Syndic : Le ras-le-bol des copropriétaires - go get 'em!

Consumer magazine (a bit like Which? but more aggressive - it needs to be, this is France), 60 Million de Consommateurs are featuring SYNDICS (co-owner association appointed management companies) as their bete-noire this month.

Excès tarifaires, comportements arrogants, contrats irréguliers... les copropriétaires se retrouvent trop souvent en position de faiblesse face à leur syndic. Il existe pourtant des moyens de se défendre et, au besoin, d'en trouver un meilleur.

Le palmarès des abus les plus scandaleux. Nos juristes ont décrypté cent contrats de syndics envoyés par nos lecteurs. Ils ont relevé des clauses abusives, des prestations indûment facturées ou des tarifs exorbitants dans 96 d'entre eux. Pauvres copropriétaires...

Sadly these are all too common complaints. One rarely hears of an owner who is happy with their Syndic, at least in Paris. This issue will apparently advise on how to find "une perle rare" - a good syndic....

Hopefully it will also priovide some help for one of our readers who wrote in recently.

Dear Susie

Can you recommend an english speaker who knows anything about overturning a syndic? We have a property in Cannes which is run by a syndic benevole - that is the lady who originally owned the house before she sold off the apartments - still lives in the building. She is totally corrupt makes all the rules to suit herself and has made life sheer misery for our co-proprietors in the house by blocking anything we want to do. We don't live there ourselves but in another village just above Cannes. Our AGM residents meeting is on the 10th November and the other coproprietors are russian and french but no one really knows how the meeting should be run on the day. She is abusing her position as syndic benevole to baffle us with mis-information. We have a lawyer already dealing with her concerning another matter but in the meantime our AGM is looming nearer and I am trying to get as much info as possible regarding our rights as she has basically refused to add anything we have requested to be put on the agenda. Three of us co-proprietors hold the majority vote against her holding. But she is blocking everything we try to get put on the agenda.

I speak good fluent French but am trying to get help from an English speaker as I find all the legal stuff it easier to digest in my own language!

Stay tuned for further news.

Comments

[jean taquet]

The syndic bénévole is a very delicate position since most of the time, the person who is doing it, has neither the expertise nor the background to follow the law. So the first step is to corner her with her own material from the previous AGM. For example, the agenda of the AGM must spell out what needs to be voted on. Then the minutes of the said meeting is binding, this means that it spells the rules for both the co-ownership and the syndic. Without any legal training, you will find motions voted that were not in the agenda,motions mentioned in the agenda that were never discussed during the meeting less voted on, actions taken that were not approved in a AGM, and so on. You list all of them, document them and send a registered letter demanding some explanation. Again, no need to ask the help of a professional at that level just be square and rest your case with all the issues you are raising. Keep in mind that French lawyers do not gather information and rely on the clients to do so. About the Nov. 10 meeting, you had the absolute right to add one or more items on the agenda provided that you sent them registered letter within the time allowed for it mentioned in the call for the meeting. If nothing was mentioned about this, sent it ASAP and consider them to be part of the agenda of the meeting. During the meeting, if she refuses to address them, tell her that this would make the entire meeting null and void and you will file with the Court (TGI) to get it void and ask for damages.
The meeting must follow the order of the agenda and the latest items are discussed at the end. Then you have something tangible to give to the lawyer. About documentation in English, I do not know any at the level you are asking for. I wrote the section regarding copropriété in Vital Issues (AAWE Guidebook) and it does not cover the specifics of the AGM nor the mission of the syndic.
I hope that you find this helpful.
Best regards,
Jean Taquet

[susie hollands]

I knew I could count on Jean Tacquet to help! You canj get the book he is referring to thru Association of American Wives of Europeans which is a good organistaion although it has quite a funny name! http://www.aaweparis.org/html/publications.html