Testimony. A northern family's dream of living in the Lot turns into a nightmare

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Arrived in the Lot in 2019, Aurélie and Vincent Cordiera couple from northern Francelives, on the commune of Bellefont-la-Rauzea real nightmare! More than €100,000 poor workmanship in the constructionstopped for three years!

Since Dunkirk, how did you set your sights on the Cadurci region?

Vincent Cordier: When we went down to the Pyrenees, we used to take a break in Cahors. We fell in love with the Lot, where we decided to realize our project of creating guest rooms.

How did you do it?

Vincent Cordier: We contacted around ten architects to entrust them with the water and air protection of our project, only one responded to us. And there, the first disappointment, this unscrupulous architect charged us for the building permit deposit and the plans at the insane price of 9,000 euros and put an end to his mission!

Was it easier to find the craftsmen?

Vincent Cordier: We wanted to play the local business card. Following the advice we received, we found the digger, then the carpenter, who recommended one of his mason friends to us. With the plans in hand, the mason advised us to build a basement, rather than a crawl space, and offered to build the terraces. Construction began in October 2020.

How did the defects appear to you?

Vincent Cordier: We have no skills in construction either, we had to wait for the first rains to question ourselves when we saw huge puddles on our terraces… At first, I called out to the mason who told me said not to worry, that all this was normal… Faced with the mason's inaction, I called a building expert. He drew up a 15-page report noting new defects… This expert recommended that we stop all payments to the mason. From then on, we didn't see him again. The expert advised us to draw up a compromise agreeing to pay 50% of the remaining invoice, against a recovery of all the defects. The mason signed the compromise and cashed the check without ever returning!

What is your reaction at that moment?

Vincent and Aurélie Cordier: Seeing no other solution, the expert advised us to contact a lawyer. The court appointed a legal expert to study our case. And then, what happened left us speechless. Fifteen minutes before the start of the expertise, I received a phone call from the lawyer who said to me: “I hope that the legal expert will find defects in the house”… A few moments later, another phone call from the first expert who advises me to keep quiet because the legal expert is special! I was experiencing a surreal scene! Craftsmen and lawyers were there and this famous legal expert arrived exclaiming: “So these ladies and gentlemen wanted to save money on a project manager and now they are in the wall! » I couldn't believe my eyes or my ears, I was stunned! This legal expert rejected all the defects noted by our expert. He exclaimed: “This is all normal! » We were humiliated for 4 hours, our lawyer didn't say a word and all the artisans, including the legal expert, were giggling among themselves! When I pointed out to him that there was water in the basement, he retorted that there are “so many houses in the Lot that are leaking and don't make such a fuss” . And he added: “with your guest rooms you will earn money, you just have to pay for the work! » The legal expert left saying “it’s a very beautiful construction! »

How did you experience this confrontation with this legal expert?

Vincent Cordier: We were living a nightmare! We were in another world. The next day I received a call from our expert. He explained to me that in another case, his report had been used against this legal expert, which resulted in this legal expert being excluded from a procedure. Now these two experts are in conflict and I am “collateral damage”. Knowing this, I ask our lawyer to ask the court for the appointment of a new legal expert, which she categorically refuses although she admits to being aware of this conflict between experts. Our expert called on another expert construction engineer who then discovered new defects! The expert meetings continued but nothing changed, the defects were passed over in silence.

What do you do in such a context?

Vincent and Aurélie Cordier: We then consulted another lawyer in Cahors who frankly admitted to us that he was aware of the behavior of this legal expert and these reprehensible practices. This new Cadurcien lawyer advises us to leave the Lot and call on one of his colleagues specializing in construction, in Toulouse. Result: A new expert (construction engineer and architect) collaborating with this Toulouse lawyer identifies an even greater number of defects. Our lawyer managed to get the legal expert to admit that there were defects in the construction, for which the masons were responsible. She asks the legal expert to stop acting as the masons' lawyer. She specifies that I am indeed the project owner and in no way the project manager. However, the legal expert had based all his reports on the postulate that in the absence of a project manager, responsibility would fall to the project owner. For 4 years, this is the refrain that was used to protect the masons. During this expert meeting, the legal expert ended up half-heartedly admitting that there was a responsibility on the part of the masons. However, he does not change anything in his report!

Now that the legal expert has finally recognized the defects, what happens?

Vincent and Aurélie Cordier: The legal expert asks us, as well as the masons, to produce quotes, within 15 days, to estimate the amount of the repairs. In less than 15 days, the masons presented quotes from a “friendly” company without this company having come to the site to seriously assess the amount of work to be carried out. Work that this company estimates at €30,000, a fantastic sum considering the defects reported. For my part, not a masonry company in the region wanted to come, knowing that our case was being managed by the legal expert whose name provokes a pushback. We had to wait six months for, thanks to the support of an elected official from a neighboring town, a craftsman mason to come and estimate, after three trips to the site, these same defects at more than €100,000!

And today, where are you in this case after more than 4 years of proceedings?

Vincent and Aurélie Cordier: Today the attempt at an amicable settlement having failed, our lawyer is taking the craftsmen and the insurance companies to court. Added to the defects which prevented the continuation of the construction site, the moral damage for all the inconveniences that this situation caused us and the material damage, with regard to the impossibility of proceeding with the rental of the guest rooms, although expected as a source of income. To date, we are at more than €30,000 in procedural costs, including nearly €15,000 for the legal expert. The problems do not stop there: for more than a year, leaks have appeared in the roof of the construction without the carpenter deigning to come and repair them despite reminders. We are therefore considering launching proceedings against this craftsman as well.

How can we hear a legal expert declare that “this is a very beautiful construction”, when moreover a civil expert (construction engineer and architect) notes a litany of poor workmanship? How can we explain this series of irregularities and poor workmanship, estimated at at least €100,000? With an unfortunate impression, that no one among the participants in this case feels responsible for anything… I can't wait for justice to establish responsibilities and for this family, which finds itself on the brink, to be able to recover its rights and its property in the better conditions.

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