A veritable lawless zone has insidiously settled in the heart of Annemasse (Haute-Savoie). In a building next to the town hall, police and notary offices, scammers operate with impunity by confiscating some apartments from their owners.
"They then rent them in their name," laments Christelle, one of the aggrieved owners. Entering the hall to show this grotesque situation, she comes across the false guard. "You put people in my apartment without my agreement!" she tells him. "It's not true, it's our building," retorts the man with aplomb, despite the notarized title deed already brandished in front of him. A few weeks before, Christelle had insisted more and had been violently chased away by the crooks, pushed down the stairs.
"It's mind-blowing"
Four dwellings are being illegally occupied. A resident of the condominium would have created for six years a false trustee in order to extract imaginary charges from other owners. With accomplices, the EDF meter has been changed, and it issues false leases allowing squatters to occupy these homes without being worried.
Read alsoReal estate: discount, damage, delays and costs of procedures... What the purchase of a squatted property entails
In the apartment owned by Christelle, a family evicted its previous tenant during his absence. The locks had been changed, the furniture removed. By knocking on the door, Christelle faces strangers who answer her, straight in their boots: "You just have to prove it", before slamming the door in her face.
Despite the four complaints filed by the defrauded owners, the case of these organized squats remains desperately stalled. Fear spreads to the building, so much so that an octogenarian no longer dares to leave her house, for fear of having her apartment despoiled. Christelle doesn't know what to do anymore: "No one protects us anymore. It's mind-blowing. The scam may affect other owners if nothing is done. »
