youForty members of Alda, in the rain, in front of the headquarters of the AFC Promotion company in Biarritz. The company itself was not targeted this Thursday, December 14, morning, but the activists went to their workplace to speak with the operational director of the real estate developer. He is the personal landlord of a T2, avenue Foch, in Biarritz. Activists accuse him of “trampling on tenants’ rights.”
He rented the apartment to a young woman until September 28. She turned to Alda to get her deposit refunded…
YOUForty members of Alda, in the rain, in front of the headquarters of the AFC Promotion company in Biarritz. The company itself was not targeted this Thursday, December 14, in the morning, but the activists went to their workplace to speak with the operational director of the real estate developer. He is the personal landlord of a T2, avenue Foch, in Biarritz. Activists accuse him of “trampling on tenants’ rights.”
He rented the apartment to a young woman until September 28. She turned to Alda to get her deposit back, i.e. 1,500 euros, for a rental price of 527 euros, plus 230 euros for “garage parking”.
Txetx Etcheverry and two other Alda activists have just met the landlord they accuse. They have received verbal assurances from him that he will adhere to the rent freeze in tense areas. This time the activists are not going through with the spectacular action they had planned.
Émilie Drouinaud/ “SOUTHWEST”
“This rent plus parking arrangement is already strange,” says Jean-Noël “Txetx” Etcheverry. Defenders of the right to housing criticize “a circumvention of Pinel’s law”. Housing falls under this system, which offers investors tax reductions, provided they are rented at a reduced rate. “It was 740 euros that the tenant paid. And he asks for three months’ rent, while the law does not allow you to ask for more than a month’s guarantee for bare living space. » That means unfurnished.
Refunded
The ex-tenant prepares his departure inventory. No mention is made of any degradation: “RAS”. “We will send you the RIB, you will get the 1,500 euros back immediately”: Txetx Etcheverry hangs up with the owner and the group of activists heads towards the AFC Promotion building. They want to verify that the transfer was completed successfully. And until then they won’t leave.
The gentleman is up to his neck in the business, it is hard to believe that he does not know the rules of rental
The owner, contacted by “Sud Ouest”, assures that he did not intend to keep the amount. He agrees with his deferral of repayment. “I was waiting for the costs (1) to be regularized by the curator. » Alda refers him to the rental contract in which this is not arranged. “I wasn’t paying attention,” assures the landlord. Lightness that earns him irony among activists: “The gentleman is up to his neck in the business, it is hard to believe that he does not know the rental rules. » “I’m a construction professional, not a rental professional,” he tries.
Three activists showed up at the offices of the company where he works. “The transfer of 1,500 euros was made at 10:15 am, he returned the money,” they confirm. But they had another purpose. “As soon as the previous tenant left, he placed an advertisement to re-rent the apartment for 1,050 euros per month. This is illegal and in violation of the rent freeze for moves to tense areas. » The calculation of the new rent may not exceed the change in the Rent Reference Index (IRL), i.e. 3.5% this year.
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In righteousness
The activists expressed their joy when they learned that the owner had immediately repaid the guarantees owed to the former tenant.
Émilie Drouinaud / “SOUTHWEST”
The owner puts forward another reading: “I simply took into account a change in Pinel’s zoning plan. » A complex calculation method varies the price per square meter depending on the area where the accommodation is located. The Alda activist chokes: “This rent of 1,050 euros, increased by 300 in the event of reletting, for 45 m2, violates the rule of freezing rents in tense areas. Or the benchmark that still holds the rental prices of the old stock. This practice completely excludes the youth and working class of this country. And he asked for 2,100 euros in guarantees! » A new tenant has accepted these conditions.
We will check whether she has complied with the rent freeze in tense areas. If this is not successful, we will report this to the public prosecutor and the Committee to Combat Fraudulent Rental Agreements.
The landlord allegedly assured Alda that he would pay back the rent IR. “We have to tell him the recalculated legal amount on Monday,” says Txetx Etcheverry. When asked by “Sud Ouest”, the landlord is less affirmative. “I charge a Pinel rent, below the open market. » He points out the possibility of a complaint after Alda came to his workplace and says he was “shocked” by this intervention, even though it was peaceful.
In turn, the activists also summoned the court: “We will verify that he has complied with the freeze on rents in tense areas. If this is not successful, we will report this to the public prosecutor and the Committee to Combat Fraudulent Rental Agreements. »
(1) The rental costs are paid in the form of provisions to be regularized annually based on the actual amount of the costs.