Attic problems!

georgiegirl

My husband bought an apartment in 2005 in France. We stayed in it a couple of times and it was then rented out in 2007. There were a couple of different tenants but by the end of 2010 these had dried up. We then had the property renovated and an agency recommended we rent it furniture free. We posted the key to the attic to our painter and asked him to move the furniture into the attic. We gave him directions to the attic. He called us to say there was some furniture and clothes there, we told him that if he did not want any of it to please dispose of it. He did this and moved our furniture.

Two weeks later he got a call from the apartment beside ours to say he had stolen their clothes and furniture. He gave them our address and they wrote to us. We explained we were unaware of the contents of the attic and presumed that once our key opened the door it belonged to us. We asked what value they would give on the contents. Their estimated value was €4,500. Our painter believed them to be taking advantage of us. We posted them a cheque for €2,000 and explained we had no further funds. If the apartment sold we could possibly help out some more. The apartment has just been sold and we have received a letter from them looking for a further €2,500. We are very reluctant to pay them any more money as we have sustained a huge loss on the property.

LowKeyReturn

Thats really interesting thanks for sharing.

nuac

Looks llke the adjoining property had spread into your attic.

In older town street or terraced properties this has happened at times.

Can lead to interesting conveyancing problems

valleyoftheunos

So they just wrote to you and you sent them off a cheque for €2000? How do you know any of the clothes or furniture ever even existed in the first place?

hawkelady

I wouldn't do another thing. Let them write all the letters they want!!
I doubt they will take legal action to get some money off you as it will cost them ..
Ignore and carry on ..

georgiegirl

The painter rang us to tell us there were clothes and old furniture in the attic. We asked him to remove them. He did not believe they were of any value and dumped everything.

Two weeks later he got a call from the owners of the apartment beside ours accusing him of theft!

We had no recollection of the contents of the attic and knew we had stashed some small things there before the apartment was rented.

MRG77

Something doesn´t seem right here. Did the clothes or furniture in the attic even exist? Is it possible that your painter and your neighbours having hatched a plan to get money out of you?

LowKeyReturn

nuac wrote: »

Looks llke the adjoining property had spread into your attic.

In older town street or terraced properties this has happened at times.

Can lead to interesting conveyancing problems

Especially under the Napoleonic code!

georgiegirl

Hi MRG77,

I don't believe our painter would do anything like that. He is an English guy that I tracked down online and has his own business doing renovations. We has been very helpful and we have also paid him a fair bit for his time and work. He would not want the hassle.

I think I am going to try the "wait and see what happens next" approach.

Many thanks for all the replies.