Address or Individual tarnished by bad credit?

[filibuster]

My family presently live abroad and for the past few years until June, 2010, rented out their house in Scotland through a Letting Agent. The house is about to be let out on a short term basis once more but we have discovered that the previous tenants are being pursued by debt collection people, and indeed the police. Can anyone tell me if this will affect my family's credit rating when they move back into their own home?

[katerich48]

Well it happened to me when I moved from my old address into one where the previous tenant had bad debts...My credit rating was perfect I had no debts the credit rating website classed me as A1 ..The only thing was I kept getting post from debt collectors for the previous tenant and I started to wonder if it would eventually affect my credit ratingA friend advised me to try and buy something online just to see so I tried a catalogue - I went onto a womans clothing website and ordered a pair of ordinary £30 trousers and was immedialtely denied...I phoned the company and asked why - they had no idea I mentioned I had just moved to bad address and customer services woman said it was probably due to that....

[milly143]

I believe this used to be the case but I don't think it is anymore.

[filibuster]

Ladies, thank you both for your replies. I am still a little unsure where this leaves my family.

[Buenchico]

Credit reference agencies are not permitted to link people together SOLELY because of their address, so you shouldn't experience any problems.

However, for perfectly understandable reasons, errors can occur. (e.g. If Mary Smith, with a bad credit rating, used to live in a property which is now occupied by Fred Smith, an agency might incorrectly assume that they're husband and wife, or otherwise related - even though Fred has never even met Mary).

If problems occur you simply need to file a 'notice of disassociation' with one of the main credit reference agencies (such as Experian). The agencies share such information, so should only need to file one such notice but (since it's free) you could contact the other agencies (Equifax and Call Credit). Contact details are on this page:
http://www.ico.gov.uk...ic_guides/credit.aspx

Chris

[filibuster]

Chris, thank you so much for your very full answer. I feel so much better about the situation
now.

[boxtops]

I'll endorse what Chris says, from my own experience. When I first applied for a credit report (and this is going back some years) I found on MY report information about a loan my ex had taken out after we'd split, plus information about borrowing - wait for it - from the people who bought my mother's house (I lived at my mum's for a while so had her address on my history). I filed a suitable notice as Chris suggests, and everything was soon corrected - I checked again few years later and all was in order.

[filibuster]

Boxtops, thank you so much for endorsing what Chris has told me.