Hi,
a friend of mine asked me to check on her property as she is in Germany and asked me to ready it for a real estate agent and check on her uncle’s biederman furniture. She said someone might be there but the woman had agreed to leave if she could show all the proper papers of ownership and that the woman had no legal squatter rights as she already had another address. Believing her, I took keys to the house. I went six times and saw signs of people but no people. One time the papers I was supposed to show them vanished. my friend asked me to retrieve them and clean up. So I went inside, no furniture, just a bunch of belongings. No idea who except possibly that woman mentioned. I scooped up three items that might prove the identity of the trespasser and took them to the police (not gendarmerie) and they told me to 1) not go back 2) hold onto the items as they wouldn’t hold them 3) give them my name and number. Three days later, the gendarmerie come to my house and accuse me of criminal offenses of trespassing and theft. They tell me I’m going to jail. Fourteen days later they slap me with a court order and two criminal charges of fraudulent trespassing and fraudulent theft. I had zero idea that my friend, a german lawyer, would ask me to do anything not above board.
Hello and welcome to SF. Sounds an utterly terrible situation, but I’m not clear what question you are asking and, in any event, I think that you need better legal advice than you will get on an Internet forum, however well intentioned the members.
Does your own house insurance include legal advice? Many do.
Otherwise there are ways to legal help, like this
Bonjour Guillaume.
I am new to ‘survive France’ in a desperate attempt to get pointed in the right direction to make a complaint or get access to ‘citizens advice bureau’ regards a 12 year long inheritance case of my grand mother.
I am now travelling to St Tropez to force a response from the lawyers.
Merci, Candice
Bonjour Candice,
Please feel free to contact me (guillaume.barlet-batada@gunnercooke.com) and my assistant Aurélie (aurelie.auffray@gunnercooke.com) and we can schedule a free initial conversation.
Kind regards,
Guillaume
Good to have you back on SF Guillaume!