The hole in the ceiling of Sandra and Michel Berrien's bedroom in La Chapelle-Saint-Étienne, in Moncoutant-sur-Sèvre, reveals the water-soaked structure of the floor of the floor above. The couple dropped the piece of plasterboard from their moldy bedroom ceiling. A few buckets are not enough to protect flooded parquet floors.
When they arrived from Moselle in January 2023, Sandra and Michel Berrien started a new life after the death of Sandra's father. “Our children were harassed at school, we lived a few meters from a highway and we no longer had any ties there”says Sandra.
Buckets of water in the room of the occupants of the accommodation fail to protect the parquet floor from water leaks.
© Photo NR, Dominique Guinefoleau
Both on disability, they live small with their 11-year-old daughter and their 15-year-old son and do not fantasize about a life in the countryside. “As we had enjoyed our vacation in Vendée, we arrived here. » Sandra fell in love at first sight on a website for the fireplace she had always dreamed of.
“The owner offered us a virtual tour. We gave away what little furniture we had, cramming the bare minimum into our two cars and our trailer. We had to leave”remembers Sandra. “It was smaller than in the video”remembers Michel.
Three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, a small kitchen opening onto the master bedroom on the ground floor. The house is its age but the couple is living their dream. “We were over the moon. The owner was nice, gave us plants for the garden. He was planning to put shutters on the windows and had to have the roof redone. »
Leaks, humidity, mold… Infernal circle
Until May 2023 when traces of humidity appear in the shower in the master bedroom. Insurance declarations, visits from craftsmen, etc.: the matter seems to be on track. In November 2023, it is the water heater which fails and blows the electric heating fuses. Fifteen days to identify the problem but the new water heater, more bulky, leaves a gaping hole in the landing on a wall split by a crack where drafts and humidity pass.
In the meantime, the water damage gets worse, the humidity and mold grow and the dialogue becomes stymied. “Our insurance had agreed to repair the ground floor with that of the owner when the shower problem was resolved upstairs”says Michel Berrien.
Owner with absent subscribers
The matter drags on, the owner no longer responds (the number he gave to the tenants no longer responds). The couple continues to pay their rent, sends a series of shipments with acknowledgment of receipt, attends a conciliation in the departmental conciliation commission in September 2024 without the owner… Sandra and Michel have health problems due to mold. “Luckily the kids are okay!” » The months go by and housing assistance stops falling. “The rental declarations were not completed or incorrectly completed”protests Sandra Berrien.
In April, the couple learned from its owner that he wanted to sell. Tenants see potential buyers making a series of visits. Now in contact with a lawyer and a social worker to obtain social housing, they are just waiting for an opportunity to find a new home. “Our lawyer had a bailiff note the unsanitary condition of the accommodation”underlines Sandra Berrien.
Leaks from the shower cubicle are just one of the problems which have led to their accommodation being unsanitary according to Sandra and Michel Berrien.
© Photo NR, Dominique Guinefoleau
At the end of their tether, Sandra and Michel Berrien no longer believe in anyone. Even the promise of the real estate agent in charge of the sale kept in recent days no longer reassures them. “We met a couple of buyers who signed a sales agreement. They confirmed to us their intention to have exterior insulation work done. »
Sandra and Michel Berrien no longer believe it. They are in contact with a lawyer who has commissioned a bailiff to observe the unsanitary conditions of the premises. Their legal proceedings threaten to block the sale but they no longer have the strength to wait.
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