Hello,
Sadly there have been hundreds if not thousands of Irish people caught by these French Sale & Leaseback schemes. "Guaranteed Rent" is something many people were mislead by ....
Can I please suggest you consider posting a few basic details, such as:
1. Wwhere your property / properties are based
2. Who your tenant (the operator) is or was
3. If you have appointed a French solicitor / have a French accountant or tax agent
4. If you are in contact with the former sales agent who sold you the units or if not, why not ? They may be able to put you in contact with fellow investors and then in turn you can share information, possibly future costs etc while they clearly won't want to get into a discussion on any form of refund of your money I'm afraid.
I have had my own fair share of issues with French sale and leasebacks and in summary found:
- when things go wrong, they take a long time to put right and usually cost money (for professional fees in France etc)
- you cannot rely on the French justice system to help you, in terms of recovering unpaid rent. Ultimately by the time you get to the stage in the court process when you can win an award for unpaid rent, the tenant has gone bust. They will help you evict a tenant however, which is important in terms of simply getting the entity out of your property quickly. As soon as rent arrears first occur, I recommend you start this process. Do not accept explanations and apologies for rent delays, almost everyone who encounters a tenant falling into arrears, ultimately sees the tenant fail and a significant rent arrears position acrue first (based on what I've read and from speak with others who invested in French sale and leasebacks).
- many of the larger French banks have staff who speak excellent English and can try to work with you through English, if you don't speak very good French. While initially they may resist your requests for payment reductions or going onto interest only payments for a while - you will ultimately get them to help you, if you provide required documentation. Do contact the Bank asap. If they are resisting, ask for the contact details of their Médiateur (effectively an ombudsman) and if they refuse, then threaten to complain to the Fédération Bancaire Française (where you can also have an independent Médiateur appointed to review your case)
- while I did not personally have a legal dispute with my French bank, I know a couple of people who did. Their properties were taken and later sold, with legal action pending. There is strong suggestion that following the initial action in France, it would be followed by an action against the Borrowers in Ireland. I suggest you get independent legal advice if things get difficult.
- there are French lawyers who will work through English for you when engaged, but be careful some are very expensive and you need to agree fixed fees from the outset (ideally shared between a group of investors at the same scheme)
Sadly, the French sale & leasback schemes were controlled about as well as some of the S23 and S50 schemes over here .... in other words, they weren't controlled at all I'm afraid.