Once again, unhealthy housing invites itself to justice. Tuesday and Wednesday, Ilyas I., an alleged sleep dealer, is sent to correctional for having rented accommodation to Pierrefitte “incompatible with human dignity”.
This landlord had known his celebrity hour by causing the displacement of two ministers in this city of Seine-Saint-Denis, in January 2019. Julien Denormandie, Secretary of State responsible for the cohesion of the territories, and Nicole Belloubet, to justice , had come to see firsthand the heart of the problem: a pavilion divided into 12 unsanitary dwellings, rented at high prices to a precarious public.
Some accommodation without opening
“It is not the only one on Pierrefitte, but this one was the icing on the cake, says Michel Fourcade, the mayor PS. He used human misery to swindle people with rents of € 800, without charges and without carrying out work. “
The sleep merchant had indeed optimized his property to the maximum. “A reception room had been divided into three 25 m2 apartments,” we noted during the visit. The garage had become a dwelling and two extensions had been arranged in the garden.
To facilitate the passage from one room to another, the balcony had been closed. Some apartments had no opening. Ilyas I. had filed building permits in the town hall, but all had been rebutted.
“I only help people in distress”
Twelve families, some with several children, crowded into these uncomfortable gourbis, sometimes without heating. All of them shared scarce resources or were in an irregular situation.
During the ministers’ visit, the owner explained to them that he was doing charity work by renting accommodation to people who could not have offered sufficient guarantees on the conventional market. “I only help people in distress,” he defended himself before Julien Denormandie.
These dwellings, all struck by a final ban on housing by the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis, had continued to be rented at exorbitant prices: € 800 for a dump, without charges, billed to Sedik M . who also acted as a caretaker for a salary of 150 € per month. In total, the owner received at least € 4,500, all profits, because the sums were not declared to the tax authorities.
The owner appealed to the solidarity fund
When the tenants were dragged out to pay, the landlord moved, threatened to evict or come to blows. On the other hand, he himself had accumulated a large unpaid amount of water bills, while these tenants had paid the bill well. “He even appealed to the solidarity fund to pay his expenses,” said the ulcerated town hall.
