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Richard A. Booth
16 years, 10 months ago at Jul 2 20:06 - Anyone here au fait with UK law?
Specifically...:
Recently, I had to move out, rather abruptly, from my home, which I was renting from/with a [former] friend. Now, it turns out that he's taken my clothes to charity shops, and is threatening to sell the rest of my possessions in August, if I don't pay £800 rent. The rent I do owe, and don't object to paying back, but him effectively holding my stuff to ransom like this seems a little dubious - and giving away my clothes could well constitute theft. Of course, I'll investigate this through the proper means, just wanted to gauge the opinions of anyone here who may have an idea.
Cheers.
Specifically...:
Recently, I had to move out, rather abruptly, from my home, which I was renting from/with a [former] friend. Now, it turns out that he's taken my clothes to charity shops, and is threatening to sell the rest of my possessions in August, if I don't pay £800 rent. The rent I do owe, and don't object to paying back, but him effectively holding my stuff to ransom like this seems a little dubious - and giving away my clothes could well constitute theft. Of course, I'll investigate this through the proper means, just wanted to gauge the opinions of anyone here who may have an idea.
Cheers.
Moderator
GemLil
16 years, 10 months ago at Jul 2 20:26 - He doesnt have the right to do that, the only people who can repossess your goods for payment of debt are registered bailiffs...as long as he doesnt have any claim over our goods, i.e bought them as present, part ownership.
"Your creditor can ask the court to issue a 'warrant of execution', which means that bailiffs may be called in to help recover the debt. "
"Your creditor can ask the court to issue a 'warrant of execution', which means that bailiffs may be called in to help recover the debt. "
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robelanator
16 years, 10 months ago at Jul 2 20:31 - A quick Google search suggests that even if you had been evicted, property left behind is still yours and your landlord must return it to you. This site recommends contacting the Citizen's Advice Bureau for guidance. It's free, so why not? Probably get better advice than from some random Yank on the internet. ;-)
Richard A. Booth
16 years, 10 months ago at Jul 3 12:47 - What's been said here so far - and, more importantly, the official places to look for help in such matters - seem to reflect what I already felt. So, I think I'll do the following: [A], phone possible charity shops The Cunt may have offloaded my clothes to, and ask them to put anything remaining to one side, pending a police complaint (obviously I'll be explaining that it's not them I'll be lodging the complaint against, and that he had no right or authorisation to give away the items); [B] make said police complaint against The Cunt (possibly - it could cause problems for him, but might not be necessary), and; [C] contact the CAB to see where things stand with getting the rest of my stuff back, and find out if I can pursue compensation for items lost.
Although there's nothing he could reasonably claim ownership of, I am wondering if there's going to be an issue proving that *I* do own the things still there. On the plus side, he did have a facebook status proclaiming what he'd done re: my clothes, so I've screen-grabbed that as potential evidence.
(and no, Random Yank, you was most useful, thank you ;-))
Although there's nothing he could reasonably claim ownership of, I am wondering if there's going to be an issue proving that *I* do own the things still there. On the plus side, he did have a facebook status proclaiming what he'd done re: my clothes, so I've screen-grabbed that as potential evidence.
(and no, Random Yank, you was most useful, thank you ;-))
Deleted user
Deleted
16 years, 10 months ago at Jul 3 18:44 - Good luck RAB, if you had any kind of Home insurance on your things, you might have a legal protection add on which you can use to pursue this fella. Its a long shot i know, but i thought i would throw it out there. (You could probably claim lost items back off of him through that too?)
If you dont then CAB is definitely the best bet. They can be a bit rushy to not give you advice but get you out of the way though, from experience. Ie you ask a question and they give you a vague no, but upon further research its actually a big yes.
One of these no win no fee lawyers might work too? They basically take him on for you, get all your settlement, and then rinse him for their costs as well leaving you in the position you were in before this happened, and teaching him a valuable lesson.
If you dont then CAB is definitely the best bet. They can be a bit rushy to not give you advice but get you out of the way though, from experience. Ie you ask a question and they give you a vague no, but upon further research its actually a big yes.
One of these no win no fee lawyers might work too? They basically take him on for you, get all your settlement, and then rinse him for their costs as well leaving you in the position you were in before this happened, and teaching him a valuable lesson.
Richard A. Booth
16 years, 9 months ago at Jul 9 0:12 - Well, I bypassed the CAB, in the finishing up. I think reporting the theft to the police, and then emailing his employer with a message for him, making it clear he is under police investigation for theft, will do the trick. Let's just say a criminal record, or the suspicion of criminal activity, would be looked upon very badly in his line of work...