Salford students furious over letting firm's falsified document

A major student letting company has been accused of falsifying a tenant's signature on a document to defend a property's "filthy" conditions.

Student Haus is alleged to have added the signature to a waiver form saying the tenants were aware their property in Salford had "outstanding maintenance to be completed" when they moved in.

The firm said it would "conduct a full inquiry" into the BBC's findings.

The tenants said they were "shocked" by what had been revealed.

Student Haus, part of the Mistoria Group, claims to be the North West of England's "leading student accommodation search and property management agency".

It rents out rooms in Salford, Liverpool, Manchester and Bolton.

One of its properties, on Peel Mount in Salford, was leased in August to six second-year film studies students from Salford University.

They first viewed the property in December and said they had some initial concerns about its condition.

The students said they were told outstanding maintenance issues would be resolved before they moved in.

In an email sent to them on 31 July and subsequently seen by BBC Radio Four's You and Yours programme, the students were told the property was "ready for move in" and that they would be charged their first month's rent from 1 August.

But when they moved in later that month, they discovered:

"We didn't get the house in this state - we just moved in and inherited it but now apparently it's our issue," said student Finley Heffernan.

"[Student Haus] said 'What do you expect from a student property?' What a ridiculous thing to say, like you expect it to be clean and safe and overall at least liveable."

The 20-year-old described conditions in the house as "filthy".

When approached by the BBC about the complaints, Student Haus produced a waiver form that appeared to have Mr Heffernan's signature at the bottom.

The form stated: "Notwithstanding the contents of the lease agreement entered between the parties, all tenants have been advised that the property has outstanding maintenance to be completed where access for contractors internally and externally will be required."

Mr Heffernan vehemently denied this had ever been either agreed or signed.

The BBC subsequently commissioned Elisabeth Briggs, an experienced forensic document examiner and handwriting expert who testifies in evidence in criminal, civil and family court proceedings, to review the form.

Ms Briggs said she found the signature on the waiver form to be identical to that on the tenancy agreement.

"You can superimpose one on the other and no two people will ever sign exactly alike," she said.

"In my opinion they cannot both be genuine signatures of one person."

Upon further analysis of the signature on the waiver form, Ms Briggs said that at the very edges there were signs it had been "cropped".

She said: "Presumably, somebody has taken the tenancy agreement, perhaps they've scanned it or taken a photo of it and literally drawn a box round the signature, copied it and then pasted it on to the waiver."

Mr Heffernan said: "I was so shocked when I found out they'd falsified a document with my signature.

"I still can't get my head around them doing it, it feels unreal.

"If I'm honest I felt quite scared because I didn't know how I would prove it was fake and I didn't know what lengths they were willing to go."

Khan Saleemi, operations director at Mistoria Group, said the students were "advised on the phone and when they came into our office that the property was not ready and they should not be moving in".

He said: "It was their own insistence that they wanted to move on that day that we had to give in and hand them over the keys."

Mr Saleemi said all the maintenance work identified "had been completed".

He said that while the students were offered alternative accommodation during the work, this had been refused.

"We understand that the tenants were not happy and we have been communicating and we have been sorting out all the issues," said Mr Saleemi.

"We have done more than was originally asked to make sure that for the remaining of their tenancy they have a good experience."

Asked on BBC Radio Four's You and Yours about Ms Briggs' conclusions with regards to the waiver form, Mr Saleemi said he was "not in a position to comment or confirm either way".

He added: "I would like to think that the documents that our team and staff members have provided are the real ones... But I would need to double check that because I'm confused myself."

Asked if anything like this had ever happened in his firm before, he replied: "Absolutely not."

In a later statement, Mr Saleemi said: "We are taking this matter very seriously and as a responsible business, we are in the process of conducting our inquiry."

He said: "We have some of the most hard-working student lettings and maintenance staff who try their best to serve our landlords and tenants.

"During the period late June to early September [the] majority of them work without a break, sacrificing their social and family lives to ensure previous students are checked out and our new students are moved into houses as quickly as possible.

"They don't get every move in right and do make mistakes but believe me - they do their best for students, landlords and the company."

You can find out more about this story on You and Yours from 12:00 BST on BBC Radio 4 and subsequently on BBC Sounds

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