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I am too in the same position as many on here and have not had my deposit back from Providence. I just don't know what to do. I've written many times to providence lets and sent copies to providence properties to forward on. Surprisingly i have had no response whatsoever! We are now thinking of taking them to court but not sure if it is worth it after reading everything on here/watchdog etc. The people who have taken them to court and won still don't seem to have got any money back. Has anyone got any money back whatsoever? And does anyone have any other contact details for prov. lets, or tariq. I feel completely helpless and am owed £900 in total.Very angry too. Is there anyway we could maybe group together on this and make a claim against tariq as a group? If it is possible i think it could be really affective. There must be literally hundreds of people they owe money to. Any advice at this point would be very helpful. Thanks.
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS SITE ARE ADVISED. LEGAL CONSULTATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE BY THE COMPANY MY HOMEZ LIMITED IN RELATION TO ALLEGATIONS THIS COMPANY HAS A BUSINESS CONNECTION TO THE SUBJECT OF THIS BLAGGER. AFTER INVESTIGATION THESE ALLEGATIONS ARE FOUND TO BE UNTRUE. FOLLOWING REPRESENTATIONS TO THE BBC ANY SUCH ALLEGTIONS ON RELATED SITES PROCURED BY THEM WERE REMOVED. THIS CONSTITUTES DEFAMATION AND LIBEL BY PARTIES MAKING THESE ALLEGATIONS. A LIBELLOUS STATEMENT IS ONE WHICH IS RECORDED WITH A DEGREE OF PERMANENCE AND STATEMENTS MADE ON BULLETIN BOARDS SUCH AS THIS SITE, FACEBOOK OR ANY GOOGLE FACILITY OR ANY INDEPENDENTLY RAISED SITE FALL WITHIN THIS CATEGORY. VIGOROUS ATTEMPTS ARE BEING MADE TO IDENTIFY ALL CONTRIBUTORS TO THESE SITES WHO HAVE MADE THIS ALLEGATION AGAINST THE COMPANY AND APPROPRIATE ACTION/REMEDY WILL BE TAKEN AGAINST THESE PEOPLE. THIS POSTING IS FOR GENERAL ADVICE ONLY TO PROTECT MY CLIENT AND BEARS NO INPUT TO THE CONTENT OF THIS BLAGGER.
Providence Properties has now moved its registered office and trading address to 4th and 5th Floor, 2 Wellington Place, Leeds LS1 4AP. So that's where all the unpaid student deposits have gone.
Linsey's comments are completely laughable - there aren't any extravagant and pretentious student houses in Headingly. Many solicitors are currently facing unemployment because of the credit crunch and collapsing housing market let alone earning a fortune unless of course they are living in a parallel universe, using illegal substances or are working for Providence Properties.
I used to rent a house from Providence Properties, i was happy with the service they provided and i got my £500 deposit back. Now i am a Solicitor. Even if they did take my £500 deposit, look what i am making now. They provided me with an extravagant, expensive and pretentious house in Headingly.
One of the staff said to me "Providence Lets will take a while in dealing with your file".
It took eight weeks for Providence Lets to give me my deposit back, i thought with fortitude and confidence that i will receive the deposit back because the house was in the same condition has i first got it, perfect.
Please don't give up in persuing court action. Providence owes £600 to us for the return of depostis to my two children. In total, they owe £1500 to the occupants of the house in which they lived. We are in the throws of court action now. We realise, especially after witnessing the contempt which Tariq Zaman has for students and the law on Watchdog, that it may be a long time before we ever see our money again. However, if we all just give up, then he's won. We have to keep doing whatever it takes to see these people put out of business permemantly. They also operate under a company called 'My Homez' in Hyde Park, so make sure you let anyone you know looking for propety to avoid them also. Make no mistake, what these people are doing is nothing short of fraud, a serious crime, and the sooner the law get involved to investigate this whole situation properly, the better.
I have another similar story about Providence Properties. Me and six other housemates are owed £300 each. I have contacted them, trading standards who can't help and the students union. The student union told me about a rumour that they are winding up the company. That means we would have no chance of getting the money back. They are also ignoring county court judgements so small claims look pointless. I juss think its really unfair that they can get away with it and we can't do anything about it. The union told me they are trying to get other agencies involved such as the Serious Fraud Office but I think we are banging our heads up a brick wall at the moment.
I have yet another similar story. Tariq owes my three housemates and I a total of £1200. The house was spotless when we moved out in comparison to the filthy state of a house that we first moved in to. We have rung him endless times since we moved out in June, on most occasions he would simply hang up on us after we explained who we were and he no longer answers any of our calls. We have also sent him and Providence Properties official letters via recorded delivery with no reply. We are currently looking in to the small claims courts but it now looks like there is little point.
My daughter moved out of her accommodation in May 2008 and we too have no deposit back. We have written numerous times and had no reply. My daughter has been in to the office a number of times and the staff have been extremely rude claiming that they do not work for Providence and the deposit is returnable from a separate company. We are now about to take them to court.
I'm another massively unsatisfied customer. Providence still have yet to give me or my housemates any of our deposits back despite the fact we have given them a singed letter from the owner of the house saying there's absolutely nothing wrong with the house. They just feed us the same story, write to providence lets. We've done that, 9 times, still no reply. They also did not pay our deposits into one of the three government run tenancy deposit scheme which they are legally required to do as of april 2007. As a result of all this a friend of mine put me in touch with bbc watchdog and they've done a film on providence which is airing this monday 3rd November. Please spread the word and email/text in your stories during and after the show.
We are consulting solicitors about the failure of Providence to sort out the appalling damp in my daughter's basement room in a Providence house, and the fact that their workman was smoking in there as he painted. Other friends of hers are taking court action against them as it turns out the house they had rented had no fire safety certificate. I tried to speak to Providence and all their representative did was shout at me that they would came ofter me and take my house, then hang up. These people are utterly and totally unpleasant, and I found a request made today for people to talk to a reporter about their experiences with this company. If anyone is interested in doing so, the request is at
http://leeds.gumtree.com/leeds/21/30496121.html
Good luck to you all.
Alright guys, we are one of the many houses that have still not received our deposits back from providence properties. However, we have been in touch with BBC watchdog and they have done a program on Providence and it is airing this Monday 3rd November at 7.30 on BBC 1. Make sure you watch and spread the word. Also email and text your stories into the show!
They are bad! Do not rent with this company. I don't think they have any intention of returning my deposit. And be wary of the positive comments: notice that someone has posted a postive comment as 'ibrooks' below, just after 'l.brook' posted some pretty negative stuff, I'm guessing 'ibrooks' is trying to pretend to be 'l.brook' to fool people into thinking that he did get his deposit back after all. This company really do seem to be able to get away with anything they like. Please don't use them, they need to feel the consequences of their actions.
Were having the same problem with these guys.There trying to fob us off with the providence lets story. Having checked both of them out on the companies house I think they have changed there directors since Jan so people who are thinking of pursueing them in a claims court cant really use that arguement. Out of interest those that have taken them to court, how much did it cost you? I totalled up around £400 so far with the applications etc. Will be money well spent in my eyes to make these vile and disgusting excuses for companies pay. Has anyone had any response from providence lets at all?
Providence Properties, Providence Lets - ALL THE SAME PEOPLE!! The 'address' in Richmond Road is a sham, just a ploy from Providence to attempt to worm their way out of paying back deposits. They'll tell you that Providence Lets holds your deposit, not Providence Properties and then refuse to talk to you on the phone, are rude when you do, and do not respond in writing when you have taken the time and effort to fulfill all the necessary requirements for the return of your deposit. The trouble is they get away with it because too many students and their parents just can't be bothered to do anything about it! If you want your money back and are not happy with the fact that Providence simply take multi thousands of pounds for no good reason from students each year, then do something about it. Your only course of action is a legal one - take them to court!
Hey Guys. Having the same problem as you all. Moved into the house in Summer 2007 and still waiting on deposits to be returned. Have written to Providence Lets serveral times and apparently the house was left in an unacceptable condition. Infact it was left cleaner than it was when we moved in.
Went down to 52a Richmond Ave today to try and speak to "Providence Lets" but no-one was there. The 52a has now actually been taken of the letterbox by Tariq! My advice - go and post it yourself and pop a copy into Providence Properties so they can forward it on. Providence Lets address is actually a set of empty garages protected by gates.
Can you get in touch if anyone has managed to get any further with this company? We all need to work together and bring this company down.
Terrible even worse than leeds student homes or your student homes whatever they want to call themselves now. We arrived to a dirty house with broken sofas, beds on bricks plug sockets hanging off walls and a cooker with a broken oven. None of which has been sorted.
i find them rude and unprofessional i would advise anyone to steer clear of these total money grabbing cowboys!
Do not use this company under any circumstances. Like motherwheels we are also waiting to be paid back our deposits. I cannot agree more that everyone should be doing whatever is necessary to see their funds returned. However, I do understand why so many just write it off as a bad experience. Most students leave Leeds at the end of their university courses and it becomes ever more difficult and frustrating to persue a company who will not speak to you on the telephone or answer letters or emails. Providence know this and take unsrupulous advantage of it. We do not intend to let the matter rest with regards to our own children. Their house was left in perfectly good condition, much better than we found it and the landord had no problem with all deposits being returned in full. Legally, the deposits should have been returned within 10 days in the first instance and by no more than 30 days if there was any dispute. We have been waiting for more than 12 weeks now. We have no proof that Providence secured the deposits under the Deposit Protection Scheme initiated last year and which is a legal requirement. If this turns out to be the case, then Providence could face having to pay back each of the students in the household three times the value of their deposit. Courts impose this by way of a fine to the agent for not using the Deposit Protection Scheme. In any event we will certainly, at the very least, be expecting interest for the time they have banked our money.
My son and his two friends are still waiting for their deposit bond to be returned after vacating their house in June 2007. They have made numerous telephone calls and visits to the office but have been given no valid reason for the non return of their bond. I am now taking this up on their behalf and intend to take the company to the Small Claims Court. I would encourage anyone else in the same situation to do the same- the more people who win their cases, the less this company get away with!
By the way, has anyone considered contacting Watchdog about this company?
Just got back from the County Court hearing, where the judge found in our favour against providence properties with costs.
Providence tried to use the providence lets argument, but I countered that with their own website and that the directors of properties and lets were the same. Also although I didn't have a copy of the tenancy agreement they did not offer any evidence that lets were responsible, the judge found in our favour.
Now to get the money. They will have 14 days in which to pay and if they don't I will enforce it with court bailiffs
We are still trying to get deposit money from this firm and will be taking them to small claims court if we don’t get it back in next 7 days. Bill all paid up and house left in A lot cleaner condition than when moved in.
'Trust in Providence' they say ...oh the irony ...as i look back over my time with this estate agent from hell.
our contract with providence ended three months ago ...we left the house immaculate ...returned keys...send proof of bill payments ...did everything required of us. but when it came to asking for our deposits back ...trusting in Providence proved to be an impossibility.
We were told we needed to get in touch with Providence Lets ..whose website has mysteriously vanished off the internet in the last few weeks; who can only apparently be contacted by email and whose manager appears to change his name every week...so obviously a reputable company ...i don't think!!!
All we say to providence (who we know are reading this blagger due to the positive comments on it which include lingo dating back to the 1990s such as 'wicked gizza')... how can you live with yourselves knowing that you are fobbing off students who are struggling to make ends meet...driving around in your expensive cars (doubtlessly paid for with our deposit money)...while we struggle to buy food, pay bills, because you won't return our money?
The only providence we're trusting in doesn't come in the form of a dodgy estate agent in leeds!
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Visitors to the site are reminded that the details contained within user comments are uncorroborated and as such should not be read as fact but as the opinion of the person who left the comment.
Comments:
DONALD PETERS at 14th Nov 2008, 07:57AM
I will be waiting for a reply and the satisfaction of you thinking you are dumb!
One of the staff said to me "Providence Lets will take a while in dealing with your file".
It took eight weeks for Providence Lets to give me my deposit back, i thought with fortitude and confidence that i will receive the deposit back because the house was in the same condition has i first got it, perfect.
I'm another massively unsatisfied customer. Providence still have yet to give me or my housemates any of our deposits back despite the fact we have given them a singed letter from the owner of the house saying there's absolutely nothing wrong with the house. They just feed us the same story, write to providence lets. We've done that, 9 times, still no reply. They also did not pay our deposits into one of the three government run tenancy deposit scheme which they are legally required to do as of april 2007. As a result of all this a friend of mine put me in touch with bbc watchdog and they've done a film on providence which is airing this monday 3rd November. Please spread the word and email/text in your stories during and after the show.
http://leeds.gumtree.com/leeds/21/30496121.html
Good luck to you all.
Went down to 52a Richmond Ave today to try and speak to "Providence Lets" but no-one was there. The 52a has now actually been taken of the letterbox by Tariq! My advice - go and post it yourself and pop a copy into Providence Properties so they can forward it on. Providence Lets address is actually a set of empty garages protected by gates.
Can you get in touch if anyone has managed to get any further with this company? We all need to work together and bring this company down.
i find them rude and unprofessional i would advise anyone to steer clear of these total money grabbing cowboys!
By the way, has anyone considered contacting Watchdog about this company?
Providence tried to use the providence lets argument, but I countered that with their own website and that the directors of properties and lets were the same. Also although I didn't have a copy of the tenancy agreement they did not offer any evidence that lets were responsible, the judge found in our favour.
Now to get the money. They will have 14 days in which to pay and if they don't I will enforce it with court bailiffs
our contract with providence ended three months ago ...we left the house immaculate ...returned keys...send proof of bill payments ...did everything required of us. but when it came to asking for our deposits back ...trusting in Providence proved to be an impossibility.
We were told we needed to get in touch with Providence Lets ..whose website has mysteriously vanished off the internet in the last few weeks; who can only apparently be contacted by email and whose manager appears to change his name every week...so obviously a reputable company ...i don't think!!!
All we say to providence (who we know are reading this blagger due to the positive comments on it which include lingo dating back to the 1990s such as 'wicked gizza')... how can you live with yourselves knowing that you are fobbing off students who are struggling to make ends meet...driving around in your expensive cars (doubtlessly paid for with our deposit money)...while we struggle to buy food, pay bills, because you won't return our money?
The only providence we're trusting in doesn't come in the form of a dodgy estate agent in leeds!
Add a comment about this blagger