A bunch of muppets, dodgy data, & Pensand House & Marlborough Court.

One lunch time last week 29th Oct – 2nd Nov, I received an email. I opened it and read it and to my surprise found myself laughing at its contents. The email only confirmed what I already knew, that those who run and/or look after Pensand House & Marlborough Court, Mr John Steven Taylor, on site agent, Sanjay Ashok Sharma (pictured 2009) and DAC Beachcroft, the favoured lawyers of Mr Sharma and Chelsea Portfolio Limited, are a bunch of muppets.

Let me explain. My name is Tenant X for the purposes of this post.  Everything herein is my honest opinion.

I live in Pensand House & Marlborough Court. I am one of the tenants who has received a no fault s21 – an eviction notice-`from the Director of Chelsea Portfolio Ltd Sanjay Ashok Sharma, via his agent John Steven Taylor of Homewise Management Services, who lives at Pensand House & Marlborough Court.

I have lived at Pensand House & Marlborough Court for more years you have fingers and thumbs on your hands. So Mr Sharma and Mr Taylor would have built up a large amount of data on me over the years. Payment of Rent, Deposit, Address, Contact details, bank details and more, so much more. So I asked for my data via a Subject Access Request as my landlord cannot charge a fee to deal with a request, this is so in most circumstances. You can send a Subject Access Request to private companies and public bodies. The Data Controller for that company or public body must respond in 30 calendar days.

So what information am I entitled to see:                

I like you have the right to obtain the following from my landlord, my mobile phone provider, or the Council for example:

• confirmation that they are processing your personal data;

• a copy of your personal data; (Personal data is anything that can identify a ‘natural person’ and can include information such as a name, a photo, an email address (including work email address), bank details, rent deposits, posts on social networking websites, medical information or even an IP address for example.)

• other supplementary information – this largely corresponds to the information that you should provide in a privacy notice

I sent my Subject Access Request for my data to Sanjay Ashok Sharma (pictured 2012) and John Steven Taylor via email. At the time of sending the email, I had checked the Register of Fee Payers, ie Data Controller – and neither Mr Sharma  nor the company secretary, nor the company, -Chelsea Portfolio Limited, were on the Register. I did not know who the data controller was for my data, nor had I ever been informed. However the same was not  true of Mr John Taylor of Homewise Management Services, the caretaker and the gofer for Sanjay – and who lives on site. Mr John Steven Taylor signed up to the Register for the first time ever on the 10th Oct 2018.

Now Part 10  – Other Conditions of my Tenancy Agreement, makes clear, I must, consent for Mr Taylor, Mr Sharma, or Chelsea Portfolio Ltd to share my data with third parties including public bodies such as  Folkestone & Hythe District Council. Remember, Mr Taylor is the man who gave me a s21 eviction notice. He is NOT the landlord.

Mr Taylor and Mr Sharma have been processing my data for more than 10 years without being on the register, nor informing me of my rights. How many other tenants data have they processed without being on the register.

Are either of them aware that under data protection the statute of limitations is six years?

On the 25th May the GDPR came into effect and my tenancy changed in no way whatsoever. Article 7 of the GDPR makes it clear that CONSENT to process my data needed to be obtained and must be “clearly distinguishable” from other matters within the tenancy.  Furthermore the tenancy must inform me about my rights to withdraw my consent regarding the sharing of my data with third parties at ANY time, and my rights to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), according to the ICO.

But of course, none of the above happened. It would appear my rights regarding my data appear to have been trampled all over by Chelsea Portfolio Limited, Mr Sharma, Mr Taylor and potentially their lawyers DAC Beachcroft.

Anyway, eventually I received a response to my Subject Access Request. However, it did NOT come from Mr Sharma or Mr Taylor, but from a senior Associate of DAC Beachcroft, Chelsea Portfolio Ltd lawyers of choice who “have 1100 lawyers…committed to helping our clients succeed.”

These are the lawyers who told the world about the debts some tenants have at Pensand House & Marlborough Court, via a letter which was leaked to the local press. This data had to be supplied by Mr Taylor or Mr Sharma, to give to DAC Beachcroft, surely unless they had a data breach?

What due diligence was undertaken by DAC Beachcroft in regards to checking if either Mr Taylor, Mr Sharma, or Chelsea Portfolio Ltd was registered with the ICO as they needed to be? 

It is my honest opinion, that mine and other tenants data have been processed unlawfully and our rights regarding our data treated with contempt. What do their masters at Frasertown Ltd-Gibraltar think of this comedy of errors?

Anyway, just last week I received a response to my Subject Access Request. It reads as follows:

• Dear Tenant X

Thank you for your email to my client Chelsea Portfolio Limited (a company owned by Mr Sharma) dated ** October submitting a subject access request to Chelsea Portfolio Limited.

Mr Sharma is of course happy to assist in your request.  In order to properly respond to your request please could you confirm that you are a tenant of one of the properties owned by Chelsea Portfolio Limited and if so your address at that property?

Once we have this information we will be able to proceed with your request and provide the information requested.

Please note that Mr Sharma does not personally hold or process personal data for business purposes whether in respect of Chelsea Portfolio Limited or otherwise and as such any response to your subject access request will be in respect of Chelsea Portfolio Limited only.

Let me know should you require any further information, otherwise I await the requested information above.

Now before I move on, Mr Sharma is NOT the owner, or even the ultimate beneficial owner of Chelsea Portfolio Ltd, nor has he ever been, yet I fail to see why his lawyers say he is. (Update: The lawyers rectified this matter and changed the statement regarding Sharma’s ownership.)

So I have lived at Pensand House & Marlborough Court for over ten years, paid rent, paid a deposit, shared rent payments to Chelsea Portfolio Ltd  and DAC Beachcroft via their client are saying prove that I live at Pensand House & Marlborough Court.

• It was Mr Taylor, the agent of Mr Sharma, who served a s21 no fault eviction notice on me not to long ago. How could Chelsea Portfolio Ltd or Mr Sharma not know who I am?

• Does Mr Sharma not communicate with Mr Taylor of Homewise Management Services, who lives on site and know what’s going on?

Remember Mr Taylor is Mr Sharma’s paid gofer, an errand boy. Mr Taylor would surely  inform him of what is happening at Pensand House & Marlborough Court.

• Did Mr Sharma not know any tenant who had received a s21 no fault eviction notice?

• Did Mr Taylor not keep him in the loop?

There are many more questions, such as did you obtain the data used in my s21 no fault eviction notice lawfully, Mr Sharma, Mr Taylor? What data of mine have you shared/processed with the Council since 25th May 2018, about me or any other tenants data?

To end with, and I haven’t even touched on the Data Protection Act 1998 and 2018;  Mr Taylor, Mr Sharma and DAC Beachcroft  appear to me – and this is an expression of my opinion, not actionable in defamation – are a complete bunch of muppets.

Tenant X hails a big thanks to the Shepwayvox Team. Of course none of the above constitutes legal advice, and I do not take responsibility, if you act on any of it.

For help or assistance in matters regarding, your data, subject access requests and your rights as tenants, or consumers speak to Shelter, Citizen Advice Bureau, the ICO, the Consumer Ombudsman, or a qualified legal professional.

The Shepwayvox Team – Journalism for the People NOT the powerful