This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
A letting agent who kept tenants’ deposits with value of nearly £7,000 has been branded as, ‘appalling’ by the local council in which the action took place.
Glasgow council barred Shaban Rehman from renting out homes, describing him as unfit to be a landlord or agent. Rehman was also removed from the authority’s private landlord register.
As a result, he can no longer let his eight flats, nor the other 20 managed by his letting agency, Better Homes Glasgow. The council also ruled that anyone attempting to break this ruling would be charged with a criminal offence and fined up to £50,000.
Failures
Glasgow Council said that its private registration unit found that Rehman had failed to register two deposits with an approved rental scheme. These deposits had a total rental value of £6,950.
He is also reported to have told a family that rented one of his properties in the city, but relocated to London for a short while, that there had been a flood in their absence. As such, Rehman duped them into paying £700 per month extra for another flat, but then subsequently placed the ‘flooded’ flat back onto the market. Rehman also did not return the family’s deposit.
‘Appalling’ letting agent head banned
What’s more, Mr Rehman was alleged to have shown another tenant fraudulent documentation, which falsely claimed their deposit had been legally deposited into an approved scheme.
A council spokesman said, ‘this kind of appalling behaviour by a registered landlord can never be tolerated. Shaban Rehman has taken money from blameless tenants in bad faith and caused his victims untold distress and inconvenience.’[1]
[1] https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/5/ban-for-appalling-letting-agency-chief-who-kept-tenants-deposits
