It’s a story as incredible as it is unfortunate for this Charente-Maritime couple. March 1, 2021, four days before being given the keys to the house they had just built in La Jarne10km south-east of La Rochelle, Florian and Emilie receive an email from the construction company Maisons d’en France. Among the attachments, an invoice for €176,509.82, which must record the last transfer between the two parties, and a bank identity statement. “The whole problem comes from this RIB“, recounts Florian.
The bank details are in reality those of the company Tim Bata craftsman who works for the manufacturer. Not noticing the error, Florian transmits the document directly to his banker, who makes the transfer.
“No one knows where the craftsman is”
A few days later, at work, he received a call from the manufacturer’s executive assistant, who was none other than his neighbor. “She tells me she did ‘the biggest mistake of his career’. At first, we don’t take it too seriously because we tell ourselves that it will be resolved quickly, that the craftsman will return the money,” he concedes.
What happened. Not completely. Tim Bat only returned part of the amount, €106,000 precisely. The remaining €70,509.82, neither the couple nor the construction company will see them again. “Cand craftsman, no one knows where he is. He didn’t pay everything he owed to his lawyer. We just know that his company moved to Paris and that a co-manager took over“(she was until then based in Rochefort).
Hugo Marsault
To recover the amount, the Vendée Housing Cooperative company, which includes several real estate construction agencies including Maisons d’en France, then gives notice to Florian and Emilie to pay it and take action in rehearsal of the undue against the Tim Bat company. Wasted effort.
At the start of 2022, the three parties were summoned, at the manufacturer’s request, by the La Rochelle judicial court, which delivered its verdict on May 14, 2024. The couple is ordered to pay the sumthe court demanding from Tim Bat a restitution of the €70,509.82 collected in error from the latter. Wasted effort.
“There are three errors in this file“, concludes Florian who assures that he does not blame his neighbor. “RIB’s error, the error, I think, from my bankwhich does not check to whom it transfers the money. Because I could very well have changed the RIB and put that of a car dealership to buy a car. And the error of the craftsman, who steals the money.”
“No choice but to tighten our belts”
A trinity that disrupted the daily lives of Florian, a technician, and Emilie, a teleworking medical secretary. Especially since October 9, 2024, a bailiff came knocking on their door to signify judgment. They now have less than a month before a possible seizure of their property.
“We no longer live. We deprive ourselves of everything because if one day we don’t have a choice, we have to tighten our belts so that it hurts as little as possible. We are in stand-bye for almost three years. Since we started to understand that the story was taking a bad turn.“
Florian and Emilie are now preparing to initiate an appeal procedurerelying on the profits from their prize pool published online. “We have already spent almost €4,500 in legal fees at first instance. We’ll still have to spend 7,500. It’s starting to add up to a lot when we haven’t done anything“. All that remains is to avoid paying the heavy consequences of an initial error that was not theirs.
