes firemen, ambulancemen and also if they suspect a gas leak.

the also cannot just walk in.

TV licence inspectors, despite what they would try and make you believe, also cannot just enter your property.

Baliffs are allowed to enter your property to pursue unpaid debts and fines regardless of if you invite them or not.

[THE MIXER]

Originally Posted by Sven945

I've had credit checks here from Virgin Media and also BT and not had any problems at all. Are you sure that a property can have problems like that, even if it can be proven that the person responsible has moved on?

Are you sure about that? Especially since it's completely different people living in the house, I very much doubt they'd have any more legal right to enter than if they'd never been before (which would be none).

It can do, the whole house can become blacklisted, but its easily sorted out though you have to disassociate yourself from it by contacting experian/equifax should you have any problems

With regards to the second paragraph, these people will not be aware of the current situation ie they will still think their guy is still living there, there is a law that allows these people to enter the house again without permission if they have been in the house before, so if they have been to your house before (you wont know anyway if they have or havent) but they will come thinking that you are the other guy and walk straight in or climb through the window however another poster has just said that they have changed this law within the last 6 months so these people dont need to have been invited in before

[THE MIXER]

Originally Posted by jackol

FFs, what are you on about! As the poster doesnt owe anything then no one can take anything from him/her.

I know that but the collectors/bailiffs dont know its a different person, suppose the OP is in the garden putting the washing out and these people come and see the door open they can just walk in and take mr X stuff etc not knowing mr X isnt there anymore its mr y instead

[jackol]

Originally Posted by JasonWatkins

police can only enter with probable cause or a warrant. they can't just walk in uninvited.

the emergency services can enter for emergencies obviously - that includes firemen, ambulancemen and also if they suspect a gas leak.

the also cannot just walk in.

TV licence inspectors, despite what they would try and make you believe, also cannot just enter your property.

Baliffs are allowed to enter your property to pursue unpaid debts and fines regardless of if you invite them or not.

I never mentioned TV Inspectors. You are very wrong when you say no one can enter your property without a warrant. As i pointed out the police can, the gas and electric services can, custom and excise can, and that is just off the top of my head.
I think you will find that bailiffs have only a "peaceful right of entry" They can enter through an open door or window but cannot break in.The only bailiff that can do that (with a warrant) is from the Collector of Taxes.
http://www.payplan.com/debt-library/...le&kw=bailiffs