Urgent advise needed

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Bassman
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Urgent advise needed

Post by Bassman »

Just over 2 weeks ago there was a house fire in our village no one was hurt but the place was badly damage and the family (4kids) had to move out. The mayor called us and asked if we could put them up in one of our gites. Of course we said yes and welcomed them here, made them dinner and got there beds ready. We then agreed a price of around 21€ a night for there stay as we didnt want to profit from there misfortune just cover our costs. We gave them a contract the following day after about a week of trying to contact them & then fobbing us off about the insurance paying they gave us a cheque which covered a few days. They now are saying they are going to stay in the property as christmas is coming and they are not happy with the alternative accommodation the mayor has offered them!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have guests coming next week!!!! The mayor says we can call the Gendarmarie once there contract runs out on Saturday, im not so sure.
SW31
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Post by SW31 »

I would get the mayor pronto and tell him it’s his responsibility to get them out as you have guests and his constituents are being badly behaved and abusing you by refusing to leave. You must transfer the responsibility back to him.

The French family will probably know, or have been told, renters rights which are very onerous in France. They cannot be evicted until spring hence the reason you need to get the mayor involved. By telling you to contact the gendarmes he’s trying to duck any responsibility.

I’ve already learnt, the hard way, in France is that companies make individuals pay and it is then the responsibility of the individual to claim from their insurer. It makes sense as you have no idea what level of cover they have or even if they have been paying their premiums. If the fire is traced back to a faulty chimney and family can’t demonstate it’s been properly cleaned in the last year they may have invalidated their policy. Get the money ASAP from them.
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Bassman
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Post by Bassman »

Thanks SW31 just got similar advise from our insurer, definitely down to the mayor but we will be out of pocket as they have made it pretty clear they wont pay anymore! We have a 500€ which will probably cover the the electricity & rest of rental but the place is a pig sty if we manage to get them out there is a lot of cleaning to do.
Ecosse
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Post by Ecosse »

What a horrendous situation to find yourself in, Bassman! Some people can be truly awful, especially as you were only trying to help them out in a time when they were in trouble.

I have no direct experience of this, but my gut feeling is that, as the place they're residing in is a (presumably) registered holiday home, with other contractors, i.e. genuine holidaymakers coming in on a set date, the laws surrounding long term letting in France do not apply. IHowever, I don't know for sure, so I were you, I would seek legal advice... it might seem heavy handed or even daunting to go down that line, but if it comes out in your favour (and a good lawyer will be able to guide you correctly), it could be a cheaper, more effective way of getting them out than hoping they do it on their own.

Good luck and I hope you get rid of these vile 'tenants' quickly.
Dusty
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Post by Dusty »

How horrible for you, I hope you get it sorted soon. As the others have said, I think you need to get the Mayor to sort it out, he got you into this in the first place.

Good luck!
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Bassman
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Post by Bassman »

Thanks everyone.
It seems they are leaving tomorrow so hopefully we have a week to get the the place back into shape! If not we need to get the bailiffs in, they have no legal right to stay but could you imagine this hassle on a same day change over. Apparently you cant go in & remove them.
Some things i didnt mention... he pushed my wife when she asked for payment before she had time to tell me he phoned the Gendarmes saying my wife push him!!! She received a call from them they were understanding but she was pretty upset.
Also when they first arrived not only did we feed them we also gave their children some cuddly toys as they lost thing in the fire.
We have since learnt a lot about the family from other villagers..........
rosebud
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Post by rosebud »

What a terrible situation. I do hope they will leave as they said.
So unfair when you went out of your way to help
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Bassman
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Post by Bassman »

They have gone :D place seems okay :D
He came to the door with a burly guy and another women to pay and asked for a facture ans said he would give us the cheque (which we should have given 2 weeks) only once we handed over the facture he already had 2 contracts but we said yes we will write one. But we didnt want these people outside our door so we asked them to leave he said no they were with him and he didnt trust us!!! :roll: we said there no reason for them to be there, he then started shouting so we closed and lock the door and they eventually left. We called the gendarme just to cover ourselves in case they returned and caused trouble.
So we havent been paid but we do have a security deposit which covers pretty much everything.
Sadly I really dont think we would help out in the future if the situation occurred again
:cry:
Thanks everyone for your support
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apexblue
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Post by apexblue »

How sad your kindness has been abused.
It is better to remain quiet and have one think you are stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt....

The biggest mistake we make in life is thinking we have time.
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

A truly horrid way to treat someone who was so kind to them!
I am very sorry for you that your generosity has been so abused.
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bornintheuk
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Post by bornintheuk »

We had a similar event with an English person a few years ago including reporting my wife to the Gendarmes for assault (totally untrue), they also cancelled the security deposit cheque saying it was "stolen". never did get the money, hope you have better luck.
What would Plato do ?
limousin-cottage
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Post by limousin-cottage »

Ecosse wrote:What a horrendous situation to find yourself in, Bassman! Some people can be truly awful, especially as you were only trying to help them out in a time when they were in trouble.

I have no direct experience of this, but my gut feeling is that, as the place they're residing in is a (presumably) registered holiday home, with other contractors, i.e. genuine holidaymakers coming in on a set date, the laws surrounding long term letting in France do not apply. IHowever, I don't know for sure, so I were you, I would seek legal advice... it might seem heavy handed or even daunting to go down that line, but if it comes out in your favour (and a good lawyer will be able to guide you correctly), it could be a cheaper, more effective way of getting them out than hoping they do it on their own.

Good luck and I hope you get rid of these vile 'tenants' quickly.
You are correct. The 'no evictions' rule in Winter definitely does NOT apply to gites and holiday lets, as long as they are for the stipulated maximum rental period of 90 days or less.
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