“She’s crazy!Mathilde doesn’t believe it. This Wednesday, May 29, this young tenant received an information note from her trustee that made him jump out of his chair. “After several escapes», on June 10 the heating engineer will intervene to replace the gaskets of the water tanks heating. So far, nothing unusual. Problem: co-owners and tenants can not count on a guard to give their keys if there is no day, because there is no one. That complicates things for Mathilde. “I won’t be home on June 10th and neither will my boyfriend“, he worries. She is so much less reassured that, in her note, the trustee adds a sentence that makes her co-ownership of Versailles appear. “If it is not present, an additional and individual intervention will be carried out at a cost of 300 euros, tax included for accommodation (the responsibility of the co-owner concerned), we can read in this document that Le Figaro was achieved. “Does the trustee have the right to do so?Mathilde asks.
This type of work constitutes a “general charge“, says Me Jean-Philippe Mariani, lawyer in co-ownership law. The overall cost of the intervention must be distributed according to the percentages and not be attributed to each co-owners (Articles 10 and 10-1 of the law of July 10, 1965), “unless 1 or 2 co-owners are in default and have failed to demonstrate why their accommodation could not be accessible“, According to the lawyer. “The trustee takes a risk because it is not the best method to do this job effectively. It is a pressure exerted by the trustee on the co-ownership so that it is present or that it gives access to its accommodation.“, deciphers Me Mariani who relies on “the appreciation of the judge” in case of legal action.
Call the union council
The obligation to provide access to housing is legal: a co-owner or tenant must leave the curator. access your accommodation in the case of works essential to the maintenance of the building (as here for heating) but also works to improve the common or private areas of the building or even energy renovation works (article 7 of the law of July 6, 1989). No longer “This legal obligation, as well as the urgent nature of the intervention, does not, however, authorize the trustee to impose its own conditions.“, replies Jean-Philippe Mariani. “If the co-owner (or the tenant) prove that he cannot really be there, he has the right to contest the date set by the trustee. It is all a matter of consultation“, he adds.
Finally, there is the responsibility of the trade union council. If a co-owner is absent and cannot count on a relative, friend or guardian, who can take care? “This task can be managed by the council of the union that can refuse“, answers Jean-Philippe Mariani. “I don’t really trust the union councilMathilde explains. The joys of co-ownership.