Tenant urges others to follow after deposit win

A tenant who took her landlord to a tribunal to triumph her deposit backmost has urged different renters to travel her lead.

Edinburgh Holiday and Party Lets (EHPL) was ordered to refund Adéla Koubová aft a lodging tribunal ruled she was owed the wealth back.

The level is owned by Mark Fortune, a businessman who has been refused introduction to Scotland's landlord register.

Adéla, who is from the Czech Republic, said she had taken a basal "for the different radical successful this situation".

A series of lodging tribunal rulings person present rejected EHPL's statement that it is operating vacation lets from Mr Fortune's properties and arsenic specified the radical leaving determination should get the aforesaid protections arsenic mean letting agreements.

Housing campaigners are asking wherefore nary further enactment is being taken against the firm.

Adéla moved to Edinburgh from the Czech Republic successful January 2020 arsenic portion of a University of Edinburgh speech programme and recovered the level successful the city's Bruntsfield Place done a Gumtree advert.

But aft conscionable 1 time successful the property, which she said was freezing due to the fact that of a spread successful her chamber window, she gave 4 weeks' announcement to EHPL's typical but past failed to get her deposit back.

"When I realised mislaid my deposit I was sad, for maine past it was a batch of money," she told BBC Scotland.

"But it has been 3 years now, a batch of effort and accent successful this process, but I americium doing it for the different radical successful this situation.

"There are radical successful these properties who are moving to Edinburgh for the archetypal clip and they possibly don't cognize the situation."

Adéla, who was supported successful her lawsuit by Scotland's tenants' national Living Rent, said she was inactive waiting to beryllium paid the £275 she is owed much than 2 months aft the ruling.

She added: "I americium not definite if we volition spot the money, the champion prize was winning though and hopefully done my acquisition we tin fto different radical cognize determination is simply a mode to not fto this hap to them."

The Housing and Property Chamber ruling states that it has "no trouble successful concluding that some parties were alert that this statement was not for a vacation fto and did not mean it represent one", meaning the ineligible narration betwixt the parties was that of landlord and tenant.

He has antecedently denied that helium operates arsenic a landlord and rents retired flats.

The businessman said the properties were operated by constricted companies, not him personally.

The latest tribunal ruling said Mr Fortune gave submissions connected behalf of EHPL - of which helium is simply a erstwhile manager - and connected a fig of occasions "seemed to notation to himself arsenic the landlord accidentally".

It besides added that his "position was often contradictory and truthful could not beryllium treated arsenic reliable".

In 2021, a BBC Scotland investigation recovered that rooms successful flats owned by Mr Fortune were being fto retired nether contracts which did not springiness tenants the aforesaid extortion arsenic residential agreements.

A spokesperson for Living Rent said astir tenants did not person "the clip oregon resources" to instrumentality landlords to lodging tribunals similar they did with Adéla.

He said: "Mark Fortune has been refused landlord registration and yet his properties person continued to beryllium rented retired crossed the city.

"Tenants look conditions unfit for quality habitation and person their deposits improperly withheld portion the authorities instrumentality nary action."

The spokesperson called connected some City of Edinburgh Council and Police Scotland to "start enforcing their ain rules" connected the issue.