Ok where to start! When I arrived in France many moons ago we (my ex-husband and I) purchased a property to renovate which was very cheap (around 30k), after a couple of years we separated then divorced, my ex stayed in the property and I moved out, our divorce papers state that he is responsible for the “prêt immobilier et l’assurance afférente” in lieu of paying towards my rent costs to put a roof over mine and our children’s heads, he failed to keep up with the mortgage repayments which I was completely unaware of at the time, every time I asked him he assured me that everything was up to date, around 2-3 years down the line and I received a letter out of the blue from the bank telling me that the property was being sent for auction due to non payment of mortgage unless we paid the outstanding arrears, I contacted the bank and supplied them with my divorce documents but they didn’t really care and said we are still both responsible for the payments, there was no way I could pay a couple of years worth of mortgage (at this point my ex was also no longer paying me child maintenance either!), I had no choice but to accept the property would be auctioned off, i would no doubt be interdit bancaire and would end up being chased for however much was still left owing after the auction.
This was about 10 years ago, I have heard nothing since from the bank, nobody has chased me for any money, my ex husband has long since disappeared and I have no way of contacting him.
Suddenly the other day I was contacted by the centre de finances publique telling me that I have outstanding taxe foncière to pay on the property, they can’t contact my ex husband because of course he doesn’t do his impôts so apparently they don’t have any contact details for him (I still fail to understand how they can’t find him in the system somehow, he must have a carte vitale and carte de séjour), anyway back to the property that I assumed was long ago repossessed and auctioned off, as I am receiving a taxe foncière bill this can only mean that we still own the property, had the mortgage payments been kept up to date this entire time then I believe the mortgage would have been paid off by now, how have I not been chased for this money all these years? Could the property now be owned by the bank yet we still be responsible for the taxe foncière? I don’t know what is going on and I know ignoring it isn’t the solution but honestly I’m terrified to contact the bank because I feel like I’m going to open a massive can of worms and they then start hounding me for about 13 years of mortgage that I didn’t know we still owed!
Could this debt have been written off? How do I deal with this as I don’t want to be paying taxe foncière for a property I don’t even have access to nor do I want to have to pay all of it because my ex is uncontactable.
Hi Selina. Firstly welcome to the site.
Your situation sounds horrible. It also sounds horribly complex. The best advice I can give you would be to make an appointment with a lawyer, preferably one who is specialised in property law.
It’s unfortunate the bank aren’t being more helpful or compassionate. They are a business at the end of the day and are looking out for their own interests, so it’s perhaps not surprising but it’s a shame nonetheless.
Good luck. I hope this gets resolved as quickly and painlessly as possible.
How distressing for you. But you are absolutely right, avoiding this will not help in long term. The principal in France is one of fiscal unity while you were married, and the trouble with this for you is that the house was purchased while you were married. So despite being divorced it can be argued that this is not a new debt entered into as an individual.
However, it is not hopeless for you. There are two things to help. First this 2008 law that means you can ask the tax office for the debts to be discharged (text below). Apparently this has proved difficult to achieve so a law passed last month has helped this too. (Link to this below)
So be brave about opening pandora’s box as there should be ways to manage what pops out of it. You may need advice from a support agency.
In the first instance you need to collect up and organise your evidence, and perhaps write a clear synopsis of the history. And then go see your tax office, taking someone with you to help record the discussion. Good luck.
“Depuis 2008, la loi offre aux personnes divorcées ou séparées la possibilité de solliciter une décharge de paiement auprès de l’administration fiscale.
À la date de la demande, leur situation doit correspondre à l’un de quatre cas de figure suivants :
• le jugement de divorce ou de séparation de corps a été prononcé ou la convention de divorce par consentement mutuel prenant la forme d’un acte sous signature privée contresigné par avocats a été déposée au rang des minutes d’un notaire ;
• la déclaration conjointe de dissolution du pacte civil de solidarité établie par les partenaires ou la signification de la décision unilatérale de dissolution du pacte civil de solidarité de l’un des partenaires a été enregistrée au greffe du tribunal judiciaire ;
• les intéressés ont été autorisés à avoir des résidences séparées ;
• l’un ou l’autre des époux ou des partenaires liés par un pacte civil de solidarité a abandonné le domicile conjugal ou la résidence commune.”
And another thing, there is a tax office mediator if you encounter an unwilling advisor.
https://www.impots.gouv.fr/professionnel/le-conciliateur-fiscal-departemental