Cautionary tale and request for rental accomodation near Aix en Provence

[mcp]

My Family decided to relocate from Dubai to the South of France and complete our children’s education at the International Bilingual School (IBS) at Luynes near Aix en Provence.

This was a 4 year plan and once the kids had confirmed places at the school starting 7th September 2006 we started scouring the internet for suitable properties to rent in the Aix area.

 We found the ideal property (4 beds, 4 bath, modern house, swimming pool etc in Le Tholonet near Aix) through a website called travel-library.com. Our original email was passed onto the owners agent (Sun Rent Location Ltd) and various emails and enquires (due diligence) carried out. I received a rental confirmation for a 9 month rental contract from the agent and sent a 3 month deposit direct into the owner bank account in Morocco early May 2006. All of this was conducted from overseas and the property was never actually visited.

 I was advised the actual rental contract had been posted and that access details would be advised closer to the time. As time passed the contract failed to appear and now I get no response to my emails.  My phone calls only get an answering machine inviting me to leave a name and contact number. Needless to say requests to refund my deposit are not answered

As you can see I have been taken in by the classic internet scam /fraud. Regrettably it would appear I am not the only one and below is a link to a website where others in a similar position to me have been posting.

http://forum.crime-research.org/-vp2710.html?sid=3681c9201578d8dc4af0ebc04c479c79

Notwithstanding the above my kids start at the IBS school in Provence on the 7th September 2006 and I urgently require rental accommodation for a family of four within commuting distance of Aix en Provence, the initial rental period would be for 9 months, during which time I will be searching for a long term rental for a further 3 years or perhaps to purchase.

If you own a property or know of someone who owns a property in the Aix area (preferably in the country and with some land)and are looking to rent for 9 months or longer. I would appreciate if you could respond to this posting.

Understandably, I would not wish to place any further deposits until I actually have access to the property. 

 

 

[Jonzjob]

Good luck MCP. We rented on a 2 year contract, but found a place to buy in the Aude and moved from the rented house within 8 months. We were able to get over to arrange things although we were sat in the bank making the final arrangements at 8 in the morning. We were on the 09.30 aircraft, only just!

Our hearts go out to you. Once again, good luck.

John.

[Lori]

mcp - just curious, did you report them to Travel-Library's owners Bisca Int'l (I went to the website and took a look)?  I did read their Terms & Conditions and I suppose you cannot go after them for any compensation.  However, there is still a house listed in Aix - it is a 4 bedroom 2 bath house, so perhaps it is not the same one, but if it is and this truly is an illegal transaction, the house should be removed from the website - that is in their Terms & Conditions.  If you have contacted them, what was their response?  Have you posted your experience on their website?

You say you received a contract from the Agent.  Where is this agent located.  I did a search on Sun Rent Location, Ltd. and came up with nothing.  Is there an address for the agency OR the house in question on the contract you received?  Perhaps the house does not exist in France, but perhaps it does - worth checking.  Does the agent note an address in France?  Was the contract written in French or what language?  You then say a contract was said to have been posted to you.  What was the first contract you received?  What was the name on the Bank Account that you sent your money to?  Have you contacted that bank?  Did you not question sending the money to Morocco?

Just a bunch of curiosities, hope you don't mind my asking as Internet crime has become such a big problem. 

 

 

[Llwyncelyn]

Sun Rent Ltd gives the impression of being a registered company for the use of the term Ltd is one that solely is used in the UK and where a company is limited in this case by shares.

Are you sure it is not a UK company for tomorrow I will check with my contacts (I am a lawyer) at Companies House and see if we can get a match or near match.

Truly I doubt it but lets have a go.

[mcp]

Hi lori,

Yes I did report them to Travel-Library who were sympathetic but as expected offered no compensation. as you say their T&Cs obviously say they accept no responsibilty. Good idea re posting my experience on their website

The house shown on their website in Aix is not the house in question. Travel-library advised me that they had removed the house from the website in June 2006 after a complaint by another person. It would appear I am not the only victim of this fraud, below is a link to a website where others who have been scammed have posted

http://forum.crime-research.org/-vp2719.html?sid=6175a1f42761b965474d2caa3d8a5c78

I was advised a contract had been sent however it never turned up. I asked repeatedly and was always given an excuse as to why it was delayed.

Yes I have contacted the bank and as yet no response. I expect to hear the account is empty and closed.

I have rented holiday property via the internet before and deposited cash in various owners accounts around the world.

If you are unable to actually visit a property before you rent then there is always the possibility that you are being set up. Renting holiday accomodation generally means you do it sight unseen. I have always been lucky up until now. I will not be placing any deposits in the future.

In this case a check on Companies house website in the UK showed the company as legitimate and no reason to suspect they were not in fact acing as agent to the owner. If a check on companies house UK website is now done on Sun Rent Locations Ltd it will show the company was dissolved on 27th June 2006.

It is always a concern when sending money to North Africa but again the clever scam will always be well thought through and it is totally plausible that the owner of a property in the Aix/Marseille area could be of Moroccan descent and have a Moroccan bank account, given the vast number of French speaking Moroccans who live in the South of France.

I have reported the fraud to the London Met Police internet fraud division and wait to see if that will produce results.

still looking for rental accomodation in the Aix area any one got any good contacts or a house available?

[Turnip]

www.homelidays.com have been used by myself a few times. Seem OK but still urge caution - read comments left by previous renters etc.

[Lori]

mcp - well good luck with the situation.  I hope you get some results from your inquiries.

When we rented, we were with VRBO.  You deal directly with the owner - meaning you can actually call them and talk with them at great length before booking.  Lots of folks did that with us as they wanted to make sure we were legit.  I would recommend doing that no matter what service you use.  Contact the owner direct and ask for references you can contact yourself, privately.  We never had any problem providing this information.  We also never accepted a deposit until the guests had received the Rental Contract, signed it and returned it with the deposit.

Best of luck to you.  There are lots of rentals around Aix, so you really shouldn't have any trouble finding something.

[chessfou]

Try the web site of FNAIM -

FNAIM

( Fédération

Nationale de l'Immobilier

)

at

http://www.agences-immobilieres.com/reseau-immobilier/fnaim.htm

and click through ("voir le site") to the search page.

That lists 7 apparently suitable properties between €1750 & €4000 per month (some readers may see that as expensive but for a large property in Aix, not unreasonable and I would guess a good deal cheaper than Dubai).

More important than those few properties listed, it gives you several main-stream agencies to contact.

Also, bear in mind all normal rental agreements in France are (by law) for 3 years but the renter can break the contract at a few months notice (3 months if memory serves).