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Bailiffs turning up at new place while I'm away

Bailiffs came round yesterday and left a threatening note, saying they will take £1,500 worth of stuff (previous owners name.) Only has a mobile number to ring.

Isn't £1500 the point where bailiffs become entitled to a percentage of the value of any debt/goods recovered? 7.5%?

Less than that, all they can claim for themselves is a fixed fee.

Also, did they give any hint as to just what the "debt" was? IIRC, bailiffs enforcing Council Tax debts have considerably more power to "recover" compared to ordinary bailiffs or shonky debt collectors.
 
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I once had bailifs chasing someone else's debt at a rental place ask for proof of tenancy and I told them to sod off as I couldn't be arsed. They said that if I didn't show them then they would have to visit regularly until the matter was settled to which I replied that suited me as I wouldn't let them in anyway and it would give them less time to hassle other people. They never came back.
 
One of the people who lived in my flat while I was away has not changed the address on his driving licence and keeps racking up traffic violations. This has gone to court and resulted in bailiffs coming round to collect.

I told showed them my council tax bill and they left and have never returned.

I sent every letter back "return to sender - does not live here" but that had no effect. He's at it again so the letters just go in the bin now.
 
Since you’ve just bought the thing, you could try asking your solicitors… I mean they’ll probably turn around and ask you for a fee, but just state in the email that you need to be informed before any billing.

And no, of course they can’t take your things… the whole point in much of the long winded stuff you’ve just been through is to make sure debts aren’t attached to the property.
 
I had them here and think I just called them… didn’t ask for proof or anything. They’re not necessarily stupid, just evil.

e2a: if they do ask for proof, tell them you need proper contact details first, as per pogo’s post.
 
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I'm probably being naive here being lucky enough not to deal with something like this, but if they turn up again and you are on your own could you phone 999 and tell them they are men outside threatening to come in and you've just moved in and you are really scared? Lay it on a bit thick.

If they are genuine court appointed bailiffs it will get sorted out, if they are dodgy ones, I'd have thought they won't want the hassle.
 
And yet if you cut a bailiff's head off, stuff its mouth with garlic, and bury it at a crossroads, all of a sudden you're supposedly the one in the wrong.
Quite right too! It's bad enough that the local bus gets diverted every time Thames Water decides they want to dig up our street.
 
the people living at our place before we moved in set off with a leat 70000 debt and moved to a different country. they took out loads of loans, bought an expensive car, didn't pay bills etc. they had it planned, most of their debt was accumulated a month or two before we moved in.
good on them, they were hard working but very poor.

had different bailiffs from different agencies turning up at different times over the years. some of them were shown id and told the others had moved, some of them were told to fuck off, some of them were ignored. all approaches worked.

there are a couple of heavies lingering on like a bad smell, but I trust they'll have fucked off in a couple of months.
 
I had this for ongoing debts and parking fines etc.

Get yourself on the electoral roll, and email the council to ensure the old resident is definitely off. A council tax bill works well to ward off bailiffs and debt collectors. You can take a picture of this and WhatsApp it to the mobile number given.

The letters have been decreasing since I started to returning to sender. I also tried to inform DVLA that the address was wrong, but due to data protection they wouldn't alter the record on the say-so of a third party. Seems to be a bit better now anyway.
 
I sort of had this in Birmingham - snotty letter method, rather than "send the heavies round".

I just sent them a photocopy of my passport with my Russian visa and dates of entry and exit of said country, proving I couldn't have been at that address during the time period they mentioned.
 
A leaflet with a mobile phone number on it doesn't sound at all like a court appointed bailiff / sheriff. Its much more likely to be some standard bailiff company who have purchased a load of private debt for pennies. Maybe a utilities bill unpaid or something.

Its all pretty normal and when it happened at my old house I just phoned them up and explained the situation and they were fine with that. I know some people like to get all fighty in this situation but I'm firmly in the camp of just make the problem go away as easily as possible. Save your energy for important stuff.
 
A leaflet with a mobile phone number on it doesn't sound at all like a court appointed bailiff / sheriff. Its much more likely to be some standard bailiff company who have purchased a load of private debt for pennies. Maybe a utilities bill unpaid or something.

Its all pretty normal and when it happened at my old house I just phoned them up and explained the situation and they were fine with that. I know some people like to get all fighty in this situation but I'm firmly in the camp of just make the problem go away as easily as possible. Save your energy for important stuff.

Yeah, like I said, these people may be pieces of shit, but they're not necessarily complete idiots. There's no point in them wasting time pursuing something they can't legally claim... It will probably just be a case of 'yeah, purchased the house a month ago, all checks were carried out and debts will have been transferred'. If they want proof 'your collector just left a note with a mobile number, could you send through something more formal?'. Stick to standard phone call manner.

Can't remember exactly what I did, I think it was just a phone call.
 
I know some people like to get all fighty in this situation but I'm firmly in the camp of just make the problem go away as easily as possible. Save your energy for important stuff.
I've never been fighty with bailiffs but I do feel it's my duty to be arsey and uncooperative around them if only to drain a little energy that would otherwise be spent hassling those less fortunate than myself.
 
I'm probably being naive here being lucky enough not to deal with something like this, but if they turn up again and you are on your own could you phone 999 and tell them they are men outside threatening to come in and you've just moved in and you are really scared? Lay it on a bit thick.

If they are genuine court appointed bailiffs it will get sorted out, if they are dodgy ones, I'd have thought they won't want the hassle.

IME, Police are really, really unwilling to turn-out for bailiff-related matters and try and dismiss it as a civil matter - even if the cunts are on to the wrong person. For this to work, you would have to lay it-on very thick! :(
 
I've never been fighty with bailiffs but I do feel it's my duty to be arsey and uncooperative around them if only to drain a little energy that would otherwise be spent hassling those less fortunate than myself.

Yeah, this. Also their job is making people miserable, so it's only fair that those they encounter in pursuit of that task should return the favour as far as possible.
 
It might be council tax. There is a postal address.

I cant write to anyone with documents as I'm currently in Turkey.

Called the number on skype just now, went to voicemail and I left a very sarcastic message. Which will probably be ignored.
 
Did you manage to find out the name of the firm? If they are halfway legit/established - which all council tax firms will be, there should be some info of their MO/methods and fuller contact details to search out.
 
Marston recovery.

I dont have time or inclination to chase this at the moment as juggling way too much. Will reiterate to friend to not ever answer the door. Although he doesn't speak much English and is quite beefy...no way would he let random men in to take my stuff without a battle.
 
Ahh Marston's - yes, this is a legit firm and well known for court/council tax/TFL type work. Will see what info can be found later.
 
Marston recovery.

I dont have time or inclination to chase this at the moment as juggling way too much. Will reiterate to friend to not ever answer the door. Although he doesn't speak much English and is quite beefy...no way would he let random men in to take my stuff without a battle.
their complaints page https:// ww w.marston holdings.co.uk /com plain ts/

link broken but you can repair
 
Be careful with some of those "complaint" pages - Don't know about Marston's, but some of their ilk are really sneaky about wording and people find they can't lodge a complaint without effectively taking responsibility for the debt. Check the small print and tick boxes etc very, very carefully before submitting anything!
 
Yeah, like I said, these people may be pieces of shit, but they're not necessarily complete idiots. There's no point in them wasting time pursuing something they can't legally claim...
I think "necessarily" is the key word here. Some will just say "oh ok then" and stop if you get in touch. Others just seem to keep sending aggressive letters demanding money indefinitely no matter what, through inefficiency, disorganisation, just being cunts, whatever. No actual people in the places I've lived though. Maybe the cost/benefit works out for them in the end or maybe they have no idea and do it anyway.
 
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