The fallout shelter version of the third bedroom is done (did I mention that we were adding on a bedroom? maybe not) and by that I mean we have a lot of finishing work to do but it's all closed up and has four walls and tiled floors. This project was a far-off-in-the-near-future project but we moved it up on our to do list in order to rent the house more correctly. Hopefully the rental will pay the loan we took out for it. On paper it does work out nicely but it's a little like borrowing from Peter...so it's frightening. I'll post pictures when the tools are out.
And the next order of business is to go and collect the keys in TLB and rent that house. Our renter has turned in to a right psycho in the last few weeks, scary. He wants to leave at the end of August even though you know he hasn't paid us rent in about seven months but hey who cares you know leave when it's convenient for YOU by all means. When we wrote him about doing the état des lieux visit and collecting the keys he freaked and sent us four e-mails, 9:10, 9:20, 9:45 etc., angry and full of all kinds of threats and obscenities and stories. Apparently from what we can muster from all his babble in his emails he feels he was housesitting for us for three years and we were supposed to pay him to work in the house each month, get this.... so he could be able to pay his (measly) rent. Ahhh, but we left him with NO INCOME because we never gave him any jobs. WhaH? This is nuts. We never promised him any work and on top of that he was living in a French region where carpenters like him make more salary than anywhere in Europe and they're in top demand. His final mail said "demmerdez-vous pour les clefs!!" In other words f*ck off find your own way to get your house back"
When Seb called and very calmly asked him "uh hey what's going on?" he just screamed at him and called him awful names, then he hung up. We've been too nice to him. We've never bugged him for late rent or ever asked him for proof of insurance or anything. The trouble is we aren't sure what to do now. We can be arrested if we go on the property before he's officially left but he won't tell us if or when he's leaving and apparently he's gone off on vacation! If you read this and you aren't French you have to understand French law which is completely lopsided and gives renters all rights even if they pay no rent for years and years. I never really knew most of these laws until now and they're really shocking. People actually make a lifestyle out of living rent free in France and this is why it requires so much paperwork to rent anything. Now I get it.
Finally he sent us another e-mail saying he was intending to sue us for some rare paintings that were damaged in a house flood a year ago, and we just scratched our heads. The rare painting part had me laughing out loud but the word flood stuck in my head. What flood? There was a flood? Holy crap.
It's a very good thing we're staying a few extra months. I think we'll need that time to straighten out another mess.
12 comments:
Oh, my. Good luck!
save all the emails he send you...as a proof of his insanity and dishonesty, for later, if necessary. The man feels that his quiet days taking advantage of you are going to end. While renters are protected in France, this is not always the case...
Bonne chance
Wow. Good luck with everything. I hope, for your sake, that he just leaves quietly at the end of August.
What a nightmare! I hope you can get it sorted out without too many hassles.
I think he'll leave. I've been sending subliminal messages, "go on now, move on...," jedi mind trick.
How scary! I hope he leaves and doesn't leave a mess for you. I hope everything falls in place neatly for you with both houses.
Wow. He sounds totally insane. Don't let him know you are leaving the country. I'd also see if you can get the help of a lawyer if only to speed up the process. I'm not sure if it works this way in France, but in Italy, for a small fee, a civil law attorney will write a letter to him on your behalf. Not necessarily all out threatening, but citing any laws or legal precedents that protect you as landlord and menacing enough that it might convince him to give you the keys and get out.
Good luck with everything. Can't wait to see pictures of the place.
i've got much of the same reaction wow!!!
My god woman!! How do you DO IT??? We're just getting ready to rent our (only) apartment and the tenant BETTER pay rent because we're paying off our loan with it!! Now you've got me all scared and thinking we're going to end up with a psycho like yours!!! :s
In any case, good luck dealing with him and hope things work out!! Glad to hear Seb and you made the right decision about putting off the move till December, I KNOW how it feels to see the days counting off and feeling like your to-do-list isn't getting any shorter!!!
Fned.
Hi Chris, sorry to see that your sort of tenant is now trying to take advantage of the situation even more. Flood? Oh no! Please let us know how everything turns out.
Christine,
My Playmobil rep sent me the Hospital manual. It's a 32 page booklet, 8.5" x 11.5". I can scan it in and email it or snail mail the booklet, it won't be very expensive, as it's not too heavy. Just let me know: kathy@toysntheattic.com
wow! So you can't sue him for back rent or evict him? That's crazy! Good luck- I can't imagine dealing with that hot mess. Crossing my fingers he just leaves and you can be done with him soon.
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