LAW/Property dilemma in the UK *IMPORTANT*

Deleted member 473940

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Hey guys,
so this has been an ongoing issue for me for a few months now. Let me explain.

A few months ago, I received a council tax letter sent to my "currently living" address, but the tax itself was addressed for another place.
The letter stated that I own the house in 119 BlablaBla Road and havent paid the council tax since october 2014.
They wanted in writing as to why I have missed the payments etc etc.

I responded to them stating that I do not own that property. I explained that at my current living status, it would be impossible for me to own a place and they might have wrong information. Given the council my date of birth and more details for them to look into it.

Last month, I got a respond stating the council tax for 119 Blablabla Road is £0 and has been cleared. So I thought, ok, that problem is out of the way.

BUT NO!

Today, both me and my dad got a similar letter. AGAIN! But this time, not only council tax but also housing benefit related. I called them, only to be told that the records show that I am the owner of 119 Blablabla Road and they cant do anything about it. I need to contact the "benefit fraud" department.

I have seen the application form... and the processes is damn lengthy.

My dad hasnt been working for a while due to bad health and having the housing benefit stop for bullshit reasons will stir shit up :/

I need some advice on how to deal with this. OBVIOUSLY I will be speaking to professionals about it but I just thought I would hear some tempers out :).

and no WE DO NOT OWN THE PROPERTY 119 Blablabla Road, but according to the official records, we do o.O
 

PewnyPL

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Well, if according to the records you own the property, you should take the paper that states so and go to that address and meet whoever lives there. Show them the paper and tell them to fix it, or else you will enforce rent on them. And I am actually serious here, something like that happened in my country recently, someone did some shady things in the papers, so the ownership of their place was under someone else. When they found out they enforced rent on them unless they went and fixed it. The ownership was changed in a matter of a few days.
 

pokemoner2500

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Hey guys,
so this has been an ongoing issue for me for a few months now. Let me explain.

A few months ago, I received a council tax letter sent to my "currently living" address, but the tax itself was addressed for another place.
The letter stated that I own the house in 119 BlablaBla Road and havent paid the council tax since october 2014.
They wanted in writing as to why I have missed the payments etc etc.

I responded to them stating that I do not own that property. I explained that at my current living status, it would be impossible for me to own a place and they might have wrong information. Given the council my date of birth and more details for them to look into it.

Last month, I got a respond stating the council tax for 119 Blablabla Road is £0 and has been cleared. So I thought, ok, that problem is out of the way.

BUT NO!

Today, both me and my dad got a similar letter. AGAIN! But this time, not only council tax but also housing benefit related. I called them, only to be told that the records show that I am the owner of 119 Blablabla Road and they cant do anything about it. I need to contact the "benefit fraud" department.

I have seen the application form... and the processes is damn lengthy.

My dad hasnt been working for a while due to bad health and having the housing benefit stop for bullshit reasons will stir shit up :/

I need some advice on how to deal with this. OBVIOUSLY I will be speaking to professionals about it but I just thought I would hear some tempers out :).

and no WE DO NOT OWN THE PROPERTY 119 Blablabla Road, but according to the official records, we do o.O

You may want to (if it's not too far) see who is actually living there and talk to them, if no one is there then ask some neighbors if anyone has ever been there.

EDIT: Ninja'd
 

Deleted member 473940

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Well, if according to the records you own the property, you should take the paper that states so and go to that address and meet whoever lives there. Show them the paper and tell them to fix it, or else you will enforce rent on them. And I am actually serious here, something like that happened in my country recently, someone did some shady things in the papers, so the ownership of their place was under someone else. When they found out they enforced rent on them unless they went and fixed it. The ownership was changed in a matter of a few days.


You may want to (if it's not too far) see who is actually living there and talk to them, if no one is there then ask some neighbors if anyone has ever been there.

EDIT: Ninja'd


The property in question does not have a post code.
Well, in the letters I was not given a post code for the property. I guess I could call them to find out the proper full address.


You know, the way these letters were written so "informally", I initially thought it was all bullshit. But I am in touch with the council and none of those letters stated anything different than the council officers on the phone.
Things just dont seem to add up.
 

Deleted member 473940

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if it says you own the property... my advice would be sell it.. and go to las vegas and spend it on blackjack and hookers.

your welcome.
:tpi:

how much do they want you to pay btw?
Well, they are asking for council tax, plus suspended the housing benefit and asking back the housing benefit that was paid to us in the last few months.
All adds up to a lot.

But obviously we dont own the property... just extra stress and shit that we dont need right now -.-
 
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migles

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:tpi:


Well, they are asking for council tax, plus suspended the housing benefit and asking back the housing benefit that was paid to us in the last few months.
All adds up to a lot.

But obviously we dont own the property... just extra stress and shit that we dont need right now -.-
well, you got a "free house" :D
now you can go to the place and steal all the big plasmas and consoles from inside the house, since its yours :D

but really, try to go to the place and check it.. talk with the people there about that shit.. and either it gets fixed or you sell the house..
its yours now you may as well sell it and get rich :D
 

Deleted member 473940

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well, you got a "free house" :D
now you can go to the place and steal all the big plasmas and consoles from inside the house, since its yours :D

but really, try to go to the place and check it.. talk with the people there about that shit.. and either it gets fixed or you sell the house..
its yours now you may as well sell it and get rich :D

lol we dont have any papers for that property :P
how the hell are we gonna sell it.

either someone else fradulenty used our details to buy that property. Or, the council is just mixing shit up and all confused.

But even if someone else used our details, buying a property in the UK isnt a small matter. Its not that easy to just buy a property. Things just dont add up.
 

migles

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lol we dont have any papers for that property :P
how the hell are we gonna sell it.

either someone else fradulenty used our details to buy that property. Or, the council is just mixing shit up and all confused.

But even if someone else used our details, buying a property in the UK isnt a small matter. Its not that easy to just buy a property. Things just dont add up.

now seriously, i think this will give you lots of headaches..
my guess is that someone bought it with fraudulent information..
but why they would do that? so they could do shit and get away with it? thats what i think.. and that shit will come to you..

and sending you a letter that says it's been paid and later saying its not paid. thats really fucked up...
 

Deleted member 473940

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now seriously, i think this will give you lots of headaches..
my guess is that someone bought it with fraudulent information..
but why they would do that? so they could do shit and get away with it? thats what i think.. and that shit will come to you..

and sending you a letter that says it's been paid and later saying its not paid. thats really fucked up...

I know. Legally we have done nothing wrong.
Its just going to stress me out till its solved -.-
No win for me either way.
 
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FAST6191

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I do some IT for an estate agent so I tend to tap them if I find myself troubled in this sort of way. Likewise the guy I usually use for property lookups is between jobs right now so I can't have a look at the land registry. Speaking of such things though the local council and central land registry are not that well linked, to that end if you can speak to the central land registry and get some kind of ownership details on the property in question it will definitely help you out (scan the documents the council sent and approach them with your situation). If you have a landlord that goes through an estate agent then have a chat with them as they will probably have some access to such databases (and they would not want to lose a good tenant over a paperwork mixup on the council's part), if you are doing the council housing bit then that might be harder*.

*if I knew nobody that could help here then I dare say I would probably have a chat with the building regs people -- you spend all day annoying people that they have to make their new wall 10 cm shorter (or insulate the new wall at great expense despite the other three being single brick skin) and the opportunity to actually help someone out like this becomes somewhat more appealing.

What I imagine is going to be the bigger problem for you will be if they cease payments while they resolve this. If the land registry moves at pace then great but I would really consider booking an appointment to see someone in person in very short order. Have copies of all letters they have sent, and if you still have it then all your correspondence as well, so you can give them to everybody you speak to as part of this.

If it turns out you do own the property then it is usually some kind of ID theft. From what I have seen it tends to be siblings/parents/cousins or occasionally friends that are facing financial woes and want to try to protect a building they might own but it can be strangers as well. Do not go panicking about this at this point though as it is considerably more likely that someone in the council has fat fingers or you have a similar name to someone else.
 

Deleted member 473940

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I do some IT for an estate agent so I tend to tap them if I find myself troubled in this sort of way. Likewise the guy I usually use for property lookups is between jobs right now so I can't have a look at the land registry. Speaking of such things though the local council and central land registry are not that well linked, to that end if you can speak to the central land registry and get some kind of ownership details on the property in question it will definitely help you out (scan the documents the council sent and approach them with your situation). If you have a landlord that goes through an estate agent then have a chat with them as they will probably have some access to such databases (and they would not want to lose a good tenant over a paperwork mixup on the council's part), if you are doing the council housing bit then that might be harder*.

*if I knew nobody that could help here then I dare say I would probably have a chat with the building regs people -- you spend all day annoying people that they have to make their new wall 10 cm shorter (or insulate the new wall at great expense despite the other three being single brick skin) and the opportunity to actually help someone out like this becomes somewhat more appealing.

What I imagine is going to be the bigger problem for you will be if they cease payments while they resolve this. If the land registry moves at pace then great but I would really consider booking an appointment to see someone in person in very short order. Have copies of all letters they have sent, and if you still have it then all your correspondence as well, so you can give them to everybody you speak to as part of this.

If it turns out you do own the property then it is usually some kind of ID theft. From what I have seen it tends to be siblings/parents/cousins or occasionally friends that are facing financial woes and want to try to protect a building they might own but it can be strangers as well. Do not go panicking about this at this point though as it is considerably more likely that someone in the council has fat fingers or you have a similar name to someone else.


Haha I knew you would come up with a meaningful reply.

Thing is, I woudnt panic if it was just on one occasion. This was the second occasion after countless back and forth with the council and different departments.

I have written a letter to benefit theft department, local benefits office and registry office inquiring about this property. I have also booked an appointment to discuss further with a citizens bureau adviser, before making an appointment with any other department.

And yes, I did ask several times to double check whether someone else has the same date of birth and/or name as me. Results came back the same.

I have been extremely recently and going through all of that doesnt help :(

At this point, its guaranteed that someone else has used my details to purchase that property.

edit:
and yes, forgot to mention that they already suspended the benefits. So, yap they have ceased to pay us.
 

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Dude! These are scammers I get similar mail all the time from Japan (and sometimes Saudi Arabia). Go speak with your local governmental P.A or someone who's quite knowledgeable and isn't trying to go after your money (which you don't have much of anyways). The local credit union also works, since most if not all do free consoling.
 

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This reminds me of a neighbour who receives certain mail but not all due to leaving out the number of the flat for reasons, you know. As such, someone could be using your NI or something and you aren't aware of it.

Take it up with Citizen Bureau if it keeps up like this.
 

cearp

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The property in question does not have a post code.
Well, in the letters I was not given a post code for the property. I guess I could call them to find out the proper full address.

you can find the post code for an address/the possible addresses from a post code on the royal mail website
 

Deleted member 473940

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Dude! These are scammers I get similar mail all the time from Japan (and sometimes Saudi Arabia). Go speak with your local governmental P.A or someone who's quite knowledgeable and isn't trying to go after your money (which you don't have much of anyways). The local credit union also works, since most if not all do free consoling.
As I have stated, that was my initial reaction too. But our housing benefit is suspended and of course I am dealing with the council so those letters weren't fake.


This reminds me of a neighbour who receives certain mail but not all due to leaving out the number of the flat for reasons, you know. As such, someone could be using your NI or something and you aren't aware of it.

Take it up with Citizen Bureau if it keeps up like this.
I went yesterday morning. All they are saying is to speak to a senior officer in the council and explain the situation. If that doesn't solve it then I should call the police for an investigation. I already spoke to the police and they said until I get a formal reply from the council regarding this matter, they can't start the investigation.

you can find the post code for an address/the possible addresses from a post code on the royal mail website

Yap I found out. It's 4 miles away from where I live. As I have stated above, until I get a formal reply from the council regarding this, police can't carry on with the investigation.


All I get from the council so far is 'you own this property, why have you not let us know'. Despite me continuously telling them that I don't. So, until they launch an investigation and confirm what exactly happened, the police can't do any investigation themselves.
 

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