I bought office furniture frm previous tenant that were still on hire purchase.

Alwyn said:

I cannot contact the person by telephone but he is in contact with the bank and has denied that money exchanged hands between he and I. He has told the bank that he is in liquidation and they are more than welcome to collect the items.

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This (finally) appears to be the most important point - the bank (supported by a statement from the original owner) believe that he still owns the goods, not the OP. Do you not even have a hand written receipt from the original owner ?

If not, how can you back up the fact that you believe that you own the goods ?

I cannot contact the person by telephone but he is in contact with the bank and has denied that money exchanged hands between he and I. He has told the bank that he is in liquidation and they are more than welcome to collect the items.[/QUOTE]

How much did you pay for items?

Is their a withdrawal that day from your bank?

The lie ing part would annoy me- Get on to liquidator that he is missing money from his satement of afffairs if not counting these items?

Be no harm to send the seller a legal letter looking for a refund of the money

Can the bank that is annoying you be named on this forum- No way to carry on( No one would take over repayments like that as the amount owed is bound to be a lot more than open market value of furniture)

Can you give bank deadline- do deal at decent price(low) or get items moved within week or better still put items in truck and drop in bank's carpark

I'd be inclined to tell the bank that you have zero connection with the previous occupant of the premises - that you believe that they went into liquidation and they should get in contact with the liquidator.

When the bank raises the issue of furniture, just repeat the above and tell them to get in contact with the liquidator etc. - you have no knowledge or connection with their customers business and do not want to get involved.

If they claim that your furniture is owned by them, then tell them that you paid for the furniture. If they believe that the person who sold you the furniture did not own it then they should report the matter to the Gardai and you will be more than happy to cooperate with any Gardai inquiry.

I would also emphasise that you do not appreciate been hastled regarding a matter which does not involve you and has no connection with your business.

I don't want to hijack this thread but what I will say, is this is not an alien case, in fact it's the second case I've heard this week; the other being in a retail setting.

Goods are being abandoned by previous tenants who are facing business difficulties and the landlords are renting the units without clearing places out. The new tenants are then getting the knock on the door hence whats gone done in the above case.

Make the bank what you consider to be a reasonable offer, and tell them to either accept it, or make an appointment to collect the items in question within 10 days, after which you will charge them storage. That should at least sort them out one way ot the other.

Tell them politely that you have absolutely no interest in taking over the payments for them. Unfortunately, the fact that you paid for them is irrelevant, as the previous tenant didn't have the right to sell the furniture.

Pat Bateman said:

Don't allow yourself to feel pressurised or bullied by the bank. By the sound of it, you would be doing them a favour by paying them ANYTHING for these goods. If they insist on playing hardball with you, perhaps you should play hardball with them? Come up with a figure you would be willing to pay for the goods and put it to the bank. If they refuse your offer, order them to remove their goods from your premises. Make it clear that if they don't do so, you'll be forced to charge them for storage of the goods.

As per you earlier post, these goods are not worth a smell of what the bank claim. Accordingly, they need to play ball with you. Best of luck, and do not allow yourself be intimidated.

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Seagull said:

Make the bank what you consider to be a reasonable offer, and tell them to either accept it, or make an appointment to collect the items in question within 10 days, after which you will charge them storage. That should at least sort them out one way ot the other.

Tell them politely that you have absolutely no interest in taking over the payments for them. Unfortunately, the fact that you paid for them is irrelevant, as the previous tenant didn't have the right to sell the furniture.

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Alwyn said:

Hi, my eagerness is due to the fact that the bank is constantly ringing me and making me feel like I'm the one who has done something wrong. They are telling me that I am taking in money whereas the previous person has no income.

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Follow our advice. And if the bank are constantly calling you and upsetting you, feel free to tell them not to call you anymore. It will more than likely cost the bank more to collect the stuff and dipose of it than it would to do a deal with you. Remember that.

The "strong arm tactics" that these clowns try and use never cease to amaze me. Their argument quoted above by you is utterly ridiculous. You've been shafted by a dodgy businessperson and it seems that a (discount?) liquidator hasn't covered himself in glory either. You're just trying to regularise the situation. However, the bank see you as the only one they can squeeze some money from. That is, if they can trick you into discharging someone else's liability. Tread carefully and best of luck.

Peter54 said:

I don't want to hijack this thread but what I will say, is this is not an alien case, in fact it's the second case I've heard this week; the other being in a retail setting.

Goods are being abandoned by previous tenants who are facing business difficulties and the landlords are renting the units without clearing places out. The new tenants are then getting the knock on the door hence whats gone done in the above case.

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Hi, I would like to hear more about this if possible please.

Pat, you've hit the nail on the head when you mentioned the (discount?) liquidator.

This afternoon I received notification from the previous tenant stating that the bank were closing in on me and they would be removing their goods, if I didn't commence payments (unbelievable). He hasn't been heard from in weeks so I presume was covering himself in case the situation went down a legal route.

It is obvious that both previous tenant and bank are trading tit for tat information, all whilst avoiding the main moral of the story; that I am not the person with the loan but the person they are dealing with is in fact the person who shafted them in the first place.

Of course all of this is not seen as the goods are in my premises.

A previous poster mentioned leaving the items outside the banks door; if they are not collected within the next couple of days then that is what I will be doing.

charge the bank a daily fee for storage of there items. tell them you wont release the items until all payments owing to you have been cleared.

Don't go out of your way to accommodate the bank. Make them do the work. Definitely don't deliver the furniture to them unless you tell them ahead of time that you will be billing them for this service, and get agreement to this in writing from them.

There are a lot of unanswered questions here.

Your lack of paperwork from the bank is worrying and their lack of chasing the previous tenant is even more concerning.

What about the previous tenants personal guarantee??

Are you 100% certain that the fittings have a serial number etc?

Seriously, I would be in no rush to do the banks dirty work for them. They have really messed up and are holding you liable for goods that may not even be theirs.

Think about it, you were not shown invoices, order forms or whatever else supposedly links them to the goods. You were merely shown a statement.

Obviously you are concerned they will turn up at your premises at an inappropriate time but I'm sure they cannot just walk in without an order. There has to be some sort of written communication but I'm guessing that in your case it's all verbal.

I'm no Lawyer but I gather that they cannot gain entry into your premises at the drop of a hat. Can anyone else vouch for this?

As a previous poster mentioned; it could take months or years to get sorted.

The bank are alleging that furniture belonging to them has been "sold" to you by someone who didnt own it i.e. that they are victims of theft/fraud. If this is the case, they should report it to the Gardai. The only people you should deal with on this matter is the Gardai.