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The decision is not yet final.
It infuses a little more with each passing day.
“With my husband, we wonder a lot about selling all our goods and changing countries,”
says Audrey Oberweis.
This Lorraine of origin, installed in Vendée in 2015, does not take off.
In her sights: her former tenants whom she describes as
“professional squatters”
, the slowness of justice and the laws which she considers too protective with
“crooks”
.
A scathing observation which follows the
“nightmare”
experienced by this forty-something and which marked her morale and her physique.
In his story, in addition to financial loss, there is also talk of violence.
To fully understand it, we have to go back a few years.
In 2019, with her husband, they acquired a restaurant.
In order to repay their loan and guarantee a fixed cash flow, the couple rents out their house acquired in 2015 and moves above the restaurant in more Spartan conditions.
“We rented from people who had been recommended to us.
Their record was good.
Moreover, at the beginning, they paid ruby on the nail
, ”she recalls.
Eight days of ITT
The situation will become radically tense in August 2021. Eight months earlier, the couple had informed their tenants, via a letter delivered by hand, of their wish to resell this furnished property.
The legal deadline in this area was therefore well respected or even exceeded.
Citing difficulties in finding other accommodation, the tenants change their tone.
They say they do not want to leave the premises without a court order.
"The gentleman got angry, started to insult us and then he punched me
," describes Audrey, whose injuries were assessed at eight days of total temporary incapacity (ITT) and for which she still awaiting repairs.
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Faced with this outburst of violence, Audrey and her companion also change the way they approach the file.
No more deadlines and understanding, place for the legal process.
The next day, they contact a lawyer:
"It went from procedure to procedure, from occupation without right or title, to the order to leave the premises."
In the meantime, their tenants no longer pay a cent in rent.
It will not be until October 2022 that the legal process will come to an end.
A conclusion... which will change nothing.
“Our tenants still did not want to leave despite the fines incurred because they could not find accommodation and asked for help from a social worker.
The time to obtain a possible intervention of the police, it would have been the winter truce
, ”explains Audrey.
An inconceivable timing for the couple forced to lay off an employee of their restaurant in the face of a lack of cash flow.
He refuses to allow the situation to get bogged down and drag on for several more months, even if it means breaking the law for
"fear of losing everything"
.
Rodents were eating leftovers from plates
Audrey Oberweis
70 hours of cleaning in the kitchen
The idea of investing their house with friends is mentioned.
Before this radical solution, the couple organizes a demonstration in front of the prefecture of Vendée on October 17th.
"Eight days later, our tenants were out
," says Audrey who sees a cause and effect relationship.
Despite this expulsion, with her husband, they must wait two months to recover their property, as provided by law.
This was the case on December 28th.
A kind of Christmas present after hours that won't delight them for long.
“We started by cleaning the exterior.
We then noticed through a window that inside rodents were eating leftovers on plates
, ”she recalls.
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Once through the front door, the finding is not very appetizing.
The tenants' cats have left traces of their passage.
Urine, feces, vomit, scratch marks: it's all there.
"I don't know how you can live in such an environment
," laments Audrey, who counted
"70 hours of cleaning"
just in the kitchen.
In the other rooms, the situation is hardly any better:
"Even after cleaning, the smell is still present."
Nearly 70 hours were needed to clean and restore the kitchen of the accommodation.
DR
In this mess, the couple find administrative papers which will inform them about the profile of their tenants.
“We found out that they had already experienced three evictions.
They are professional squatters.
Since 2009, they were irregular in the payment of their rents whether with a social or private landlord.
They accumulated debts, filed an over-indebtedness file and then started the same thing again
, ”deplores Audrey bitterly.
Around €15,000 of work
Faced with this mess, the couple is forced to resort to major work.
“We ripped up the tapestries and the damaged floating floor, impregnated with the smell of urine.
There was also a hole in a wall
,” she says.
In total, the budget is estimated at €15,000.
A sum to which must be added the cleaning carried out by a company (3000€).
Without counting the 7000€ of furniture thrown in the recycling center as they were unrecoverable.
Determined to turn the page, the couple hope to finish the work at the end of the month to put the house up for sale in March.
At the same time, he is also preparing to sell his restaurant this summer.
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“It was not on the agenda before this story which disgusted us
, specifies the one whose health was also affected by this affair.
We are disgusted with French justice given the time limits between each procedure.
The law needs to change and stop protecting crooks.”
If Audrey and her husband are thinking about a potential expatriation, one thing is certain: they will never rent a property again.
