In October, Élodie warned of the difficult – even impossible – living conditions in her accommodation at Place Mendès France in Thourotte. An apartment located on the top floor of building number 3 whose roof had significant weaknesses resulting in water infiltration into the small Type 2. Élodie’s fight, supported by her companion Hervé: involve the lessor Clésense after weeks of leaks. They had been left on a promise from the landlord to bring in workers. More than two months later, the leak has been successfully sealed. “But the accommodation remains unlivable,” explains Hervé.
“The intervention took time,” he says. The first mandated company had withdrawn due to too soft ground at the foot of the building. “Another company mandated by Clésense went up on the roof, but they couldn’t repair it, it was blocked, dead, they had to make an estimate to the social landlord and came back a week later,” says Hervé who during that time “had to spend three weeks mopping up in the apartment”. “With everything he fell, it was all the time,” he said.
She still hasn’t returned to her apartment.
The problem of leaks now resolved, Élodie has still not returned to her apartment. “We are still waiting for a visit from the insurance adjuster. He must come and check the damage in the apartment, on Élodie’s belongings,” lists Hervé. A wardrobe and the bed were damaged. Even more annoying for the habitability of the premises, the walls have taken a heavy toll in this damage. “I think we need to dismantle the ceiling and the walls to see what was affected, it must be in a strange state behind it,” says Hervé, “we can see it in the cracked placo near the radiator.”
In two months, the apartment even began to develop its own little flora… “Mushrooms were already growing in the bathroom because of the VMC which has been broken for months, now we have mold growing everywhere”, says Élodie’s companion. With a “humidity level measured at 160% according to Hervé, the companies cannot start the work anyway”.
An “uninhabitable” apartment
For the couple, “the apartment is uninhabitable”. “You just have to enter to realize it: the smell hits your throat,” he continues. What annoys Hervé? “Since September 25, I have hosted Élodie, without me, she would be on the street: Clésence never wanted to give her an apartment while she waited. We are in constant contact about the damage, we give them photos, etc., but no one comes to see, except the caretaker, and above all, for 4 months, she has been paying rent for nothing and no one moves,” says the annoyed ‘man.
For now, the couple must be content to wait. “It seems that the expert will come on January 8, we learned about it on the fly, but it’s not really official,” explains Hervé. What’s next? “We hope at the very least that she will be compensated for all these months where she was deprived of her housing and still find rehousing while waiting for the work to be completed,” asserts Hervé.
Reached by telephone, Clésence promised to answer our questions in the coming days.
