A tenant has told of how a man – who he believes is landlord and controversial businessman Mark Fortune – threatened him over a rent row.
Jason Chen secretly videoed an incident where the man is seen waving a stool during the dispute over his Edinburgh flat going without hot water for 28 days. Fortune has told the BBC that he was at the dentist in France at the time.
Chen had withheld some of his rent and received text messages that he considered threatening, including one sent from an unknown number which included a threat that he would be “spending Christmas in hospital”.
The tenant – who has since moved back to Taiwan - moved into a shared flat in April last year after signing an agreement with Edinburgh Rent, whose only director, according to Companies House, is Fortune. The firm said the problem was caused by the electrics being overloaded by tenants and the pair fell into a dispute over WhatsApp.
When the man let himself into the flat, he told the tenant to pay the full outstanding amount or faced being kicked out. In the video, the man says: “I’ll put everyone out, I couldn’t care less…there will come a point where I won’t be very amicable to you.”
He is then seen picking up a white stool and motioning it towards Chen, saying: “The likes of this, you know what I mean?”
Fortune told BBC Scotland News he did not send these messages and does not have access to the number used by Edinburgh Rent. He has reported Chen to the police for allegedly writing slogans about him on the walls of his room.
Fortune has been refused entry to Scotland’s landlord register and has faced complaints about poor living conditions or having deposits withheld.
He owns a number of flats in Edinburgh which are rented out by companies owned by or connected to him; housing tribunal rulings have previously rejected arguments by these firms that they are operating short-term holiday lets from his properties.
Pic credits: Shutterstock/BBC
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