Sorry to be so random, but this forum bears fruit more then enough to warrant random questions in my view and past experience so here goes..

Just bought my first house on my own, and even though ive been doing it a lot ever since i can remember wth family etc, i am in a bit of a situation that i have never come across before.

Basically got a reposessed property, when i viewed it the poor chap's furniture and belongings were still everywhere and the house had been reposessed by Abbey National, on asking whether this stuff came with the house the guy said, "you wish! nah it will all be auctioned off, so will be removed from the property well before completion"

Lo and behold got the keys this morning and stopped by this evening for a little 'look and see' to try and comprehend where i am going to start with this hole of a property and everything is still in the house just like on the viewing day, lying there untouched.

Obviously a little bit annoying as i need to gut this house and it will get in the way, but there is some nice stuff, decent telly, stereo, sofas, dining set, comprehensive book/video collection, even loads of laminate flooring where the guy had obviously thought of making the house better but then didn't bother.

Now where do i stand with this, now that i have completed and have been legally handed over the keys etc, does this make everything mine? hmm.. anyone with experience/opinion or legal background able to clarify, going to speak to the agent tmrw, but my mates who came along have already started picking out items which would look good in their own apartments etc! damn vultures im telling you!!

Bit concerned as the chap in question is rather tasty looking (photos amongst the stuff) and i wouldn't want him to come knocking on my door in 3 months asking for his stuff back!!

I would suggest the Abbey is your first port of call. If the chap has signed a disclaimer to his belongings as part of the debt owed then the stuff belongs to the Abbey. I would seek an answer in writing from the Abbey to cover your tail and get them to shift it or sign it over to you. Don't accept any verbal communication and do everything in writing.
If they can't provide that then I think you have a duty of care to ask the Abbey for a forwarding address for the previous occupant. A letter should then be sent to the chap by recorded delivery giving him a reasonable time to remove the goods ie 14 days. After that I think you could then prove in writing that you have taken all reasonable steps and can assume ownership. TDV6 - gone
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Throw it all out into the street if the Abbey hav'nt removed it within 24hrs - what else could you do with it all if you had got a removal van full of your own stuff outside paid for waiting to move all your own stuff in. You need to get intouch with the Abbey National & or their appointed solicitors/bailiffs . I would also speak to my own solicitor & seek compensation , you have been wronged/inconvenienced by this. 
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We get this frequently with repo's that we buy.

Your solicitor is the first point of contact, he/she should have ensured that you were given vacant possession - it is probably a condition of your mortgage. If it is a condition of mortgage and they didn't check they will pay for clearance.

The agents are also worth speaking to, though it is difficult to prove the individual that showed you around the house said that it would be cleared, it was not, therefore the agents are guilty of a misdescription per the 1991 Property Misdcescriptions Act – like I said this is difficult to prove and apart from which a good agent is more useful to you that a solicitor so I would take a pop at the solicitor first.

Finally you have completed the purchase so technically all within is yours. If anything has any value sell it but you have to protect yourself take reasonable steps to contact the previous owner send a letter (recorded) to him via the Abbey’ solicitors saying that he has 72hours to dispose of the goods or they will be forfeit.

Oh and if bailiffs call to collect anything that was on HP it was obviously not there when you got the house.

Good luck. 11 XFR

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First and foremost get new locks fitted. Check with your solicitor about the condition of handover, then if the house should have been empty call Abbey and let them know that unless the stuff is removed with x amount of time you will remove it to the dump and charge them for the service - you could keep anything that's worth keeping and charge a hefty profit for your time. 2005 Zambezi TDV6 - Gone but not forgotten
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You guys never cease to amaze me with your wealth of knowledge!!

Basically phoned the agent, who have spent the last 3 hours chasing down the broker responsible for the disposal of this house.

The agent remembers me asking about the vacant possession, and i luckily asked that again afterwards over the phone, and three of the girls remember the conversation in the office.

The broker (AMG i think it is or AMD) are denying that the furniture exists and basically said, if there is anything in the property, knock yourself out, and this is what the agent just told me also.

There is some nice stuff, good condition sofas, bed, nice dining set, which i can use in some council rented flats that we have, telly x 2, video, hifi, and i will be changing doors windows etc in a week or so, so basically i am going to remove anything worth using, and am going to skip the rest, was going to gut the house anyway, but its just the guys personal stuff that i don't feel good disposing of, like his books, his films etc..

apparently the agent just told me, he has been missing since Sept 2005, and has not been in contact with banks, lenders etc, so house was repo'd in Dec and sold off immediately. I just have this feeling of what happens if he turns up and i can imagine he would be quite annoyed if everything has gone and there are new doors and windows etc on his house!

My solicitor is chasing them up right now, and the agent has been bypassed, as you said the agent will come in useful again, but if their solicitors provide me with it in writing that the furniture comes with the property and they give up all rights to it, then that will suffice i should think.

An interesting situation, have already sold the dining set and a large leather framed mirror to a friend of mine, and the rest of the crap will go in a skip, although this may get a bit annoying when it comes to actually doing it..

Kam by the sound of things I wont need to break your legs if you sell the RRS , the knuckle dragger whose stuff you have will do it for me when he gets back from HMP Wandsworth!  2005 Zambezi TDV6 - Gone but not forgotten
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My solicitor are chasing the finance company down still to give writing that they don't have any hold over the furniture. I am thinking of putting the furniture to use, and sticking the rest of it in an empty warehouse we have for one month, then dispose of it after that, that way will have time to send the letters etc out as advised above and try and track this bloke down.

He is a black bloke, looks about 6"2, about 35 years old and looks as if he isn't a stranger to the ol'gym. There is some post from Natwest in the house, a) is it illegal for me to open these, b) what do you think the chances of the bank trying to contact him for me is? with data protection act and all that bull..

Are you 6"2 and built like a tank? If so you might have a problem! As for opening post - how is your eyesight? Are you sure the letters are for him?  2005 Zambezi TDV6 - Gone but not forgotten
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I think it IS an offence to open someone else's mail without their permission. If it all gets a bit messy in the future maybe best not to do that. The bank also will likely not be able to communicate with you directly about him. In this situation it should always be the solicitor that starts off these communications - I guess a lot will depend on what advice you get over the need to track this bloke down. 

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No im 5"11 and not built like a tank.. i can run like the wind though!!
I don't think it will ever come to this, but it could become nasty if the guy does come back out of the woodwork.. i was thinking i was going to be cold and just do things to simplify things for me, but im too nice..
gonna put a bit of effort into giving this guy a chance to get his stuff back at least (he has just lost his house and all his stuff). Its all piled up so im confused who would have done this, was it the guy himself or the finance company?

Plus i have keys for everything, and two/three sets, and locks are old, so did he voluntarily hand the keys into the bank? there is more to this then the info i have been given to date.. I.e. the fridge is cleaned out, the wardrobes have had all their actual personal effects removed, so did they do a bunk and abandon the rest of their stuff? questions questions.. barstewards, can't give me anything!!

shmoogle wrote:

I think it IS an offence to open someone else's mail without their permission. If it all gets a bit messy in the future maybe best not to do that. The bank also will likely not be able to communicate with you directly about him. In this situation it should always be the solicitor that starts off these communications - I guess a lot will depend on what advice you get over the need to track this bloke down.

I would be careful doing this Kam - you never know what reprecussions you could be facing if you send out personal details to all and sundry.

I think your first suggestion is best - leave it to the solicitors and then stash the contents somewhere safe until you have everything in writing.

Slightly different point, the guys credit rating would have been absolutely wrecked, is the address now 'clean' in terms of credit history? I ask because a previous owner of a house I had 8 years ago continued to use the address to register mobile phones etc - ran up some serious bad debt that I had to fork out to get sorted (not the actual debt but the black listing on the address) , it was a real pain in the back side and went on for over 10 months - in that time i found it nigh on impossible to get credit, I had to use my parents address.

Since then I have been mega focused on careful disposal / disclosure of personal information etc.

One of the guys who works for me is paying over 9.5% on his mortgage also due to his partner having her identity stolen around 18 months ago and her credit history ruined....they have paid out serious amounts of cash in legal fees etc. etc.
Not a nice boat to end up in at all..........please be v. careful, you don't seem like a bad bloke!! , and I wouldn't want you ending up in the same s**t Currently: Carbon Black 535d
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An address cannot take out credit - it is a person who is granted credit. I appreciate bad credit history can be recorded/registered to an address previously occupied by someone who had a bad credit rating - but it is that person who is tagged with the BAD rating.

Any reputable institution granting credit should be able to clearly distinguish between the person with the poor credit history and someone who has moved into the property ( different surname & linked address..... ie to your previous address proving who you are) Anyone refusing to grant me credit for the above reasons I would report them to the OFT / local trading standards - it just should'nt happen! You should ask why are you being turned down/refused credit. ( insist ) ... you should then ask for the details of the credit reference agency they have used ( experian , equifax or UAPT etc ) - then write to them asking for the file/info they hold - this costs about £1 or £2 only . REPORT THEM ...... esp when you know you are a SAINT....... 
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Last edited by MDP on Fri Feb 17 2006 10:40am. Edited 1 time in total

There's a firm down in Cornwall somewhere that does a lot of credit file analysis and they can provide you with a nice, easy to read version of your credit file for a few quid too.

http://www.checkmyfile.com 

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