Possessions left by previous occupier

[rabbit]

Hi - I purchased a house near Limoges a couple of months ago. The Barn adjoining the house has a large quantity of personal possessions left there by the occupier who lived there over twelve months ago and prior to the person I purchased the property from. Attempts have been made to get in touch with him but although he makes promises to collect he has not yet removed his possessions. How can I get him to do this or alternatively dispose of the items myself with out getting into trouble under french law. Has anyone had this problem before and if so how was it resolved

Thankyou

 

[PossumGirl]

Anything that was on the property when you purchased the house belongs to you, as far as I know, unless it was stated otherwise in the paperwork.

We had a fair amount of stuff left by the previous owner, which we did give to her, mostly because she also has another property next door.  However, after a while, it became a bit awkward and everyone told us to no longer do it because we were being taken advantage of.  Sometimes, it's worth it to keep peace; but if you need the space cleared then just get rid of it!

PG

[The Riff-Raff Element]

When we moved into this house we found that the previous owner had left

thousands of empty bottles in the celler. Amongst them where only

twelve full bottles containing what appeared to be moonshine. He also

left an old tilly lamp. Being of an inquisitive mien, I placed one into

the other, pumped it up, and lit the wick. I was lucky to escape the

resulting fireball with only minor scorching (I had had the foresight

to attempt this little experiment outside) and a couple of small cuts

from flying glass. We palmed the rest off onto surprisingly grateful

neighbours. God knows what they did with it: cleaned stains off vitious

enammals or poisoned cockroaches with it, I suppose.

Even now, when I have little to do, I load up the trailer with a couple

of hundred bottles from the celler and toddle down to the décheterie to

throw them into the enormous bac that they have there for glass. This

gives my chum "Stig" (not his real name, but he really does not look

like a "Claude", which is his real name) ample opportunity to make

ribald comments about my drinking habits to just about anyone who is

passing.

Anyway, I think PG is right - it is yours, whether you like it or not.

If you are concerned, pop down to your local gendarmerie (they like it so much when someone walks through the door of their own volition) and ask them.

[maureen]

The day you signed the Acte de Vente to buy your house, it, and it's contents became yours. Full stop.

maureen.

[zeb]

Yep, as Maureen says, it's all yours, you lucky thing!!

We had to hire a skip (benne) from Cotradim to clear our place. The only thing the owners took (or sold) was the woodpile which had miraculously disappeared between the compromis and the vente!

[Llantony]

I heard that French vendors can be pretty mean - taking light bulbs and even grotty old toilet seats! So when we bought we had a last look round with the estate agent.  It's really worth doing so at least you know exactly what's been left - welcome or unwelcome.

The vendor had asked for a large sum for 'the things in the fireplace' including a heavy cast iron back plate.  He obviously couldn't carry it.  He generously pointed out an old hoover he'd left - no tools and so old we couldn't get bags for it.

Maz (82)

[maureen]

I always used to think that the french habit of taking the light bulbs was OTT, but....if you look at french light fittings, they don't have here a ceiling rose as we do, and often when taking down the 'chandeleer' to move  the whole lot comes with it. I felt terrible when we moved recently to have left the bare wires, but that was just how it was!

As for vendors saying that they will leave something behind for a substantial sum, my reply is," Oh, don't worry we'll get rid of it for you". That usualy ends up with them taking it, or leaving it for nothing. You win some and you loss some..............

maureen.