Very Important Question

[FormerMortgageBroker]

Question: Could a DCA sending you an unsubstantiated or inaccurate request for money/debt be found guilty in the criminal sense of the word?

 

2 points from my own experience

 

1. You receive a letter/notice/warrant/ccj etc for £1,500. The particular debt is statute barred. DCA should know this, and a lot call themselves solicitors. They are making a false representation (by omission). This is surely fraud under the Fraud Act 2006. Sending a letter that they know is statute barred, on the hope that people will not challenge is theft/fraud on a large scale and they are using the courts to do the work for them.

 

2. As a former mortgage broker (as the name suggests) It was drummed into us that selling insurance had to be 100% accurate and above board as mis-selling for financial gain was classed as theft (fraud section C under the Theft act 1968.

 

Could we also be looking at extortion? Obtaining money by menaces doesn't necessarily mean violence. Seizure of goods, bailiffs, impacted credit rating all add up to menaces.

 

Should we be calling the police about threatening letters over debts that are known to be bogus? And as an added measure, should we be addressing parliament/local MP about clarifying the position of DCA's. This could stop a lot of unenlightened people getting ripped off.

 

Proposed Battle plan.

I think we should be looking at an "open letter" in the Telegraph asking these questions. Questioning MP's and the Minister for Justice Jack Straw via email from all CAG members will hopefully get this issue in Parliament. Ideally, we need quotes, anything in writing from senior police and even the CPS (crown prosecution service) The upshot is a direct challenge to DCA's, send the message that we are openly looking for a fight, and equally important is the media perception and public awareness of CAG.

 

I good test case and I can see no reason why we cant crush this evil trade at source.

 

Opinion

The increased awareness of CAG will hopefully get more of the general public interested in their rights. I certainly wont harm the libel case fighting fund, and I like one of the suggestions that adverts can be placed on the site, but a subscription would remove these adverts (sorry didn't make note of your name:)).

[palomino]

I like the cut of your jib!

And you have stirred some thoughts about one of my own problems.

 

This would be a long tough battle - as I once heard it would be 'like kicking a dead whale along a beach'.

 

Letters to newspapers need to be pertinent in some way - perhaps related to a news item.

Letters to your MP need a personal touch/relate to personal experience.

 

If DCA letters can be construed as attempted fraud (bit dubious I would have thought) or demanding money with menaces/threats then I would expect the police would need to be involved. Unfortunately this could be difficult as they would simply see it as your making more work for them - but it doesn't stop us trying.

 

I'm due to be seeing the local CSO next week about an entirely unrelated matter but I will raise this as well.