Chasing previous debtors

Some years ago one of my daughters went to her bank for a small loan (to purchase a car). She had been with this bank for decades, had her NHS salary paid into this monthly, her mortgage payments came from it and she had never been overdrawn. Loan was refused.

Reason, her partner, with whom she had not been for several years, had originally been on the joint mortgage - Seven years earlier he had been bought out - all carried out properly with appropriat paperwork. However, prior to that he had been 'borrowing' sums of money against the house. She knew that and had needed to deal with those coming round trying to collect those debts.

She had not at the same time sorted our the credit rating on the house. So - she then found out that although she had NEVER had a debt, the house had a bad credit rating due to his debts all k those years earlier.

Yes I had some very unusual part time jobs while I was at uni.
Ive also been a motivational speaker, a film extra and sung in night clubs.

I gave up being a (telephone) debt collector after 6 months because it made me feel ashamed to be harassing people, many of whom were desperate. I went on to a sales job which was easy peasy by contrast.

When I was interviewed for the job the manager made it sound like I was going to be "helping" people who had got into debt to structure their outgoings so they could gradually pay off what they owed. Thats what they do in Stepchange and the other debt charities. In a DCA you have the team leader on your back and then the manager on theirs. Its all pressure, pressure pressure to rake in the money with no consideration of whether the person you are talking to can afford it. People are not going to prioritise a debt over feeding their children.

There were a very small number of people I dealt with whom I would call "professional debtors" and who knew all the angles and how to manipulate the system. Before I left I read up on a lot of the rules and like all systems it CAN be manipulated. But then the system itself is rotten to the very core.

As with any system knowledge is power.

Crikey, Biglouis reading through your posts here you have certainly had some interesting job experiences: a dominatrix; a debt collector. You must have some stories to tell!
I agree that some people fall into the hands of debt collectors though unfortunate circumstances, but others, as referred to by the OP are just plain dishonest. Disappearing and leaving others to fight off your debts is awful, as is stealing someone’s identity. Both cause horrendous stress. Unfortunately we need the ultimate sanction of CCJs and enforcement bailiffs.

Daddima

Debt is registered against a person, not an address, so his credit rating will not be affected.

This has come up before!
The address can be flagged.
We had a serious problem with this and eventually took a solicitors advice as the CAB had told us the address is not flagged it IS!

Yes, first I forwarded to new address then started opening them and contacting the court or depot collector people. As soon as I realised bailiffs would be threatened I started doing this.

However, this was not connected to rental arrears ie attached to an address as well as a name., I presume that's when credit problems start.

People who incur debts are not all feckless. An unexpected change like illness/disability/losing your job etc can easily tip someone or a family into a position where there incomings do not cover their outgoings.

There is something sleazy and Dickensian about selling and buying debts.

A relative of mine fell into debt by unexpectedly losing their job. They enrolled in a debt management plan run by Stepchange to deal responsibly with their debts. Most of the companies accepted the plan. However others subsequently sold the debt to corrupt collection agencies. Although a proportion of the money had been paid off under the plan these agencies attempted to collect the full balance of the debt, ignoring the fact that a sum had already been paid off.

I discoverd that due to changes in consumer law the original agreements for some of the older debts could not be enforced. With the help of the CAG I was able to get the agencies to abandon the collection process and the debts eventually became statute barred.

Knowledge is power.

biglouis

I worked for a debt collection agency back in the 90s so it taught me a lot about the debt industry and how utterly corrupt it is. A debt collector as such has no more power over you than any other random person. They cannot "make" you pay them or take your goods. Only a court can order you to pay a debt and only a bailiff can enforce it.

Bailiffs work on commission. They cannot force their way into a domestic home. They can only break into a commercial premises. They work on commission and will usually give up after 3/4 visits and getting no answer.

They buy up debts in huge batches and pay pence in the pound for them so they system is rotten to the core. With a really old debt there are ways to manipulate the system and have a real fun time with these jokers. Eventually the debt may become "statute barred" and cannot be enforced in court.

There are some wonderful tales on the Consumer Action Group website of how debtors got the better of these parasites.

I believe the debtors could be labelled as “parasites” too!!

I worked for a debt collection agency back in the 90s so it taught me a lot about the debt industry and how utterly corrupt it is. A debt collector as such has no more power over you than any other random person. They cannot "make" you pay them or take your goods. Only a court can order you to pay a debt and only a bailiff can enforce it.

Bailiffs work on commission. They cannot force their way into a domestic home. They can only break into a commercial premises. They work on commission and will usually give up after 3/4 visits and getting no answer.

They buy up debts in huge batches and pay pence in the pound for them so they system is rotten to the core. With a really old debt there are ways to manipulate the system and have a real fun time with these jokers. Eventually the debt may become "statute barred" and cannot be enforced in court.

There are some wonderful tales on the Consumer Action Group website of how debtors got the better of these parasites.

My daughters ex boyfriend ran up debts which she discovered after she kicked him out. She received many letters and phone calls but after explaining that she owned the flat and he was a lodger no further action was taken. It did not affect her credit score.

Thanks GSM I shall do that

Yes. Or it will just carry on and you may end up with bailiffs on the doorstep. Or worse if judgment has been obtained against the former tenant and entry onto the premises has been authorised.

Letters from 02 for a previous tenant land on my mat frequently.
I used to forward them to his new address but they keep coming.
Now I put them in the recycle
Should I open them and find who is sending them and tell them to stop?

DD had to deal with this when an ex-flatmate left, leaving no forwarding address and lots of debts. DD prepared a letter stating the situation and sent this to every person writing to her ex-flatmate at her address. Cost her money for the stamps, but saved her a lot of hassle.

As she had her own clean credit references they could check that sorted the issue, although one or two did ring because they suspected that she might have been protecting a friend, but DD managed to convince them that her flatmate had left without leaving a forwarding address, which was what had happened.

This from Experian. There is also no such thing as a credit ‘blacklist’. Lenders use a scoring system, based on being on voters’ roll, length of time at address, payment history of previous credit, usage of credit facility, and number of ‘hard searches’ of your name. Each lender has a different score requirement. It’s also not necessarily a good thing to have no debt, as lenders can’t see your payment history.

Absolutely right Sago. People won’t believe it until they’re denied credit and then find out why.

Daddima

Debt is registered against a person, not an address, so his credit rating will not be affected.

This is not the case!
If a property is flagged you can have an awful problem.
The

Another good reason to have a ring doorbell.

Many yeags ago I moved into a rental. The previous tenant had gone bankrupt and they had the cheek to contact me with a hand delivered letter, asking me to pass on a large cheque they were expecting. My soliciter advised me not to do so and to return the cheque to the sender as "no longer at this address". Unfortunately there was no address so I returned it to the bank with a covering letter.

I also got a spate of letters from debt collectors. A debt collector has no power whatsoever to make you pay and you are not required to show them any ID or engage with them in any way if you do not wish to.

The first debt collectors who came were polite. I showed them my ID and they left. I dont usually agree with snitching, However I was so annoyed that the former tenant had attempted to draw me into subverting the terms of their bankruptcy that I gave the debt collecters their forwarding address.

One was rude and disrespectful. After I showed him my passport he demanded to see my tenancy agreement. I told him that I had showed him all the documents I proposed to. He said "Well that proves who you are but not the identity of anyone else living here."

I once did a 6 month stint on a telephone chat line where I performed the role of a domanatrix. Male customers would call in wanting to be verbally humiliated and some desired extreme verbal violence.

I can remember the look of pure hatred he gave me as he walked away after being on the recieving end.

Loved it.

We had tenants who thankfully always paid their rent but since they left nearly 3 years ago we still get post for them. I used to send it on to them. Then they moved again so I just put “not known at this address” and redirected it. Still they came and I started opening them and they were from debt collectors. Loads of them. I emailed one company and told them and theirs stopped but others carry on so I now just bin them.

I had this - former owner of the flat had returned to his home country, leaving no forwarding address.
He’d left debts all over - at least £20k worth.
Return to sender achieved precisely nothing - it all kept coming.

In the end I started opening the mail* and writing to or phoning the debt collectors, or whoever it was.
They were all perfectly reasonable and just asked me to send a copy of my council tax bill. There were at least 12 different debts IIRC. Once I’d done that, they all backed off.

*People often say it’s illegal to open anyone else’s mail, but in such circs - e.g. when you have no address to forward it to - it is not.
What really riles me is that I’m quite sure the bloke could return to the U.K. tomorrow, and absolutely nothing would happen to him.

According to Google, it’s the addressee who may be blacklisted, not the address, although that wasn’t the case years ago. My previous tenant was up to date with rent, but nothing else! In the end, I opened the letters and gave his forwarding address to the various agencies involved, then everything was binned after that. I’ve told my new tenant to bin any more post for him.
It’s a nuisance.

They will be flagged up against his address. So many people have had problems with getting credit after moving because their new address has been blacklisted.

If the debts are not in his name they will no effect on him.

I’m afraid that it is also registered against an address for the purpose of credit checks.

Debt is registered against a person, not an address, so his credit rating will not be affected.