Suspicious Activity re Mortgage

Anna2834

Not sure if I am posting in the correct topic/area, sorry if I give Admin extra work. 

A few days ago I received an unexpected visit from a questionable character....however let me start with the beginning as I am hoping some of you might be able to give me some advice in regards to what I should do. 

I purchased my home at the beginning of 2008 - all was OK and has been OK up until Monday the 16th of Jan '17. On Monday I received an unsolicited visit from a gentleman who's name I do not know as he failed to introduce himself. Unfortunately I was not at home however an elderly family member was who failed to request details from the said gentleman.

After I purchased the home and moved in back in '08 as anyone expects I kept receiving letters for the previous owners of the house. Nothing really meant anything to me as I kept returning the letters to the Post Office advising on the envelope that the letter needs to return to the sender as the person no longer lives at this address. One morning back in '08 I was off and received more letters, one was opened so decided to look inside - and it was from a bank claiming that the previous owner still owes them €220.000. 

I sent back the letter to the said bank and explained that the person in question no longer lives at this address as the property has been purchased by myself and please refrain from sending letters to this address. 

No more letters were received after this. 

However on Monday the 16th of Jan '17 the said gentleman knocked at my door asking where the previous owners are and if the house is a rental or is bought. My elderly relative advise the house was purchased and that they are visiting for the moment. The said gentleman started asking questions about names who the person is that owns it etc. 

My relative said he looked like a policeman.

I was a bit suspicious of this and rang my bank and asked if there are any issues with the mortgage I took out almost 10 years ago. The bank advised that all is legitimate and there isn't really anything to worry as paperwork shows no illegality being made. 

My question is...does anyone know what this could be about? Could it be that the previous owners took out a loan against the house and havent paid and now whoever they took a loan from want the house. Am actually not really sure what to do anymore. Who do I contact, the Gardai - unfortunately I don't even have the car registration or a name of this so called gentleman. 

Has anyone come across anything like this before and if they did can they please advise what to do. 

As far as I know all the paperwork for the house is legit and was though a solicitor. I also got the bank to send me over a copy of the deeds which clearly show my name. 

I am just worried as I dont know what to expect and I don't want to be throw out of the house after paying for 10 years.

Any help would be much appreciated.

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Ferrari3600

I'm not sure what advice you want. It's most likely someone chasing a debt against the previous owner. You could report it to the Gardai but you don't know his name, so what can you tell them? If he returns it probably would be advisable to contact Gardai.

Toots

I'd say debt collector or private investigator hired by someone the previous owner owes money to. A similar thing happened to a colleague of mine, the person who previously owned her house owed a pile of money and did a runner. They were getting people calling to the door asking about him for years after they moved in.

Anna2834

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I have dont you worry about that. Damage control took place with regards to that.
My main worry was that because the previous owners have debt to someone they might have put the house as a guarantee - can I be thrown out of the house with a Court order...?
Thanks for the replies I much appreciate it. 
Hope they wont return.

CreepingDeath

The previous owners might've had a loan secured against the house maybe, or some fairly average company sold some minor debt to a debt collection agency.

One of my brother-in-laws died a few years ago, and a €40 debt to one of the mobile phone providers turned into something like €500 a year after his death.
They kept sending letters to his mother until I rung them up to explain he passed away. Then they wanted a death certificate from the mother, until they found his name online on something like rip.ie

If they come back again, ask what company they're collecting for.
Or tell them to spend the €5 to check online with the land registry to see who owns the house now.

Your solicitor should've checked if there were any debts/security against your house when purchasing I imagine.

Anna2834

I imagine he did, my next port of call is the solicitor I dealt with back in 2008. Thank you for the reply.

Dial Hard

Anna2834 wrote:

I imagine he did, my next port of call is the solicitor I dealt with back in 2008. Thank you for the reply.

There's absolutely no need for a solicitor. It's a debt collector or investigator for a debt agency checking out the pervious owner's last known address. Not a big deal.

jimmycrackcorm

Anna2834 wrote: »

I imagine he did, my next port of call is the solicitor I dealt with back in 2008. Thank you for the reply.

Why bother? You bank wouldn't have given you the mortgage unless they were able to get hold of the deeds.

The obvious conclusion is that someone is trying to trace the previous owners for debts and it has nothing to do with you. But if it makes you feel better to pay your solicitor for reassurance then by all means do so.

Anna2834

Oh he wont be getting paid for checking to ensure all is OK, after getting 2K off me in 2008.

jimmycrackcorm -Why bother? You bank wouldn't have given you the mortgage unless they were able to get hold of the deeds.
I think I really needed to hear this.