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3 mins
Real estate: owners exasperated by squatters
Apartments are squatted by uncaring occupants. The owners of these homes are exasperated. Some give in and use force to dislodge them, an illegal practice. – (France 2)
Apartments are squatted by uncaring occupants. The owners of these homes are exasperated. Some give in and use force to dislodge them, an illegal practice.
By breaking in or by deceiving owners, squatters move into homes without paying rent. Dislodging them is an obstacle course. So to recover their property, some use all means, even if it means breaking the law. In La Ciotat (Bouches-du-Rhône), the hell of an owner is before her eyes. The occupant of his studio owes him a year of unpaid rent. In addition, four additional people have been invited since this summer. An exclusion procedure is underway, but it is long.
Taking the hard way can be very expensive
Other owners take the hard route. However, evicting a squatter or illegal occupant yourself can be very expensive, up to three years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros. A retiree paid the price. In 2022, the man who occupies his studio refuses to leave. “We took his things very kindly. We had to clean everything, put everything back in bags, and put it in storage”, says this owner. This error now plunges him into a legal battle. The occupant filed a complaint and the owner was convicted. In addition to 24,000 euros in legal costs, already paid, the retiree could have to pay 27,000 euros in financial compensation.
Despite the heavy penalties, announcements propose to dislodge the squatters using strong-arm methods. The teams of 20 Hours contacted one of the advertisers. He promises rapid eviction, for 1,300 euros. Even when an eviction is ordered by the courts, it can sometimes take several years before it is carried out.
