When squatters play metal thieves and vandals

Pascal Mellet, owner, followed the procedure to the letter to expel the squatters who invaded his house in Briançon, in the Hautes-Alpes (05). He filed a complaint with the police station as soon as he noticed that his property was squatted. In 72 hours, he should have obtained the eviction of the squatters. Once the offense has been established, the prefect has 48 hours to respond to the owner and if the answer is positive, the prefect must send a formal notice to the squatter who has 24 hours to leave the premises. But here, the complaint lodged at the police station and the letters sent to the prefecture remained a dead letter despite a bailiff’s report, relates BFM-TV.

“We filed a complaint twice and we see that nothing is happening“, laments the owner of the squatted house at the microphone of BFM TV. He regrets the lack of involvement of the police and testifies to a feeling of powerlessness and loneliness. “We are alone, alone. The police never checked them so we have no name, no address, we have nothing“, laments Pascal Mellet. A non-intervention of the authorities which is not uncommon. “As usual, I am struck by the inertia of the authorities and the loneliness of the owner“, underlines Maître Rossi-Landi, lawyer specialized in real estate law.

Vandalism and theft

After 7 months of illegal occupation, Pascal Mellet managed, not to do justice himself by directly evicting the squatters (which is punishable by 3 years in prison and a fine of €30,000 against 1 year in prison and 15,000 € for the squatter if he is found to be at fault) but to change the locks in the absence of the occupants. A week later, however, the squatters again entered the accommodation, this time through the windows and breaking the shutter. During a new absence of the squatters, the owner screws the shutters and condemns them in order to prevent any new intrusion. He thus recovers his accommodation, in a deplorable state however.

” READ ALSO – What has changed to help victims of squats

The boiler is destroyed, doors have been torn off and the house has been tagged from floor to ceiling. And that’s not all, the squatters stole electrical cables and copper. The cleaning of the house will cost the owner €1,600 and legal costs €2,500, not to mention the repairs which may increase the bill.

“The owner can file a complaint for vandalism and theft», recommends master Rossi-Landi. According article 322-1 of the Penal Code, “the destruction, degradation or deterioration of property belonging to another person is punishable by two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros, unless only slight damage has resulted“, a penalty greater than that of a proven squat.