Rip-off landlord must pay students £36,000 or go to jail

Landlord Tariq Zaman must repay £36,000 raised from his assets to students he ripped off by stealing their deposits. Zaman, 42, was convicted of taking the deposits at Leeds Crown Court earlier in 2012. Now, he has faced the court again in a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing that heard he had assets worth £36,960 from cash in two bank accounts and the sale of a van. Judge Scott Wolstenholme ordered Zaman to pay the money within 14 days or face 12 months in jail. The money will go towards compensating dozens of victims who collectively lost around £48,600, according to police. Zaman received a 46-week suspended prison term and was ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid community work after admitting 18 charges of theft over eight years while renting property to students in Leeds. Police claims the offences before the court only reflected a small part of his crimes. The offences related to nine properties which were owned by the Zaman family. Students rented properties for the academic year and paid a security deposit, but at the end of the tenancy, Zaman refused to return the deposits. Several students obtained county court judgements against Zaman, but he still failed to return the money. Eventually police were called in. Detective constable Jo Hind, of the Leeds District Proceeds of Crime Act Team, said: “The 18 offences he has pleaded guilty to cover a period of eight years but are representative of a wider picture. His practice of keeping deposits without any legal basis was on such a scale that the Leeds University Student Advice Centre took on extra staff to deal with the number of complaints about him.” Student landlord loses HMO appeal Meanwhile, a company letting substandard housing to students must pay £13,500 fines and costs after losing an appeal against conviction The judge at Portsmouth Crown Court upheld the convictions and raised the costs from £3,000 to £4,500 against JL Homes, who let bedsits to five students after Portsmouth Council issued an order the property was too dangerous to live in. Students complained bedrooms were too small, cooking facilities were substandard and three bedsits and cooking facilities could only be reached by an outside metal staircase. Portsmouth Council’s private sector housing manager Bruce Lomax said: “We try to work with all landlords to resolve any issues concerning their properties, but on this occasion JL Homes didn’t cooperate and put students at risk. “We had no other option but to prosecute them, and then defend against the appeal.”

Landlord blog

Sam Dickinson

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