Remember a couple of months ago, when those cretins turned the power to my apartment off? Well, they're at it again. Today I got a letter from Buchanan, Clark, and Wells telling me that they'd rather not commence Legal Proceedings (in bold face), but it was time for me to pay the 147.24 Euros they think I owe them.
My account with them, which carries my real name, has a zero balance. It is setup for them to automatically withdraw from my bank account how much ever they think I owe them. They have happily made use of that feature over the last couple of months.
Their letter is addressed to New Occupier at my address. Maybe they noticed that I was taking pictures in the dark and are unhappy with the lack of power consumption? I guess it is time to sit down and write some strongly worded letters. If you don't hear from me in a while, I'm sitting in the dark again.
This sort of thing would be unlikely to happen were you to have on call, at your premises, a lawyer, even one from the United States.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I wonder where I could find one of those, Mike ;-)
ReplyDeleteAt this point it may be easier to just start going by 'Occupier' - maybe Occ for short. It may be a bit confusing at first, but I think it would save some hassle in the long run.
ReplyDeleteAs in "occupation force"? ;-) Unfortunately, it is them who have power over me.
ReplyDeleteEverybody I talk to says don't even open these letters unless they have your real name on it. Legally that is probably the case, and I did that for a while, but then the lights went out ;-)
That is just so strange. I don't think there is any country in the world where the new occupier is responsible for the old occupier's debts. Yes, the new owner may have to assume a lien put on a property due to the former owner's failure to pay whatever, but those are owners, not occupiers so I think you should continue to throw the notices in the trash.
ReplyDeleteYou know there's an electrical outlet right outside your front door, right?
I don't think the new occupier is responsible for old bills, even in Ireland. It's just they have their hands on the power switch.
ReplyDeleteSo, I have to try to untangle these two accounts. Of course, since I'm the only one responding to their communications (my landlord ignores them), they keep talking to me. Catch-22.
I sent them and their lawyers a registered letter telling them to send me an apology, a confirmation that I don't owe them any money, and a request to put 150 Euros credit into my account with them. That's the 147 they keep harassing me over plus the cost of a registered letter. I also threatened to take their automatic withdrawal privileges away since they are "clearly incompetent", and switch supplier after two more letters to New Occupier.
I'm sure there will be another blog post ;-)