YOU SAY GOODBYE,

AND I SAY HELLO

 

 

This song, which expresses in a witty way the impossible communication within a couple, became famous when it climbed to the top of the charts in December 1967, becoming another Beatle's hit. My column often illustrates the difficulties foreigners have communicating with the French and even more with the French administration, the utility companies, and any entity large enough so that the personal touch is lost by the need to follow procedures.

I can testify and all long-term residents of France will agree with me that France has undergone a drastic change, becoming more user-friendly, more in tune with the expectations of the public, more eager to assure customer's satisfaction, and so on.

This said, even with all those changes going in the right direction to benefit the public, France still manages to do it the French way, which is to be expected but this creates twists that still baffle foreigners living in France but which are still fully in tune with the French logic.

I find it interesting that the organizations mentioned in this issue, i.e., CPAM – the French Social Security administration, the tax office, the banks, the police, the social workers services, the court system, are the ones that have probably most improved the quality of their services. It just proves that there is still a long way to go before the public gets the services it is hoping for.

 

 

THE LINKS IN THE JUNE ISSUE DO NOT WORK
One should always be extra careful when trying something new. I have used website's addresses with their links for years and have never had a problem, but just after learning about the nature of the link and how HTML works, I managed to have none of the twelve I used working. A series of events led to this, starting with importing my draft from a word document along with all of its extra stuff. I am truly sorry and plan on having the proper version available on the site very soon.

 

 

AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE FRENCH COMMUNICATION
Shortly after sending out my May 2010 column, I exchanged a couple of emails with one of my readers regarding taxes. We quickly realized that although this person had gone through all the branches of the French administration possible, my reader's information was still insufficient and what was developing was leading to tax cheating. This case illustrates quite well one way that living in France can complicate everything. If you do not ask very precise and pertinent questions, chances are the information you receive is inaccurate or insufficient. A French person very rarely warns about possible problems that are directly linked to the topic being addressed. The bad joke I make is that, to ask the right question in France, you should know the answer before asking. More seriously, given the risk that answers will often be misleading, I advise my clients to allow me to get the information required since I am more likely to know what questions to ask. I often warn about how easy it is to get wrong info if you do not ask the right questions in the right way. It is very rare for a foreigner to quickly acquire the special skill of thinking "the French way" so that all the pertinent questions are asked, which requires clear understanding of the situation and its outcome.

 

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THE READER
“Thank you for outlining your concern. Very frustrating. When I moved to France we went to the Social Security offices and explained my situation and asked about the laws. We were told that I was not eligible for benefits since I was not paying into the system so I bought medical insurance. They said I would pay into the system once I was working in France, and then would get benefits. So in January I signed up to be an auto entrepreneur although I still had not received my carte vitale. The frustrating thing is that neither at the Social Security office nor in the two appointments with the tax office did anyone say anything to me about having to pay Social Security charges on my U.S. income, nor did my CPA in the States. I have consistently gotten mixed messages from numerous sources, including governmental sources, since I got here."

MY ANSWER
There are a lot of issues mentioned here, and most of the information given about them is incorrect. The point I was trying to make in the column is that the URSSAF/RSI regulation clearly states that a French resident who is self-employed, even one who is in France illegally, must pay French social charges, which are a lot higher than American Social Security. If this rule is strictly applied, an American residing primarily in France and working from France for American clients through the Internet does owe the French charges sociales. The Caisse Primaire d'Assurance Maladie (C.P.A.M.) deals mainly with employees in delivering health care coverage and reimbursement. It does not deal with the rules concerning payment for health care. And the French tax office in this case deals with the income tax payment, not the social charges. What I find most astounding in this situation is that the person was told that since they were not paying into the system they were not eligible for benefits. The reality is that their activity requires them to pay into the system, which in turn means they would be eligible for benefits. 90% of the time, civil servants, are incapable of thinking just a little bit outside the box.

 

 

THE LATEST ABOUT FRENCH BANKS
One might assume that working in a bank is pretty much the same everywhere, given the extent of globalization and how international the industry is. But there are problems with that assumption. In many countries the real economy is based far more on cash than on any other method of payment. On top of this, each country has different legislation. And one aspect that is clearly overlooked is the liability of the branch manager and the employees in general in regards to money laundering.

 

INCREASED DEMAND FOR DOCUMENTATION
In France, there are many situations where the law requires payment through a bank, and banks are legally obliged to open an account for anyone. I have previously explained in detail how this works; briefly, it is very similar to the assigned risk system for uninsurable drivers in the USA. Someone who is denied even the minimum service can go to the state authority to be assigned to a company that is required to provide the minimum legal service. Remember that French law says all salaries must be paid through a bank account, either by transfer of funds or via a check that cannot be cashed or endorsed but must be deposited. All payments issued by the administration in the normal course of life are made the same way.

French bank managers, under the Tracfin legislation against money laundering, are personally liable if clients of their branch launder money, and the penalties could include time in jail. This puts huge pressure on branch managers, so they carefully check their clients and transactions.

That factor combined with the minimum service requirement gives banks considerable reason to ask for a lot of documents. Historically, a normal bank account could be opened with an ID, a utility bill and a recent pay slip or a job contract. (There is no need to deposit money; most accounts are opened with zero deposit.) But now banks are now asking for an income tax declaration (avis d'imposition sur le revenue), a description of the job held, a recent copy of the ID card or passport, and the previous year's pay slips. They are also pushing clients to enter "lottery games" and other special award games that ask clients to provide more personal information. They are looking for way to get to know the client better so they can offer their services in a more pertinent way. Many consumer unions (associations de consommateurs) are fighting this policy since it violates the right to privacy when such actions are pushed to an extreme.

 

GETTING RID OF THE "GOOD CLIENTS"
Banks traditionally made their money by lending to some clients the money that other clients deposited. The difference between the interest rate charged on loans and that paid on savings was their profit margin. The more money the client put in the bank, the more valuable the client was, since he enabled the bank to make more money.

Today, the vast majority of banks' client-derived income comes from fees and charges that clients pay for various services. The old-fashioned "good client" who has never bounced a check or been overdrawn, and who does not use such modern bank services as debit cards and revolving credit, simply does not produce that much income for the bank. So French banks have started getting rid of such clients by terminating their accounts and asking them to bank elsewhere. Thus far, however, the number of people faced with this situation is small, and there seems little likelihood of it happening on a larger scale. Also, keep in mind that foreign clients of French banks often generate good revenue for the banks by using debit/credit cards and by receiving and sending international wire transfers, among other things.

 

 

MyAmericanMarket.com
Anne-Claire Bocage, founder of MyAmericanMarket.com, an online grocery for hard-to-find American products in France, asked me about a year ago if she could publish excerpts from my column in the MyAM newsletter. This publication just keeps getting better and better. The most recent one, Nº 11, June 2010, included my essay on "DOES BEING BORN FRENCH MEAN ONE IS FRENCH ENOUGH?" and illustrated it with a juxtaposition of the French flag and the image of Marianne, the symbol of France. (For comparison, think of combining the American flag and the national eagle emblem.) I really liked this illustration, as I had felt like I had to work twice as hard as "the average French citizen" to prove that I was a genuine Frenchman. Now I'm getting ideas on how to make my column easier to read with meaningful illustrations. www.myamericanmarket.com

 

 

OFFICE CLOSED FOR SUMMER VACATION
My office will be closed from the evening of Friday July 16th until 9am on Monday August 30th. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. The service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed. I will let individual clients know how to receive or retrieve their mail during this period.

As usual there will be no August issue. I wish everybody a nice summer and happy holidays.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Q & A

WHEN A VERY ELDERLY TENANT STOPS PAYING

QUESTION
I have owned an apartment on the Riviera for more than a decade. My only tenant for all those years has been a very old French lady who now seems to be losing her memory. I have mentioned to the few family members of hers whom I know that the rent is being paid late or not at all. Her debt to me now exceeds six months of rent. Nobody seems to care. I am worried about her condition a lot more than about the money she owes me. What bothers me the most is that the few times I have managed to get a response from her relatives, they say I should express more concern about the well-being of an elderly lady than about my rental debt. But this is exactly what I am doing. Is there anything I can do to get that message across and get this woman properly taken care of?

ANSWER
I would have loved to say yes but in effect the reality is that you cannot. Since you are the owner, the only message anybody will hear in France is that you want the rent money to be paid. I cannot imagine any way you can express yourself so as to reach this goal. The ideal solution would be to contact the social services to let them know of the situation. Even that might not be successful, though, since if you state that she owes you money, it will blur your message, but if you do not mention the rent, how can you convince them there is a problem?

Unfortunately, the best thing I can suggest is that you conform to everybody's expectations and start a court procedure to collect the money. When you prepare the file for the hearing you will of course mention the debt, but you can also explain why you believe the woman needs to be taken care of.

The first step is to send a private summons to pay. The second step is to send a summons to pay through a bailiff (huissier), which allows the renter two months to pay in full before you file in court. The visit of the bailiff should alert the person who deals with her most often, and will likely trigger a reaction of some sort. The third step is to file in court, which means another visit from the bailiff, which should have a similar effect. The fourth step is to exchange files and information in preparation for the hearing. This is going to look like normal mail even if it comes from a lawyer.

If you properly present this case to the court, the judge will certainly have to appoint a guardian who will put her financial affairs in order. Do not fight that, and you will have reached your goal: someone will take care of your tenant and her affairs. The sooner you get a hearing, the sooner she will be attended to. At first, you may appear to be a bloodthirsty landlord, but I am sure that if you keep your focus and make clear that your concern for this woman is your primary goal, your true intention will come through and the family may thank you for your actions.

You may wish to consider this solution even if you hate how it will make you look. Good luck.

 

 

 

SUSPICIONS OF EXTORTION IN WORK ON AN APARTMENT BUILDING

QUESTION
I sit on the board of my condominium association (syndicat de copropriété) in Paris and we are having serious, off-the-scale problems concerning the cleaning and maintenance (ravalement) of the street facade of the building.
The syndic, its architect, and the contractor appear to be in collusion in an attempt to extort money from the condominium while imposing a series of delays in an atmosphere of hostility. We are all sure of it even though we have no proof. What kind of proof would I need to show they are committing a felony and report them to the police?

ANSWER
White-collar crime is often very difficult to prove, and therefore too often is not punished, even in the rare cases where it is known to be taking place. There are two major reasons.

First, by the time people start catching on, it is too late and either the work is done or the bills are paid. Unlike a crime involving physical assault or theft of property, where what happened is visible right away and triggers a criminal investigation, this kind of felony never creates a crime scene. So many renovation programs tend to last longer and go over budget for legitimate reasons that the explanations you are given sound reasonable for a long time.

Second, the parties hide the few documents that would show any illegal aspects of the work and you have absolutely no right to them. This raises a bigger issue: the consequences of illegal appropriation of evidence if you do find something to present to a judge. Nothing acquired illegally can be produced in court even if it proves your claims exactly. Therefore you must assume that it is nearly impossible for the board acting by itself to obtain the documents needed to press charges.

So, I would like to remind you of the old saying "Pick your fight" and add a new twist to it. Carefully analyze the situation to look for any visible things that can form the basis for prosecution. Do focus only on the suspected extortion, but look at everything being done. Even if you do not find sufficient proof to press charges for extortion, this examination will give you an excellent knowledge of the file and all the details of the situation. Only when you are thoroughly acquainted with everything going on and are looking for wrongdoing other than extortion will you be able to see what is legitimate and what is not – what is concrete and what is just a smoke screen. You must systematically look into everything to find reason to start an investigation. Nothing is too small. Remember, Al Capone was finally charged and sentenced not on evidence related to his heinous crimes, but for income tax evasion.

Another reason to completely change the way you approach the situation is that if you focus on matters other than the suspected scam, you will be less inclined to run right away to the police with very little evidence. It is tempting to involve the police right away in a desire for revenge, on the grounds that the board's mission is to defend the owners' interests. I often disagree with my clients regarding this reflex to involve the police as soon as possible, which is common in the USA and even more so in France. Finding a bad compromise where both parties reach agreement about a few of the most important issues is often the best thing to do. Although it often feels unsatisfactory because it means cutting your losses and you may remain angry because of all the money lost, this solution has several good features, notably that a solution is found quickly, the loss is limited and easily defined, and the compromise probably serves your interests better than a court decision would even if you were to win the case.

What I call the "white knight syndrome" often ends up costing a lot more money for a lesser reward, and on top of that you may not even get the satisfaction of seeing good prevail, because the court rules according to what is presented to the judge, which may not be based on what is right or fair.

Therefore, rushing to the police station is rarely the right thing to do. Often playing hardball with the help of a tough lawyer is the best solution because there is some serious leverage that can be used in your favor. Remember that your most important goal is to either be done with the work with a reasonable result for a reasonable price, or have the work stopped as quickly as possible with a minimal loss so you can get the job done by a competent company.

The piece of the puzzle that is too often overlooked by the victims is that even when criminal deeds are obvious, regulations govern the issuing of a search warrant and what you submit to the police is often insufficient to get the authorization needed for a full criminal investigation. Too often the bottom line is that in France, as in the USA, while the evidence may be just inside the front door, the police do not have the right to just ring the bell and start searching. In the few cases where a criminal procedure is truly warranted, retain a good lawyer when you have enough evidence, and let the professional deal with the case.

Once the police are able to act upon the information your lawyer provides, they often get the proof of wrongdoing once they are allowed in. The goal is to have enough evidence to get a warrant. Therefore it is much better to analyze the situation in such a way that you can give the police solid evidence of other infractions even if they appear minor.