Student landlord fined more than £11,000 for misleading tenants
A landlord has been found guilty of misleading young tenants and requiring them to pay additional money for their deposits following an investigation by Bristol City Council.
Josefina Velazquez of Hampton Road, Redland, pled guilty to three charges at Bristol Magistrates Court and was ordered to pay more than £11,000 in fines and costs.
The three charges related to Ms Velazquez misleading her young student tenants about their tenancies so that she could unfairly take more money from them than they expected to pay.
The investigation uncovered a pattern of behaviour by Ms Velazquez involving two separate sets of tenants, dating from 2022 to 2024. Ms Velazquez advertised deposits at a lower amount than she actually charged, and she misled her tenants about their legal rights, particularly in relation to security deposits.
Ms Velazquez only refunded this money to her student tenants, amounting to £6,924, once notified by Bristol City Council that they intended to prosecute her.
District Judge Matthews instructed Ms Velazques to work with Bristol City Council to amend her business practices and also emphasised the vulnerability of young student tenants who may be desperate to secure accommodation within a limited time frame.
Cllr Richard Eddy, vice chair of the homes and housing delivery committee, said: “We take the rights of tenants very seriously and will continue to take action against landlords who fail in their duties. This case highlights the importance of potential tenants being given the full picture before entering into a tenancy agreement.
“We want to make sure that tenants feel confident speaking up when they have an issue with their landlord, and we will look at taking action against any Bristol landlord or agent who systematically misleads their tenants. I would like to thank the officers in the Private Housing Service who helped to expose and prosecute these terrible practices.”
