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Hello, I'm new to this forum and apologize if this is in the wrong category or if I don't structure this properly.
Basically on the 7th of December I was woken to a knock on my door by a very polite man from Rossendales. He informed me that he was attending my home to collect £866.50 in unpaid Council Tax.
I responded by informing him that I had no knowledge of this, that I had lived in the property in question but for not even 2 months, after which disputes with my landlord (they kept letting people into my property without my presence, consent or knowledge, only informing me after the fact) I left, feeling that I was not safe there. Large sums of money had gone missing, and apparently an electrician had visited my property 3 times which they "had to let in", although the only electric fault there was with the property remained unrepaired. But this is another story.
According to the debt collector (who I have to admit WAS very polite), the council had been informed that i'd lived there for approximately 6 months, they subsequently took me to court and obtained a liability order which was passed on to Rossendales. He said he was more than happy to put my account on hold for 2 weeks while I get in contact with the council, the courts, and Rossendales to find out what was going on.
During the week after the debt collectors visit I received 3 letters from Rossendales, dated the 4th, 14th, and 24th of November 2016 (keep in mind I was receiving these in December) claiming an original amount of £556.50, and £75.00 "enforcement costs". I know for a fact that council tax for the year in these properties is roughly £950 as my dad lives on the same site.
To cut a long story short I called the council who said my 2 choices were either pay the debt or attempt to get Rossendales to return the liability order to the council who will then allow me to dispute it, following which I called Rossendales and asked them to do this but they became very rude and aggressive, laughing at me when I verbally removed their implied right of access and informed them that any further contact from them would constitute harassment (as I had told them I DO NOT owe the council any money, let alone the implied £866.50. It might be worth noting that they couldn't give me any details regarding the liability order for reasons which they refused to explain. I then called the courts, where the lady I spoke to mentioned (in hushed tones) the borderline-illegal practice of these court hearings, where the Council decide who is liable and who isn't, then rent out a court room and hire staff to fill it for the day and then process all claims and deny any disputes for validity. SHE claimed that she had often, during her time of employment, received phone calls from individuals in a similar position who had never even been notified that they were being taken to court! Unfortunately she did not know how to force Rossendales to return the liability order to the council, but the interesting part is that her system (the court's database) had NO record of a liability order ever being granted against me! This I find very strange.
So, I know I have the RIGHT to confront my accuser directly. I would like to know if anybody has any advice pertaining to how I go about forcing Rossendales to returning the liability order to the council.
Also, I know that a debt collectors actions DO constitute harassment if I claim that I do not owe the "creditor" (in this case the Council) any money and they continue to attempt to enforce it without proving validity. Does anyone know which law this is expressed by?
Note: This was getting really long so I have had to cut a lot of information out, if you need any more information please feel free to ask. Also I would like to thank you in advance, and will appreciate any and all help that you can provide on this matter.
Basically on the 7th of December I was woken to a knock on my door by a very polite man from Rossendales. He informed me that he was attending my home to collect £866.50 in unpaid Council Tax.
I responded by informing him that I had no knowledge of this, that I had lived in the property in question but for not even 2 months, after which disputes with my landlord (they kept letting people into my property without my presence, consent or knowledge, only informing me after the fact) I left, feeling that I was not safe there. Large sums of money had gone missing, and apparently an electrician had visited my property 3 times which they "had to let in", although the only electric fault there was with the property remained unrepaired. But this is another story.
According to the debt collector (who I have to admit WAS very polite), the council had been informed that i'd lived there for approximately 6 months, they subsequently took me to court and obtained a liability order which was passed on to Rossendales. He said he was more than happy to put my account on hold for 2 weeks while I get in contact with the council, the courts, and Rossendales to find out what was going on.
During the week after the debt collectors visit I received 3 letters from Rossendales, dated the 4th, 14th, and 24th of November 2016 (keep in mind I was receiving these in December) claiming an original amount of £556.50, and £75.00 "enforcement costs". I know for a fact that council tax for the year in these properties is roughly £950 as my dad lives on the same site.
To cut a long story short I called the council who said my 2 choices were either pay the debt or attempt to get Rossendales to return the liability order to the council who will then allow me to dispute it, following which I called Rossendales and asked them to do this but they became very rude and aggressive, laughing at me when I verbally removed their implied right of access and informed them that any further contact from them would constitute harassment (as I had told them I DO NOT owe the council any money, let alone the implied £866.50. It might be worth noting that they couldn't give me any details regarding the liability order for reasons which they refused to explain. I then called the courts, where the lady I spoke to mentioned (in hushed tones) the borderline-illegal practice of these court hearings, where the Council decide who is liable and who isn't, then rent out a court room and hire staff to fill it for the day and then process all claims and deny any disputes for validity. SHE claimed that she had often, during her time of employment, received phone calls from individuals in a similar position who had never even been notified that they were being taken to court! Unfortunately she did not know how to force Rossendales to return the liability order to the council, but the interesting part is that her system (the court's database) had NO record of a liability order ever being granted against me! This I find very strange.
So, I know I have the RIGHT to confront my accuser directly. I would like to know if anybody has any advice pertaining to how I go about forcing Rossendales to returning the liability order to the council.
Also, I know that a debt collectors actions DO constitute harassment if I claim that I do not owe the "creditor" (in this case the Council) any money and they continue to attempt to enforce it without proving validity. Does anyone know which law this is expressed by?
Note: This was getting really long so I have had to cut a lot of information out, if you need any more information please feel free to ask. Also I would like to thank you in advance, and will appreciate any and all help that you can provide on this matter.
to LB [MENTION=97464]dwallis[/MENTION] ... I'll tag [MENTION=30402]Milo[/MENTION] [MENTION=26498]ploddertom[/MENTION] and [MENTION=9189]bizzybob[/MENTION] for you ... any more info you can give in the meantime would be great :nod: xx
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