Mike313

Great News! Sometimes there REALLY ARE happy endings !!!

SuzieB

Finally finally moving! this weekend.
We are renting a small flat for 2-3 months in the town centre and then will move to Lyon in April or May.
The super young couple are renting the flat from 11 Feb, hopefully they'll stay for a long time.
Today I invited the lovely ladies in the road for coffee + cake + bubbly.
It was great! Will miss them but obviously lots here I won' t miss!!!
Still battling with managing agency doing nothing. After 1.5 years the company came to deal with mice prob. Second time in 3 months the drain is blocked + again no response to email asking for immediate action.
We had a meeting with a new agency, want to change but think scuttys not paying bills no maybe blocked (again) in transferring?
Will manage probs easier from a distance, won't have to see scuttys + dump in surrounding area.
Bubbly finally being drunk, hic

Mike313

Fantastic news. Please keep us informed of progress as we can all learn from your experiences. I hope you have happier times with neighbours in the future!

SuzieB

Latest!
We are now in Lyon, moved roughly 2 months ago. Flat with garage, quite nice except neighbours below loud and I think deranged! If it doesn't work out will move again as we are only renting.
Our tenants in our flat near Belfort have been there 5 months and have had probs with the scuttys. Same old probs, parking, garden, rubbish etc.
Police have been involved, our tenant lost it with Mr Scutty. Neighbours have lodged a complaint against our tenant!!
Garden has been blocked for use, by the owner. Think he has heard from our avocat to transfer the garden (in our deeds).
One good thing, the other recent owner (loft flat) is fighting with us, at last some support.
So the story continues, will it ever end?
Hoping in 3 years time we can sell and then buy a house and arrive at a happy ending.

Mike313

Good to hear things are better (if not perfect, but keep your fingers crossed). Surely the authorities must now see that the 'common factor' in all the trouble at your 'old' flat is the scutties - great term that BTW
Life is never straightforward, is it, and sometimes it's unfair but I think you have to soldier on and hope for the best.
At least you are away from it, now you are a spectator rather than a participant! I hope all goes well for you in Lyon and that you eventually find the right house to settle down in.
I'm glad you posted this thread as it is a lesson to all of us re. the importance of good neighbours, and how bad neighbours can spoil (just about) everything.
Keep us posted on your progress!
Best wishes.

SuzieB

Thanks Mike!

Unless it all goes to court the authorities do very little. As we are tackling the garden problem my partner wants to give that priority.
This is all costing us money too, life def treats the dishonest better.
Although eventually justice prevails!

SuzieB

Hello all

Still in Lyon! lovely city, great transport + lots to do. I went to the Musée Beau Arts today, then coffee in the sunshine in a bar terrace.
I have started voluntary work, English homework help for school kids.
Also help in a homeless group, made lots of coffee last week! Both are just once a week, gets me out, improves my French and helps society in a small way.
Problems continue in our flat in Franche Comté. Our tenants are not happy!
The agency are trying to resolve with the mairie, ha ha. Mr Mayor thought he had escaped all the mess, but nooooo. Leaving it to them all to sort out, we tried our best before and now it's over to them.
Happier here and living a normal life at last.

Mike313

Hi Suzie,
I'm glad to hear that things are going so well for you in Lyon. Getting out and getting involved will certainly improve your language skills and immerse you in the community, new friends etc.
You are right to leave it to the agency and the mayor to worry about the problems generated by your old neighbours. They all deserve each other!
Best wishes!

SuzieB

Thanks Mike

You're right, they do all deserve each other! they all need a lesson in communication + more.

SuzieB

It's not over!!!
We are now going round in circles again. WW3 has broken out between our tenants and the owner above. In fact these probs started around March of this year. To begin with they got along famously and now ........
We moved out in Feb 2013 and the woman above moved in Nov 2012.
Apparently the gendarmes have been called out on numerous occasions, our tenants have lodged a complaint against her. As always nothing happens!
This woman is known to the police and has previous complaints against her.
She also is under psychiatric care. ooh la la
Problems there have been her doing diy at 12am or after. During an argument her daughter pushed our tenant (man) down the stairs. Her dog peeing in the hallway and other business near the door or parking area. The list goes on + on.
Our tenant organised a mediation meeting with the mayor (new) but the other woman didn't go. She told us she couldn't take time off work. We explained my partner took an enormous time off work to resolve the previous probs.
She doesn't want to listen, was hysterical the last time we spoke to her so we have no more verbal contact.
She continually sends us emails complaining about our tenants and asking us to take action. We have replied that she needs to take some responsibility.
The worst thing now is that she and the problem family below sent a letter end of June to dismiss our managing agency. We went up for a subsequent meeting but no one else showed. The agency have now called another meeting on 24 Oct for the vote to retain or dismiss them.
We spent a long time sorting out the mess previously with the bank account and finding an agency. It has given us peace of mind for 2 years and now back to square 1. The family below owe more than €1500, they have paid nothing in the 2 years!!! the agency are taking them to court (slow process).
They also have the bailiffs calling round all the time, they have been hiding from them now for 3+ years, unpaid gas + vat etc
Worse still HE the scutty man below is standing as president to take back the account. The woman above doesn't want to take it, we have been advised not to so it leaves them.
I am desperately racking my brains to find ideas to avoid this hell again. Going to ask the mediator we went to, to talk to or email the woman above. Thinking that someone neutral MAY be able to make her see sense and vote to keep the agency. If not we will end up going down the same road and then the account will be passed to the justice costing us more money. We will have to state when we come to try and sell again that there is a legal problem ongoing.
Chances of selling fading again, prices dropped amazingly, garden ownership still not resolved and think tenants no longer interested in buying. In fact they may be leaving, can't say I blame them!
We could be going into year 8 with all these problems HELP!!!

dmu

Sorry to hear that things haven't improved. Maybe new BE members who weren't around when you first posted can offer advice that we didn't think of?
Good luck!

SuzieB

Thanks DMU

Always open to ideas! we asked about auctioning the flat but our avocat said it's costly and doesn't work as well as in UK.
Think we maybe need to sell fast but prices are so low we would lose out badly!!!
We have no choice but to keep on fighting. Winning the loto would solve all of our problems

Mike313

By a weird coincidence I thought of you yesterday and was going to send you a follow-up message to ask if things were working out well in Lyon.
How awful for you that this problem hasn't gone away. You seem to have done everything in your power to solve the problem, all to no avail.
I can't really think of any good advice to offer but here's a few thoughts ..
The agency you mentioned, is that an agency you have employed to find you a tenant, collect the rent etc? If so, can you leave it to them to deal with this so you don't have to have all that stress again in your life?
Is there any possibility of having the scutty neighbours evicted?
I suppose there is no chance of them moving voluntarily. Could they be persuaded to leave? (My brother-in-law bought a house with troublesome sitting tenants; he got it for £50,000 below it's true value because the tenants couldn't be moved. After he completed the sale, he offered then £10,000 to move and they left within a week).
To go back to your original post where you said you were mislead by the estate agent about who owned the garden; do you have any legal come-back against them or against the solicitor who handled the purchase for you?
If only you could sell the apartment and just put it all behind you but if, as you say, prices are falling and there is a legal issue about the garden etc. then that's probably out of the question. However it might be worth selling at a loss rather than enduring this hell for years to come.
I truly hope someone on here can offer some advice that will help you.
All the best!

SuzieB

Thanks again Mike!

We have paid 2 agencies, one finds the tenants and deals with smaller probs. The second manages the building and accounts, it's the latter about to be dismissed! if we are out voted we have no choice.
The neighbours below and above are all owners so no deals to be done.
Our tenants are sandwiched between scutty nutters.
We are waiting a date for the court case for the garden. It was supposed to be before the school hols but their avocat asked for more time. They are stalling as they have no chance to win. Our avocat said hopefully October.
If and when we secure the garden it will be easier to sell.
Think trying to claim against the agency who sold us the flat for misinformation will be hard, it was only verbal. Also it would take more money and time. We may now have to go to court against the neighbours with all the problems so think we have enough battles on our hands.
We are prepared to sell and lose but would like to come away with enough for a new home here.
Thanks for thinking of me + your kind wishes

SuzieB

Loy loy I think you need to read the whole story!
We tried to sell before and even had problems with our first potential tenants cancelling the contract due to the neighbours below.
We are obliged to divulge any ongoing legal situation but not other problems.
If we tell future buyers or tenants all, we will never be rid of the flat, so we are economical with the truth.
In saying that we have tried and will try to sell/rent to people who are not naieve or vulnerable. After the sale we would advise them to be careful with the account and keep contact minimal with the neighbours.
We definitely won't rent or sell to friends/family of us or rent to anyone connected with the neighbours.
Our tenants seemed perfect as she's strong and intelligent and he's in the army! thought he could keep the neighbours below in check which he has to some degree. She has gone low with all the problems and is struggling to stay now.
Think if you had been through 7 years of problems as us you would be desperate to sell to the first person to make an offer!