Dismay mixes with anger. Since Thursday, part of rue Jean Moulin d'Argenteuil (Val d'Oise) has been blocked because two buildings are threatening to collapse. The alert was raised by one of the tenants, Ghania, when she discovered a crack in her kitchen wall. “Pieces of wall were on the ground and I saw the day”she testifies.
Alarmed, she warns the firefighters who note the advanced disrepair of her building and the neighboring building. As a precaution, all residents as well as local residents were evacuated, around a hundred people. The two buildings in question have been classified as in a state of danger by the municipality.
Cracks, mold, cockroaches…
Four years after arriving in the building, Ghania sees the problems piling up. “We live with cockroaches, with mice, with mold. In October, part of the bathroom ceiling collapsed. And there, it’s the kitchen wall”she complains.
Ghana
Without a solution to find another accommodation to rent, Ghania tried several times to call the owner of the apartment. “We pay rent every month (€550, editor's note), if we are unfortunate enough to be a few days late we are harassed. When there is a problem, however, the owner is absent. He says to me 'C' It's nothing, it doesn't matter' or he doesn't even pick up.”says the 43-year-old single mother.
Tears come to her eyes when she talks about her 3-year-old daughter. “Every day I fear for my daughter,” she says, before continuing: “We are not dogs, we are humans and we just ask for a safe place to live.”.
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Relocated to the hotel
With no response from owners and insurers, the town of Argenteuil decided to take charge of emergency accommodation for evacuated residents. A situation which outraged Camille Gicquel, the deputy mayor in charge of town planning: “It's a vicious circle: negligent owners, necessary work not carried out, and ultimately a building that threatens the lives of its occupants.”she explains.
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To try to stem these failures, the city implemented a “rental permit” in 2021. Prior authorization normally allowing us to exclude slumlords and unsanitary accommodation. “But that only concerns new rentals”specifies the elected official.
“Being an owner has rights, but first and foremost duties”wants to remind Camille Gicquel. She therefore calls for toughening the law against owners who refuse to maintain their rentals. A fairly widespread situation according to censuses carried out in the municipality since 1,300 co-ownerships were found to be in great difficulty.
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