While he lives in Switzerland, Rudy Drevet, owner of seasonal rental accommodation in the Cévennes district, was not able to go out during the holidays in order to protect him from possible disappointment.
An experience he would have preferred to avoid this Christmas time. Rudy Drevet, who lives and works in Switzerland, bought an apartment in Montpellier a few months ago. “Initially I wanted to rent it out to students but as it was mid-year, I opted for seasonal rental.”
Not being on site, he entrusts management to a concierge who “had to take care of everything, from the announcement on AirBnB and Booking, to the reception of the tenant, including the inventory and cleaning…”
A little before Christmas, he decides to look at his ad and “It was at that moment completely by chance that I realized that a tenant had left a comment explaining that there was no heating. However, the boiler was new. And that he had left the places.” But it is above all the answer that will hold his attention. “The latter asks this person to return the keys.”
Worried by this situation, he contacted the managing agency to find out what was going on. We explain to him that the person in charge of the apartment is not there and that the tenant, still in possession of his keys, has not answered calls since his departure. He still gets a first and last name as well as the telephone number of this more than indelicate tenant, but no more. “Apparently they do not have the identity card of the man who is said to be from Palavas and who has a prepaid cell phone.”
Find a locksmith
The owner goes to his apartment after contacting his legal department and filing a theft complaint.
As the man really starts to panic, he decides to change the lock. The only problem is that it is an armored door which complicates the operation. And during this Christmas period, you have to find a locksmith, establish a quote, place an order for a part before an intervention can be carried out.
Rudy Drevet therefore found himself stuck in his own apartment at Christmas for fear that a possible squatter would come and move into the accommodation with complete impunity.
But also afterwards while waiting for the lock to be changed. “Above all, I had to go back to Switzerland. My employer was not happy that I remained teleworking until the situation was definitively resolved.”
He was finally released this Monday, December 30 thanks to the intervention of the locksmith who was able to give him new keys.
“Connected locks as a solution”
Faced with the situation of Rudy Drevet, the manager of the agency in charge of housing and who was on leave, explains that the owner panicked but that he should not necessarily have done so.
“The traveler did not want to return the keys through a sort of blackmail because he did not want to pay for his stay. After several calls, we told him that the security deposit would be taken from his account to change the lock.”
The real estate specialist who says he makes 3,000 reservations per year, admits that it is a problem – without being common – that happens. “Not necessarily voluntarily. Between those who forget to return them and others who lose them…”
Legal and technical means to act
And to specify: “We have the legal and technical means to resolve this type of problem without the owner being worried.”
This is why when the keys were not handed over, the procedure was initiated. “We did our job: warned the traveler, gave him a little time to return the keys and called the craftsmen. Not to mention a physical visit to the site to check that the apartment was not occupied.”
Moreover, the man explains that to avoid this type of unforeseen event, his agency recommends the installation of connected locks.
