Buying a house in itself is a difficult step because currently the price of housing is through the roof, but if when you manage to take the step you run into problems, it can be exasperating. This is what happened to a man in France, who fell in love with an apartment in the heart of Paris that was not exactly cheap, since it cost almost a million euros. This did not stop him and he decided to buy it, but after time he discovered that groups of young people were spending the nights in that neighborhood, committing acts of vandalism, occupying houses and generating uncomfortable noises night after night. Fortunately, the sale could be annulled since the court considered that the seller had not notified the buyer of these problems.
It all started when Albert decided to buy a two-bedroom, 75-square-meter apartment that was located on the sixth floor of a beautiful carved stone building on Rue Croix-Nivert, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. He signed the purchase and sale contract for almost one million euros through Barnes Champ-de-Mars, a luxury international real estate agency that had presented him with the property off the market, according to the media. Le Figaro Particulier.
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Eight months after buying the apartment, Albert began to suffer from insomnia and decided to go to court to try to annul the sale of the home.
Young people who use drugs, cause damage and occupy common areas
The focus of the conflict was right in front of the building, in the vicinity of a store that opens late at night. There, almost every night, a group of people gathers that has completely altered the lives of the neighbors.
According to a petition addressed to the mayor of Paris’ 15th arrondissement, residents report that “These young people call it their home,” “smoke hashish and other illegal substances and possibly sell them,” “obstruct traffic,” “vandalize parked vehicles,” and “illegally occupy the lobbies of surrounding buildings.”
The situation became unbearable on a daily basis for Albert, who ended up suing the former owner of the apartment to request the annulment of the sale. The judicial procedure ended up involving all the parties that participated in the operation: the buyer, the seller, the real estate agency and the notary.
There could be an attempt to hide the reality of the environment
For Albert, the tranquility and security of the property are decisive elements when a person decides to buy a home. Therefore, he considers that the silence or possible omissions of the seller, the agency and the notary regarding the environment surrounding the apartment directly affected his consent.
In his search criteria, Albert had made it clear to the Barnes agency that he wanted a quiet apartment. However, he claims that neither the real estate agent nor the saleswoman at any time warned him about the nightly meetings that took place on the street.
Nor did he find any reference to coexistence problems or neighborhood annoyances in the minutes of the last three homeowners’ meetings that he reviewed before formalizing the purchase.
The apartment cost almost a million euros
The case is especially striking due to the value of the operation. The 75 square meter apartment is located on Rue de la Croix-Nivert, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, and was purchased for almost one million euros.
At first, housing seemed like a safe investment. It was located in an area with a reputation for being quiet and family-friendly. However, shortly after moving in, Albert noticed that the same scenes were repeated every night in front of the building.
As real estate lawyer Xavier Demeuzoy explained in CNews, young people gathered around a supermarket, “consuming drugs and causing disturbances, even though this had been public knowledge for several years.”
The buyer also discovered that neighborhood petitions to put an end to these activities had been circulating for some time, which reinforced his argument that the problem was known before the sale.
The judge orders to annul the sale
Given the feeling of insecurity, the inconvenience and the stress he was suffering, Albert initiated legal proceedings to annul the operation. The court ended up agreeing with him.
The judge considered fraud proven, understood as deliberate conduct intended to deceive one of the parties to a contract. As a consequence, he ordered the cancellation of the sale, as well as the return of the purchase price and associated expenses.
Although the buyer had also implicated the notary and the real estate agent, the judge ruled out the responsibility of the latter. As Xavier Demeuzoy explained, the agent acted within his obligations because the seller had not informed him of the existence of these nocturnal meetings.
In this sense, the lawyer summarized that “it is not the responsibility of a diligent agent to verify this nocturnal activity.”
New obligations for sellers?
The ruling is relevant because it could expand the scope of information that a seller must provide before closing a real estate transaction. Until now, this obligation was mainly associated with the state of the home or the building itself.
“This ruling extends the seller’s obligation to provide information, not only to the building itself, but also to what happens on the street and in the immediate vicinity,” explained Xavier Demeuzoy.
This opens the door for certain serious and known problems in the environment, such as recurring nuisances, insecurity or neighborhood conflicts, to influence the validity of a sale if they are not communicated to the buyer.
The former owner could appeal
Despite Albert’s judicial victory, the case may not be closed. According to the lawyer, the former owner is expected to appeal the sentence.
Furthermore, the buyer did not obtain all the compensation he claimed. He asked for 35,000 euros for moral damages, but the judge only granted him 500 euros for this concept.
Therefore, although he has managed to have the sale annulled, he could still have to face new expenses if the procedure continues on appeal or reaches the Court of Cassation.