Providence Properties keep students money in Leeds
As a landlord myself I’m very interested in the property industry and very keen to hear about news relating to the letting industry, and the news I just saw on BBC 1’s Watchdog about Providence Properties in Leeds was quite shocking. It seems that Providence Properties have been withholding deposits from students in Leeds, refusing to give them back, despite court orders against Tariq Zaman to the contrary.
Through the letting agent Tariq Zaman, the property company have been keeping thousands of pounds in deposits from students, even though the courts have ruled in favour of the students and issued CCJs against Tariq Zaman.
This is theft, but Tariq Zaman didn’t seem to care when he was filmed on Watchdog proudly boasting how he had loads of CCJs, and that they were worthless.
It would seem that they are indeed worthless, as despite being ordered to return the money he had no intention of doing so.
This is worrying for any students looking for flats to rent in Leeds as it seems unlikely they’ll get their deposits back if they use Providence Properties.
The real worrying thing is that students who paid money to Providence Properties were asked to pay the money to Providence Lettings, who they were then told by Providence Properties were nothing to do with them when it came to get their money back.
Providence Properties, or Providence Lets it would seem (who are a different company according to the film on Watchdog) are keeping the students money and don’t seem to care about it. Anyone looking for a property in Leeds should give them a very wide berth if the news on Watchdog is anything to go by.
Has anyone had any dealings with them while looking for residence in Leeds?
I'm an Affiliate Marketeer, SEO, web developer and all round Internet personage. I run a network of content websites on a variety of different subjects. I'm also victim to some of the worst luck in the world, and I tend to Blog about all of it here. 
Loading ...
Posts
I haven’t, fortunately, but this issue has been recurrent in the Leeds University student newspaper so many times now.
It doesn’t seem to matter how often the courts make their injunctions, or how often students march around in circles with banners saying how rubbish Providence is, this joker still giggles all the way to the bank every new semester.
Craptastic.
We all know Landlords and agents, particularly those who deal with student lettings are notoriously slow at returning deposits, if they even return them at all. Notwithstanding the fact that there are of course a tiny minority students, who for reasons only known to themselves, decide to smear shit up the walls of their abode – this case does seem rather alarming.
Hopefully this Watchdog expose and an almost certain first page listing for “Providence Properties” on this blog should put the wind up them.
[...] to some students from Leeds the other night, after the BBC Watchdog programme about Tariq Zaman and Providence Properties. It seems that the student union is well aware of both Providence Properties and Tariq Zaman, and [...]
I’ve had dealings with Student landlords in Manchester they have always paid up but you have to put in the effort to get the money back. It doesn’t surprise to hear about Providence Properties keeping the money.
We live in a Providence Properties-run flat and we have recently been burgled. Part of the reason for this is that the front door of the whole building doesn’t shut properly on its own; they are aware of this because they have put a sign up on the door to say so. Another part of the reason is also that the locks on the door to our flat itself aren’t properly functional, which we made them aware of in writing shortly after moving in. When we rang to tell them about the burglary, they told us it was nothing to do with them and we should contact the owner of the house directly, but wouldn’t give us her contact details. Incidentally the owner of the house is Mr Zaman’s sister. When we rang up again they said they believed we had caused the damage that the burglar made getting in ourselves and were lying about being burgled. We then wrote a lengthy letter to the owner of the house (we do have her postal address thankfully), setting forth our demands for improved security, and copied it to Providence Properties. After they received the letter (and the day after the Watchdog programme) someone rang us and apologised and have said they will come round to improve the security on the flat door but that door closers don’t exist which will make the front door of the building close properly because it is a large Victorian door. Which is obviously the biggest load of crap you’ve ever heard. So we are preparing to go head to head with them and it seems like it would be a good idea for anyone who is renting with them to take the amount of the deposit out of the last month’s rent. And if you are not already renting from them, never ever do!
To follow up to my post above, and in response to Sam26, I feel like I need to say it was not fair of me to implicate my landlady alongside Providence Properties. Although nothing I said was untrue, it is a bit too early to ‘tar her with the same brush.’ I don’t think it is the same person you rented from, her name is not Shafia Begum, and to be fair to her she was on holiday when all of this happened (of course, Providence didn’t tell us that!) and she has now been in touch with us to say that she is no longer using Providence Properties as her letting agent and that she intends to have the repairs and upgrades to security that we’ve requested completed early next week. I am hopeful that this will be done as quickly as possible and that from here on out we will have a much better experience dealing with the landlady and not the lettings agent. I’ll try to post an update.
Thanks for your reply Stella but do be careful as most of the landlords/landlady’s are related to providence properties, my experience with them was a nightmare hell and back, and i feel for people who have had dealings with them or are dealing with them now.
do make sure that your gas and electric is safe, because in my case both were below health and safety standards
I’m a reporter and have had so many complaints about this company. The police refuse to get involved as they say it’s a civil matter. Surely this is theft, pure and simple, and should be treated as a crime. Let’s hope MyHomez get shut down before they scam anyone else.
I was a tenant/customer of Providence from July2007 to June 2008 and they have acted as expected by fobbing me off with the “Providence Lets” excuse. I’m currently seeking to settle the dispute with legal advice but am making little headway. It is disheartening to hear that even CCJs don’t help when it comes to the directors of Providence but I’ll keep plugging away.
These people are thieves pure and simple, don’t use them whatever you do. They were appalling landlords and have witheld the deposits on a flat that was rented from them and returned in a much cleaner state than it was at the start of the tenancy. After seeing the Watchdog programme and Tariq Zaman’s response I am even more determined to get my money back.
Dear All Angry Tenants/those affected by the providence fraud,
I am working on behalf of a local news team, we are putting together a story which will both further incriminate the My Homez/ Providence Properties letting agents, as well as provide legal advice for those who are wanting to get their money back. I am planning something quite big in the next few days and I need the support of everyone who is involved, whether you have any information regarding the identities of those involved, any experiences, I need all this information in order to put together a strong piece of news. The Watchdog story was good in that it revealed the identity of Tariq Zaman, as well as proving providence prop’s and providence lets are the same people. But it didn’t really help any of these tennants get their money back, this is what I want to do, whilst also increasing awareness about these people so that no one else can get scammed.
Can everyone who wants to help please email me today so I can get this organised and hopefully help everyone involved and bring these fraudsters to justice. If you could email me telling me your story, and if you are willing to be interviewed, (we can blur out any identities and do voice-over if you are worried about disclosure).
email:
jdavis986@hotmail.com
[...] guess it has to happen. If you post about scum like Providence Properties scamming students out of money and Tariq Zaman refusing to give them their money back, despite [...]
Ha i like it… full of shit, these guys sure are JOKERS!!!LOL sam26 thanks for this bit of information, what a laugh i’ve had!
These guys are trying to save they’re arses, which are not only exposed on Watchdog & Various Blogs but very soon throughout Leeds.
There are excellent Letting Agencies & Have been established longer than These jokers.
[...] posts generated a lot of comments from angry people who claimed to have had their deposits kept by Providence Properties. They were very angry [...]
[...] a fan of Watchdog’s work, so much so that I even aided them with their quest to investigate Providence Properties (a company that didn’t annoy me, but I picked up the torch [...]
[...] boss of Leeds student lettings company Providence Properties, Tariq Zaman, was arrested recently and held by police, suspected of committing acts of money [...]