Lettings agency probed after complaints from Stoke Newington tenant
Unassuming: the office block containing London Corporate Apartments. Photograph: Max Eckersley
A lettings agency in East London is being probed by trading standards officers following a tenant’s complaints about a mouse infestation at a Stoke Newington property, the Hackney Citizen can reveal.
London Corporate Apartments Ltd, which manages properties across the capital, is also not registered with a redress scheme.
The revelation will fuel concern about the behaviour of some agencies and potential vulnerability of London renters. Green Party London Assembly Member Sian Berry is among those who have spoken out over the issue, saying tenants are right to feel hard done by when trying to get redress from “rogue” agents.
London Corporate Apartments’ manager, who gave his name as Jashed Subhan, said his Whitechapel-based agency was in the process of renewing its membership with one of three government-approved ombudsman services designed to protect tenants by ensuring complaints are dealt with fairly.
But only the Property Ombudsman has any record of the company and confirmed it is not on its renewals list.
A spokesperson for the watchdog said the agency registered with it in May 2015 but its membership was terminated last August “due to non-payment of fees dating back to June”.
This comes after a tenant at a London Corporate Apartments-managed property on Prince George Road in Stoke Newington raised concerns about the company.
She spent just four days at a house she shared with six strangers where there was a mouse infestation and noise disturbances due to a thin partition wall.
She also had safety concerns over the absence of a lock on her bedroom door.
When she told London Corporate Apartments she wanted to quit her contract with her deposit refunded, she claims she was subjected to threats from its staff.
Although her contract with London Corporate Apartments has since been terminated, she is determined to take the company to court if they continue to refuse to pay back her full deposit.
It is understood the lettings agent is prepared to defend itself in court.
Before the contract was terminated, the woman claims London Corporate Apartments “threatened” to forcibly remove all of her belongings if she did not vacate the property immediately and hand over her keys.
Subhan maintains this was just “advice” and insisted tenants were the lettings agency’s “number one priority”. He said he was unaware of any action taken against the company by trading standards.
Landlord Shopikul Hoque, with whom the lettings agency signed a three-year deal to manage the Prince George Road property, said: “London Corporate Apartments has told me it doesn’t need to be registered with an ombudsman because it is a service rooms provider and not a letting agent.”
He said he took the company at their word but would “cross that bridge when we come to it” if it turned out they were in the wrong.
He dealt with the mouse infestation, he said, after being informed about it, hiring a pest control company. As for the lack of bedroom locks, he explained that the rooms are not advertised by the lettings agency as lockable and tenants were made aware of this before signing a contract.
He also said he believed the tenant who complained had broken her contract, left without notice and knew about the partition door issue at the time she had signed the agreement with them.
Tower Hamlets Council confirmed its trading standards team is investigating.
This article was amended at 16:40 on Monday 22 July 2019. The original article stated that the name of the manager of the lettings agency was Josh Suban. This has been changed to Jashed Subhan.
This (LCA) company are the worst! They operate as a letting agency but you get given a license to occupy rather than a tenancy agreement they use this method to loop over legal duties. The staff always threatened tenants with evictions if they complained about anything. They should be struck off!!
I had to get environmental health in for my property in mountgrove Road N5 2LT. I moved in summer so I would not of been aware of gap going right across my ceiling which is letting in the cold. I have to keep the electric heaters going Constantly for 3 months. When I did get the environmental health in. The landlord text me to quit the property. The roof has still not done and they are getting rent paid every week
I was one of the victim, since I was fresh in London and rented the room from their company, therefore I havent got much knowledge about renting a room. The property is really horrible that is full of rats and broken facilities. I have reported many times and they just ignored my requirements. I wanted to quited the contract and they threated me to leave the house in a few days. After I did the research I found that the company is illegal because they just let me signed the contract which without any deposit reference number and inventory checking. The company should get punishment and I hope it will no longer stand in England after this as I don’t want anyone else to experience its disgusting services!
If the council could have time to view my comment I’d be very happy to provide all the proofs. Thanks!
I can personally attest to this shambolic “agency” as I sit here reading this article I can literally hear the mice trying to gnaw another entry hole into my bedroom. We reported mice to these crooks and they ignored us for 2 months until they decided finding a mouse in my bed was finally a severe enough situation to do something. All they really did was plug the holes in the bedrooms and hallways; no efforts were made to catch/kill/remove the mice from the house. Our boiler also wasn’t working and they ignored that for 4 weeks….in the middle of winter. They give no notice before entering the house and showing people around with no knowledge (or care) for which rooms are occupied. I’ve had someone who “worked for the agents” burst into my room who did not know which rooms were available nor how much they cost. We are not even told when tenants are moving even which, given there are no locks on the doors, leads to a constant worry of security. I understand that in a buyers market like London property there will be a few bad eggs but I cannot stress highly enough how crooked these guys are!!
I also rent from LCA and is in the process of getting my deposit back. Do you guys have had your deposits refunded?
I managed to get my deposit back within a month I got the keys.
how do you guys get your deposit refunded, anyone sued them before?