From the squat on rue Hélène-Cochennec in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis), we only see from the street a half-demolished house as well as a collapsed sign announcing a future real estate program.
Entering a small paved alley, we discover in the distance a trotter that its small owner has abandoned, another house hidden behind a green gate, then two small buildings.
Aubervilliers, September 23.
The small alley leads to a house and two small buildings.
LP / A.-LA
Here live several families (about fifteen adults and about thirteen children) of Romanian origin with many children.
"They are there without right or title", loose Edouard Pellerin, president of Valoptim, a real estate development company which produces 200 to 300 homes per year.
While an amendment supported by the government has just been adopted this Friday by the National Assembly to simplify the expulsion of squatters, the professional is dubious: “Forcing the prefects to intervene within 48 hours, that's good, but I don't think it's going to be of much use.
Me, I have two judgments in my favor, one in October 2019 with a request for recourse to the police in January 2020, then a second which dates back to September 9, 2020 and I still cannot get an answer from the Prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis.
It's scandalous, ”laments the promoter.
"The prefect is not obliged to request recourse to the police"
The controversy in Théoule-sur-Mer (Alpes-Maritimes), where two retirees had discovered their second home occupied by a family, as well as another case in Saint-Honoré-les-Bains (Nièvre), pushed the government to support the text.
Previously, an owner could seize the prefect to evict squatters from his home only.
Secondary or occasional residences were not concerned.
If the illegal occupation was not detected within 48 hours, a court decision was required to obtain the eviction.
A procedure that can take up to two years ... It is precisely this brake that the amendment seeks to change.
But some jurists are no more optimistic than Edouard Pellerin.
"I fear that it is a sword in the water, confirms Romain Rossi-Landi, lawyer in real estate law.
The prefect must answer, but is not obliged to request recourse to the police.
Already with a judgment, we wait for months and months, I do not see how he will have the time to examine the files within this period.
"
Aubervilliers, September 23.
A sign testifies to the real estate project planned on rue Hélène-Cochennec.
LP / A.-LA
The developer bought the Aubervilliers land at the end of 2017 to build a program of 49 new housing units in the Montfort district.
He signs a promise to sell with the presence of two or three people.
According to him, the operation editor agrees that everything will be released soon.
Mistake.
“Instead, we ended up with 40 people,” says Edouard Pellerin.
Negotiations are initiated with the occupants, without this being successful.
“At one point, I saw that it was not progressing.
These are the people who take advantage of the system.
I started the procedure.
"
Aubervilliers, September 23.
Some families are looking for another place to move.
LP / A.-LA
In Aubervilliers, all the occupants refute the term “squatters”: “We did not force a door.
A lady gave us the keys and we paid her rent, ”says 29-year-old Dorina, a baby in her arms.
She claims to have lived there since 2017, but the oldest have been living there since 2011. Two years ago, no one came to collect the rents.
25,000 euros in costs
All put forward the electricity bills, and even the housing tax to plead their good faith.
The men are VTC drivers or work in the building.
One of them, Ghenaudie, evokes the promoter's broken promises: "He promised me money to move and also work and he did nothing".
Some also denounce the demolition of one of the houses and the attempted blockade.
Affirmations that Edouard Pellerin sweeps aside: “I offered 2,000 euros per person for moving assistance in agreement with my lawyer, but there was never a concrete answer.
I did not promise a job.
As for the house, I had it demolished because it was no longer occupied.
"
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Under pressure after the media spotlight organized by the owner, some families are said to be packing for fear of imminent police intervention.
Edouard Pellerin took stock of the mishap: the loss of half of the future buyers who had pre-booked their accommodation, 25,000 euros in procedural costs ... “We had to use our own funds to buy the land because no one wanted to assure us.
In addition, I am being asked for more than 16,000 euros in property tax and 195,000 euros in development tax plus more than 26,000 euros.
A shame! ”
When contacted, neither the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture nor the Aubervilliers town hall responded to our requests.