Ex landlord from two years ago claiming I am still resident as a tenant

[eliquant]

Ex landlord from two years ago is claiming that I am still resident as a tenant and is throwing current bills at me via a debt collectors for a place that I have not been iving in physically or legally for over 1.7 years !

The thing is that he himself setup the bills under my name !

I left my ex tenancy 1.7 years ago settling up etc, notifying the the ex-landlord that I was leaving according to the break out lause in the contract and the b'stard tried to get me to pay Council Tax for my ex tenantancy many months later for time that I was not there, I fought it with the my old Council (a completely different borough) and I won, the council even wrote to me confirming that the ex landlord had notified them that I had left the borough when I said I left - I still have the letter proving this and the original tenancy agreeent showing start date !

Now 1.7 years later I get a bill for that same old tenancy claiming that I owe them money for April 2008 onwards but I was never there physically or legally ! I have proof that I lived in a different borough and home since Mar 2007 ! and that my old tenancy agreement of 1.7 years had ended.

Now I think the ladlord is trying to cheat me into paying current bills on his property so that if I pay them by admisssion I would be classified as a tenant there still ! Event the debt collection agency was sneaky enough to not disclose the dates or even the ex-residency address that the debt was associated with ! I had to call them up to find out. Bloody April 2008 to April 2009 water rates bill ! I tell ya !

The whole thing smacks of fraud / the land lord misleading a utility bill supplier to try and get me to pay his bills for him ad infinitum !

Advice needed on how to stop this landlord doing this once and for all (he tried it with Council tax a long time ago, now that times are hard he is trying it on again)....... I think I need to report him to some watch dog company .. help needed.....


thanks in advance

[AtW]

Did you get back deposit from him?

Did you start new tenancy elsewhere around the time you left his? This could be useful.

You need to calm down - you have the case that can be easily won in small claims court, no need to be anxious over it - stay cool.

[Cyberman]

Yet another reason to buy your house rather than rent.

[Incognito]

Lots of things you can do. The DCA are not acting on behalf of your landlord, they're acting on behalf of the utilities, so the first thing to do is write to the DCA's, disputing the debt and advising you are contacting the utilities. Then write to the utilities advising that you do not live at the property and when you left, you are going to have to provide proof that you left, the letter from the council is sufficient. Who paid the Bills when you were there? If it was the landlord and you paid him an all in fee, i.e including Bills have you got a tenancy agreement? If it was you, did you advise the utilities you were leaving the property and ask for a final bill? If not then stupid mistake, but not the end of the world, it's just harder for you to prove you weren't residing there.

If the bills have been set up in your name then the first thing to do is to go to your local police office and insist they look into it and try to get a crime reference number from them, they'll try to squirm out of it saying it's a civil matter, it's not, it's fraud if they have been set up in your name without your authority, once this has been registered, contact the DCA's and utilities giving them the crime reference number and explain the situation. Advise them you also want any adverse history to be removed from your credit file (because they will be marking you as a defaulter).

Unfortunately there is no landlord register in England and Wales yet (there is one in Scotland) so you can’t really complain to anyone.

Send all correspondence by recorded delivery.

I am not a lawyer, if you need further advice, I'd advise you to touch base with your local citizen’s advice bureau that can provide legal advice free of charge.

[BlasterBates]

Actually you can probably ignore this completely, but if you want you can send a recorded delivery giving reasons. It is highly unlikely that he'll go legal, and even if he does you have the proof. I would report it to the police however as it does look like fraud.

Wouldn't let it worry you.

[Bob Dalek]

Ex landlord from two years ago is claiming that I am still resident as a tenant and is throwing current bills at me via a debt collectors for a place that I have not been iving in physically or legally for over 1.7 years !

The thing is that he himself setup the bills under my name !

I left my ex tenancy 1.7 years ago settling up etc, notifying the the ex-landlord that I was leaving according to the break out lause in the contract and the b'stard tried to get me to pay Council Tax for my ex tenantancy many months later for time that I was not there, I fought it with the my old Council (a completely different borough) and I won, the council even wrote to me confirming that the ex landlord had notified them that I had left the borough when I said I left - I still have the letter proving this and the original tenancy agreeent showing start date !

Now 1.7 years later I get a bill for that same old tenancy claiming that I owe them money for April 2008 onwards but I was never there physically or legally ! I have proof that I lived in a different borough and home since Mar 2007 ! and that my old tenancy agreement of 1.7 years had ended.

Now I think the ladlord is trying to cheat me into paying current bills on his property so that if I pay them by admisssion I would be classified as a tenant there still ! Event the debt collection agency was sneaky enough to not disclose the dates or even the ex-residency address that the debt was associated with ! I had to call them up to find out. Bloody April 2008 to April 2009 water rates bill ! I tell ya !

The whole thing smacks of fraud / the land lord misleading a utility bill supplier to try and get me to pay his bills for him ad infinitum !

Advice needed on how to stop this landlord doing this once and for all (he tried it with Council tax a long time ago, now that times are hard he is trying it on again)....... I think I need to report him to some watch dog company .. help needed.....


thanks in advance

Solicitor's letter.

[Doggy Styles]

Were you renting in east London? Landlord Sasguru has been a bit quiet lately, which means he is probably up to something.

[eliquant]

Thanks, for the advice what really sent alarm bells ringing is that the name on the letter that the debt collectors were using for me was completely misspelled and also the got completely the WRONG flat with regards to the tenancy agreement and of course they were off loading a bill onto me for April 2008 to April 2009 time that I was never there legally / physically.

Good advicefr om you on also me having to complain to the Utilities company and also demanding to have my name wiped clean from their records and the DCA's as a payee who defaults.

[BlasterBates]

The chances are he's sent letters to all ex-tenants in the hope that some of them will cough up. It is certainly common practice to scare people into paying bills they don't need to, with bogus legal letters. If you ignore it, most likely, you won't hear any more.

[eliquant]

Did you get back deposit from him?

Did you start new tenancy elsewhere around the time you left his? This could be useful.

You need to calm down - you have the case that can be easily won in small claims court, no need to be anxious over it - stay cool.

No, he made a lame excuse and took the deposit from me, i.e. polystirene balls were on the floor due to packaging when I left so he took one months, I have proof of me moving into a new home and the council tax bills from a different borough right around the time I moved out 1.7 years ago until the present.

The good thing is I've still got a signed copy of my tenancy agreement with him showing tenancy start date and a letter from the local council where the council stipulates that the landlord agreed that my tenancy agreement had ended roughly on the date that I also claim.

What worries me is the potential for fraud, my suspicion is that the landlord set up a water rates bill on my behalf misspelling my name and getting the flat completely wrong (I can prove all this) ... then after I left .. after I cancelled the direct debit the landlord never canceled the account that he had set up using my name. I need to check this out really.