House builder from La Manche, he asked his clients for money without completing the projects

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The Coutances court (Manche) rendered its decision on December 4, 2024 in the case examined on November 6, concerning a builder of wooden or container houseswho asked his clients for money, but did not complete all the projects.

The manager was sentenced. As during the previous hearing, this 57 year old man did not appear in court. He receives a sentence of 2 years in prison including 1 year with a probationary suspension. He is prohibited from managing a business for a period of 5 years. He will have to pay nearly 500,000 euros to his victims.

Projects never finished, or for some not even started

The company was established in the center of Coutances. It offered wooden constructions and was implemented judicial liquidation on March 2017.

In September 2016, the manager created another company, in Montmartin-sur-Mer, whose purpose was to build houses with shipping containers. A company that was liquidated in April 2019.

THE complaints targeted the same behaviors: signed contracts specifying the cost and time of construction, sums of money requested to purchase materials before price increases, construction sites never finished or for some not even started, and no more contact.

A couple who were victims of a container house in Couville, near the Bourg-Neuf crossroads, alerted the media in April 2019. “Our house looks like a ghost house,” whispered the couple at the time, while the construction site was abandoned for months and that he had paid for the materials and services. The couple only managed to complete their house thanks to the solidarity of relatives and local craftsmen. A Leetchi fundraiser had been created to appeal for donations to help them buy the materials needed to finish their house.

The amount of damages suffered by the fifteen victims amounts to 800,000 euros.

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