I have such an *interesting* sense of timing lol - I discovered this site yesterday, little did I know I'd need the info on it today!

I got a phonecall from my Dad today, and he told me he'd received a letter addressed to myself and my partner, but had no clue why it had gone to his address. I had a "feeling" that it would be a nasty, and when I collected it, I found it to be a demand for £600 from a "commercial recovery and investigations" firm named Daniels and Silverman. (I dont know if anyone's heard of them, but they have a website http://www.danielssilverman.co.uk )

The £600 is apparently relating back to a flat we rented and lived in more than 3 years ago!

I honestly have no idea why the Housing Association *currently* want £600 from us. The closest I can get to an idea of why relates back to when we moved out. I sent a letter (not recorded unfortunatley!) giving them the 4 week's notice they asked for, and didnt hear back until I got a letter redirected to our new house over a month later, demanding £220 in "unpaid rent" for the previous month!

I wrote back stating that since we'd given adequate notice, and handed back the keys, we should not have owed anything, and asking for them to clarify this. I didnt hear back, so assumed it was a mistake (they were very good at making them!) and forgot about it. It's worth pointing out that I have just about every bit of paper the HA and council (we were on HB) ever sent us about this flat, and all the paperwork from the council states that the rent was up to date. I even have the paypoint receipts from paying the HA the water rates!!(collected by them as part of the rent)

Anyway, that's the outline of the situation. here's the questions:

1)Im going to SARN them, as advised here, but I'd like to know whether or not to put my current address on the letter. the HA *should* have been aware of it, as they were given it twice, but dont appear to be. It's worth noting here that Im just about to apply for another credit card to clear a previous balance and some other things (I *really* need the other card!) so Im wondering if telling D&S would affect that?

2)Following on from my last question, would *not* telling D&S my current address have any adverse effects at this point? Or at any other point in the future? Note- my dad doesnt mind a few letters going to his address, and he's well prepared to tell any harrassing goombas where to go!

3) According to the letter, it's a "Final Demand". Up until now, we've never recieved ANY other demands. Surely there should have been *something* before this? (especially considering they DEFINATLEY had by dad's address for correspondance since BEFORE we took the tenancy!)

4)If there *was* something sent before this letter, would copies automatically be sent with the SARN info, or would I have to ask specifically for them?

5)What's the best way of wording such a request?

7)The letter states that they *will* (rather than "consider") take us t court if "you dont pay within 7 days", which is great considering it's dated the 3rd, but wasnt posted until the 6th! (yesterday) And now comes the weekend.... OK, I know from this site that the misdated letters are common. Would the misdated(only) letter go against them in any court case?

8)Following on from that- what's the likelihood of them trying to take us to court on Monday? Im assuming slim, but this is a *much*n smaller amount than the ones most commonly talked about on this site, so does the amount actually make a difference?

And lastly (you can tell Im used to writing questioning letters cant you lol!) 9) Does anyone have any experiance with this particular lot of debt collectors, or Cheviot Housing association that they care to share? Any info at all would be useful!

Thankyou in advance:)

-- I beleive in conspiracies...... (imadethisup@fakeemail.com), March 07, 2003

Answers

Give a propery email that sounds legit I will bother to spend some time in helping you.

-- Geoff Winters (Geoff-winters@supadooper.com), March 07, 2003.

That really isnt funny, nor very nice! What's the deal with wanting an email address anyway?

I have my reasons for not wishing to give out my email address (one of which is that my primary email contains my *very* distinctive real name) and considering I didnt ask the site to notify me of any replies, I cant see what your problem is with me not wanting to give my real email address. And yes, before you ask, the email I just gave is a sodding real one - and it took me half an hour and several computer crashes to get it! (for some unknown reason, my computer doesnt seem to like hotmail)

I really could do with some help - it's not like I actually owe *anything* to these people, like I said the only thing I can figure that this *might* be about was a demand for rent that shouldnt have been made anyway.

And considering that living in that Ha's accomodation could have cost me my life, (yes, really, I'll explain in a sec)partially because of the fault of the HA, I kinda think it's a cheek of them to be demanding *anything*. What happened was we lived in a 3rd floor flat in a block of 6. It had one stairwell leading to a phone-operated entry system, and a second "emergency" back door - at the bottom of the same stairwell! One day, someone deliberatley destroyed the panel for the door entry. A few days later, someone broke the manual lock, so the outside door wouldnt shut. A few days after *that*, the front door was pulled off it's hinges completely, and left bent and battered outside the block! The HA were notified of all this both in writing and by phone immediatley after it happened. 3 weeks after the door was pulled off, the block still had no door.

Then someone managed to get in, and firebombed the flat directly downstairs from us. To cut a long story short, that flat was totally destroyed, and if I hadnt noticed the smoke, and called the fire brigade when I did, the fire would have spread (this info is from the fire brigade) and because of the design of the stairs, we'd have been stuck up there - and probably would have died. in the few minutes between me calling the fire brigade, and them arriving, the fire had already started to break through our neighbor's outside door, and upwards through our floor! It took six weeks for the HA to clear away all the rubble left on the stairwells, and longer to replace the outside door. In that time, downstairs was repeatedly vandalised, and the block was subjected to several other minor arson attempts. All the while "we" (well, the council in our case) were paying the HA £8 a week in "service charges" which were supposed to pay for cleaning, repairs and similar - none of which were done!

Oh, I just thought I'd add - "fakeemail.com" IS a "real" site - try going there. There's a page there at least, with a capital one ad, of all things.

-- I beleive in conspiracies...... (doesthismakeyouhappy@hotmail.com), March 08, 2003.

I think you have some more serious problems than you mention in your messages. SERIOUS MENTAL PROBLEMS WHICH YOU SHOULD SEEK HELP FOR....

-- not an idiot like you (youareanidiot.@mental.com), March 08, 2003.

What the hell makes you decide that?? more to the bloody point, what gives you the right to say it??

-- I beleive in conspiracies...... (doesthismakeyouhappy@hotmail.com), March 08, 2003.