Landlord struck from register for stalking woman
AGLASGOW proper t y owner c onv i c t e d of stalking a woman and e n g a g i n g h e r i n conversation of a sexual nature has been struck from the landlord register.
In November 2018, Joga Singh repeatedly approached the woman in Paisley Town Centre, followed her and asked for money in return for permission to take photographs of her in her underwear.
Mr Singh, who owns 14 properties across the city, was sentenced to a community pay back order of 252 hours and was place on a non- harassment order for one year.
He was refused a Housing in Multiple Occupation ( HMO) licence by the council last year.
Mr Singh appeared before Glasgow City Council’s licensing committee again this week.
His representative, Archie MacIver, said: “Mr Singh is 49 years old and has been involved in the rental market for 21 years. Many hundreds of tenants have passed through his care without issue.
“He has led a pretty blameless life until 2018. The behaviour on this occasion was out of character and inexplicable.
“He himself cannot provide an explanation on why he did this, was it some sort of midlife crisis, a break down? He just doesn’t know.
“The problem is that his moment of madness has brought a fairly good life crashing to a halt.
“He is a married man with three children, but the family is separated as a result. He is utterly ashamed and remorseful.
“There is no running away from the fact that what happened here was extremely serious, distasteful and worrying.”
The committee was informed that all Mr Singh’s properties were managed by letting agents so that he did not have any need to be in contact with his tenants.
Chairman of the committee, councillor Alex Wilson, said: “This is a very serious matter, it’s not just a case of a marriage split. There are circumstances behind that.
“My concern is that the incident was of a sexual nature and approaching a female unknown to him. Yes, he may have got himself a letting agent which is good, but did he notify the letting agents of his conviction?”
Mr Singh confirmed that he had. Following the discussion, the committee agreed to remove Mr Singh from the landlord’s register.