St Giles Centre tenants have revealed how debt collectors arrived at their home address to demand they pay more than £600,000 owed by the shopping centre.
The Elgin mall has been pushed to the wall after the owners racked up a huge business rates debt over several years.
Moray Council launched legal action against the firm late last year to try and recover the money.
Now it has emerged St Giles Centre tenants had debt collectors at their homes demanding the balance be paid amid confusion over the enforcement action.
Moray Council told the Press and Journal it has been a “challenging time”. They advised anyone with concerns should contact the local authority or seek legal advice.
‘Debt collectors visit was traumatic experience’
Legal action launched by Moray Council against the St Giles Centre involved diverting the rents due by tenants from the shopping centre to the local authority instead.
Debt collectors from Scott & Co were dispatched to serve formal notices to the businesses to inform them about the changes they needed to make due to the enforcement action.
However, multiple tenants have told The Press and Journal the sheriff officers arrived at their home address and instead told them they were liable for a bill of more than £600,000 themselves.
One tenant said: “First of all I had a letter through the door to say they’d been. Then they came back again.
“I had a sheriff officer standing at the door to me home telling me I owed £600,000-odd.
“I’m looking at this letter, it’s got my name at the top of it, my address and then the debt.
“I couldn’t believe it. It was such a traumatic experience. I knew I didn’t owe this money, but you start to think ‘Could I?’.
“I tried to sort it out with Scott & Co on the phone but they just weren’t interested in helping. They kept saying I owed the money.
“A debt collector actually came to my house a second time too. I just took the letter and said I wouldn’t do anything with it. He said he was just the messenger.”
Moray Council urges St Giles Centre tenants to seek legal advice
Tenants at the St Giles Centre told the Press and Journal that after the initial confusion they later received clarity from Scott & Co that the enforcement action was to seize their rental income, not to secure payment to cover the entire bill.
A Moray Council spokeswoman explained serving notices at a home address was standard procedure.
She said: “We appreciate it’s a challenging time for all involved with the St Giles Centre. Moray Council has taken steps to recover sums due to the council.
“Any formal notices served by sheriff officers on behalf of the council should, in the first instance, be served at the address provided by the relevant individual or business to the council.
“This could be a private home address if that is the correspondence address that has been given to the council by that individual or business.
“Any person who receives a formal Notice, should follow the instructions set out in the notice. Any individual in receipt of a notice and concerned about it can contact the council’s taxation team.
“As it is a formal legal process, they are also encouraged to seek advice from their solicitor, Citizen’s Advice or other advice agency.”
Read more from St Giles Centre
- St Giles Centre firms face paying THOUSANDS in storage and removal fees as they search for new homes
- ‘Help us save St Giles Centre businesses’: Urgent call issued for Elgin landlords with vacant units to provide new homes for retailers
- No shops, more than two years late and a bankrupt developer: The saga of how the St Giles Centre in Elgin finally opened
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