Does someone else have a mortgage on my new home? CRANE ON THE CASE

I bought and moved in to a new flat in May last year. Since then, I have received regular letters from Barclays, addressed to a woman I don't recognise and who is not the previous owner.

I've been returning the letters as 'not at this address'.

As I have a Barclays credit card, I recently opened one by mistake. I was horrified to find it related to an offset mortgage this person appeared to hold at my address.

I called Barclays, but it said it couldn't tell me anything about the mortgage account due to data protection.

I'm worried about fraud and just want confirmation there is no other mortgage at my address. D.G, West Midlands

Helen Crane, This is Money's consumer champion, replies: What a shock it must have been to open that envelope and see what looked like another mortgage on your home.

When you bought the maisonette with your sister about a year ago, you took out a mortgage with Halifax.

If there was another charge on the property at this time, it's very unlikely this would have evaded the attention of the bank, not to mention your lawyer.

In rare cases, though, these things can be missed. I wrote last year about a reader who only discovered his garden was leasehold 17 years after buying the house.

You also checked the Land Registry, as well as speaking to neighbours to make sure no one had accidentally given Barclays the wrong flat number.

All of these yielded nothing, suggesting there was no second mortgage.

However, I can still see why you were concerned. Many of us are on high alert for fraud at the moment, and with good reason.

For example, I've written previously in this column about fraudsters stealing unsuspecting people's addresses to register a businesses with Companies House.

If that can go undetected, who knows what else might be possible.

You contacted Barclays looking for reassurance. However, you were told by the person on the phone that they couldn't even bring up the account on their screen, as you weren't the customer named on the mortgage.

I understand that banks must abide by the general data protection regulation (GDPR).

It wouldn't be appropriate for Barclays to tell you the details of this person's mortgage (though you already knew a fair amount thanks to the letter) or where they really live.

That said, I don't see how confirming to you that there was no Barclays mortgage on your own home, provided you showed the proper proof of address, would be breaking any rules.

I contacted the bank to try and solve this mortgage mystery.

I'm pleased to report Barclays quickly responded to say it had stopped the letters to your address.

It also confirmed that it didn't hold a mortgage on your property, and that this was not a case of fraud.

I understand the letters had been delivered to you because of an administrative mistake by another customer, and that the bank wasn't at fault.

Barclays could not give any more detail due to data protection, which is understandable.

But I have pieced together the information I have to come up with my own theory which I think fits.

The letter had your address listed at the top, as the correspondence address, but nowhere did it mention the address of the property the mortgage was held on.

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Therefore, I believe the mortgage was on a different property.

You mentioned to me previously that the person you bought your flat from had rented it out sometimes.

You hadn't looked into the tenant's details, as it wouldn't make sense for them to be receiving post about a mortgage on the home they rented - which you assumed this was.

But I think that mortgage letters, while sent to your address, related to a mortgage on another home - one that is owned by one of these tenants.

While it's not common, there are many circumstances where a renter might have a mortgage on another property.

Perhaps they are working away temporarily, going through a divorce, renting while their house is renovated or are even a buy-to-let landlord themselves.

When this person moved on, I believe they redirected all their other post - but forgot to tell Barclays about their new correspondence address.

As many people now manage their mortgage online, it is easier for this to slip the mind.

I could be wrong, but this version of events makes most sense to me.

Either way, you said you are pleased the letters are now going to their rightful recipient, and the snap of the letterbox no longer brings a sense of dread.