how to find someone!!

[annie trip]

Hi everyone this is a very bizarre request for knowledge, may even stump nick!!
My oh and i lease properties out and have never faced this problem before,we recently noticed one house empty and when entered realised the tenants had done a flit (didnt owe us any money surprisingly)however within a few days we received a bill from the council in our names for 5years tax. We are now in a wrangle with them as it should be the old tenants who pay but they say they weren't notified they had moved in(sure they were)and as we have no forwarding address and they know where we are think we are easier to get..

Anyone know of ways of finding people,legally of course i dont think they will have left the area but have tried the usual neighbours,job refs etc no luck.

I can see the poly tunnel i wanted for xmas disappearing as they owe£4000!

HELP

[martini]

Hi Annie - sorry for your predicament. If the tenants were claiming benefit you could try the local DSS office but you may need to get a solicitor as the DSS may not give you their address. The other thing you need to look into is why the council waited for 5 years to bill you and there is also a cut off limit for when the council can claim unpaid tax but again a solicitor or even Citizens Advice would be able to tell you the time limit. You need to ask the council what steps they have taken (before now) to reclaim the tax as it is unusual for a council to have taken no action for five years. Have you any proof at all that you notified the council of the change in tenants?

[annie trip]

They had a child so maybe getting benefits we never had to provide letters or anything which we normally do when they claim. The council have been sending bills to us in our name to the address but as they live there and knew what they were didnt pass onto us so probably go a chunk of costs on to.We only notify the council by a phone call as with all our properties and never been a problem before these were our first ones in that house and were no problem untill now, maybe give the dss a bell tomor but not sure they will give me there address.

Thanks keep your fingers crossed.

[martini]

Annie - I think you'll probably need to get a solicitor. The fact that the tenants held on to your mail, addressed to you, and they knew where you were is a crime (interferring with Royal Mail). As you say, the tenants didn't tell you about the mail because they knew what would happen if they did. Also I'm surprised the council didn't send summons and even the bailiffs in. Good Luck

[annie trip]

It was the summons we opened and dont think bailiffs would have been far away hence the midnight flit!!

Any other ideas on tracking??

[nick the grief]

Try the Library to see if they have a copy of the electoral rolls, they should have & it's public domain.

If you approach the DWP ( what was DSS) they won't tell you as it's subject to the Data Protection act. I would certainly contact a solicitor but I'm afraid that igrorance is no defence so you will still be liable even though you didn't know about it.

Best of luck.

[annie trip]

Thanks nick new you would have an idea, would that be any library or would it have to be the one locall to the house, we live in a different area.

I f ignorance was any help i would be high and dry, it makes you so mad tho when we had no knowledge this was going on....

Was not a good morning that day.,

[nick the grief]

I'd try the local on to the house for a start, or even the county records office as they will have them for the whole of Lancs.

As to Ideas, well it's only like family history (another hobby ) only they're not dead ..... YET!!

[annie trip]

LOL Nick will be past tense if i miss out on my ploy tunnel because of them.

What if they have moved away??

And how do i get in touch with the county records offfice??

[monkeybum]

Even if they do register with the electoral role it will not show up for frist 3 months. Best bet is a solicitor, at least if you do that the council will know you are serious and that it was not your fault. Check your household insurancve to see if you have legal cover, if so it will not cost you anything as you can claim through your insurer. If you don't have legal cover on your household insurance you may have a general insurance cover att. to your car insurance cover, check your policies. Legal bills can cost but it will just cost your excess if you claim. Sorry to hear about this, I bet it has put you off letting out!

[annie trip]

Thanks monkeybum will check our cover but as is landlords policy may not cover stuff like that however my best friend is a solicitor who works for free veggies so can use her pull but again not sure what she can do to trace them .our letting solicitor told us to pay up if council intent on chasing us (helpful obviously doesn't know whats at stake!)so in a quandary will try library tomorrow and hope for best.
We have been doing this for 10 years and have 12 houses and never had this happen before but you live and learn annual calls to the council from now on........

[Earthbabe]

Good luck annie, hope you get it sorted. It's the sort of thing that can make you despair at your fellow humans but It's good to see you won't be walked over. As you say there is a lot at stake for you and I'm sure we all wish you every success in sorting this out.

[SueA]

Annie, you can get information off the electoral roll online from sites such as 192.com & tracesmart.co.uk but you have to pay to get the full details about someone off there. You can view edited lists of the electoral roll at main libraries & the full list probably at your town hall & if you can get a copy of this showing that your tenants were living at that particular house then that should be proof enough for the council. However it seems unlikely that the people living there filled in the census or electoral forms with their own names & addresses if the council still had the house in your name but you never know!

[zebedee]

Get a solicitor onto it and be VERY AWARE OF THE DATA PROTECTION ACT!!!

[annie trip]

Just tried those sites thanks SueA were informative but think need to go to library and check there, is the electoral role the only way to go as dont think they are admitting to living anywhere and my solicitor not too helpfull on trying to find them.