THE FLAG - FREEDOM OF SPEECH

 

 

Reading the Associated Press news release pasted hereafter made me think of the heated debate regarding the desecration of the American flag, which started with the demonstrations against the Vietnam War in the late'60s.

In the 1989 case Texas v. Johnson, the Supreme Court ruled on whether a dissenter who burned an American flag in protest of Reagan administration policies during the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas was exercising his Constitutional right to free speech or whether he was desecrating a venerable object, in this case, the American flag. The dissenter was exonerated on the basis of the First Amendment.

What fascinates me is that both sides claimed that they were honoring their country of citizenship and its constitution. Bands like Jefferson Airplane, Steppenwolf, Crosby-Stills-Nash & Young, and of course the singers, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, as well as Bruce Springsteen and Tracy Chapman, all send very liberal messages, but without an exception they make numerous references to what the country the United States of America stands for, and how essential their American nationalities are for them.

On the other side, the conservative views are expressed just as freely, and the respect of the flag went totally bipartisan when it looked like almost all of the vehicles displayed an American flag. It seemed as if the entire country was united as one body in supporting their armed forces.

I find extremely interesting that in France it is almost a taboo to express plain nationalistic views. Liberal French singers clearly despise France and what it stands for, and this has been the case for at least 50 years. Some of the singers are Georges Brassens (1921-1981), and Léo Ferré (1916-1993). I believe that the song that expresses this message the best is Hexagone, published in 1975 by the singer Renaud at the very beginning of his career.

 

 

WORK DONE ON THE WEBSITE
The website www.jeantaquet.com does not offer access to past columns anymore, and we hope that this will be temporary. However, the website still enables people to subscribe (or unsubscribe) to receive either the generic or ACP church versions. Of course, I have access to the entire database and therefore I can send them upon demand.

 

 

APOLOGY FOR LATENESS OF OCTOBER 2010 ISSUE
As you might have understood from the previous issue, having the moving truck arrive at 8AM to pick up boxes and furniture did not help me in sending the column on time! To be honest, I cannot remember the last time I was late sending out the column. It was first published in March 1994, and I have a vague recollection that only once in the past I was not ready on the designated day. So I apologize for the lateness.

 

 

FRENCH NATIONALITY - L'ALLÉGEANCE TO THE FLAG
I have always found it sad that the French are not really allowed to express their patriotic feelings in simple ways. For decades or longer, except at the end of WWII, only the far right - which for me includes the Vichy government while France was occupied by the Nazis - has put a real emphasis on being patriotic. It is virtually impossible to be liberal and patriotic in France, as Jean-Pierre Chevènement learned the hard way in 1998. Only very recently have some prominent members of the Socialist Party tried to use similar language, and it still draws media attention.

This situation has reached such a point that it does not make sense! In the USA eyebrows are seldom raised when I tell people I am a graduate of the Saint Cyr military academy (France's equivalent to West Point) and an Army reserve officer, and that I am proud to be French. This was true even when the "Freedom Fries" French-bashing was underway; a few Americans objected to my being French and challenged me on the political issues of the time, but never on my allegiance to my country, which seemed to be expected from someone with my military background. In France, I cannot talk about my military experience without people immediately assuming that I adhere to the far right and am more extreme in my views than the Front National is. So I simply never mention this part of my background to French people unless I know them well and we are sharing personal experiences.

In many ways, I share the feelings of many children born French to foreign parents - that living and growing up in France is the result of a definite choice and not just fate. Indeed, until very recently most second-generation immigrants could be very patriotic without any political implications. This is just a simple and honest way of saying "Thank you." At this point, I feel the need to remind my readers that being patriotic when one is French should mean taking "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" to heart and believing that we should all live by what it stands for. Last but not least, this by no means goes against my foreign blood; I also respect my foreign roots, and the two parents and four grandparents who gave them to me.

In this connection, I'd like to share with you the following article by a writer for The Associated Press.

REMORSEFUL US VET RETURNS FRENCH WAR FLAG TO PARIS
By ANGELA DOLAND (AP)
PARIS - On the day Paris was liberated from the Nazis in 1944, a young American soldier nabbed a souvenir of epic proportions: He took home the French flag that hung from the Arc de Triomphe, a symbol of the end of four years of struggle and shame.

Six and a half decades later, the aging veteran has given the flag back to the city of Paris.

Officials from Paris City Hall took possession of the 12-meter (13-yard) tricolor flag Saturday [September 18] in a ceremony in southern France, a step in its unusual journey from New York state back home to Paris. The American veteran remains anonymous, too ashamed to come forward.

French officials have no intention of scolding him: They have only thanks and kind words for him, pointing out that he once risked his life for France.

"I'm infinitely grateful," Catherine Vieu-Charier, deputy to the mayor of Paris, told The Associated Press. French historian Christine Levisse-Touze insisted his act couldn't be considered a theft.

"If an American GI wanted to take home a souvenir, I'd say there was nothing reprehensible about that, it's an act you can easily understand," said Levisse-Touze, director of a Paris museum with exhibits on the city's liberation.

Levisse-Touze is studying the flag to verify its authenticity, but she said it appears to be the real thing, based on comparisons with archive footage and based on the straps used to tie it to the monument. The cotton flag is still in excellent condition and has been carefully preserved.

Paris firefighters in the Resistance hung the flag on the Arc de Triomphe on Aug. 25, 1944. After Gen. Philippe Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division, backed by the Americans, rolled into Paris, the occupiers surrendered, ignoring Hitler's order to demolish much of the city.

The flag quickly disappeared, and its absence was barely noticed during the tumult. Levisse-Touze believes a different, larger French flag was hanging under the Arc de Triomphe the next day, when Gen. Charles de Gaulle led a victory parade down the Champs-Elysees.

The flag didn't resurface until 2008, when Armand Lourdin, a French chef who has lived in the United States for three decades, was cooking for a group of U.S. veterans he had gotten to know in his job at a private club in Chappaqua, New York. After dinner, the veterans sent for him.

"Everybody was standing up, they had opened up the flag and they were all singing the Marseillaise in French - they had learned the words," Lourdin told the AP by telephone from his home in New York. One of the men told him that he had taken the flag as Paris was liberated, and asked Lourdin to carry it to France on his upcoming vacation.

Lourdin turned it over to the town where his relatives live, Chandolas, in southeastern France, sparking the long process of checking its authenticity. In Saturday's ceremony, French firefighters hung the flag from the town hall.

Afterward, local mayor Alain Mahey entrusted the flag to Paris officials. There is no official protocol for folding a French flag, Mahey said, but this one was sent back to Paris folded into a small triangle, American-style.

 

 

RENTING AN APARTMENT THROUGH A COMPANY
There is a misunderstanding that happens quite often when a foreigner lives in a home rented by a company, almost always the person's employer. To the family, they have a home and they live in it. They learn sooner rather than later that French law provides extensive protection for people's domiciles and therefore they feel that their rights are protected.

The legal reality is completely different. In such cases, the landlords do not know the people occupying the apartment, legally speaking. The only people they know are the tenants - which in this case is the company's representatives. The most important thing to remember is that the lease in such cases is not the normal contrat de bail à murs nus, the "bare wall" lease that lasts three years and provides considerable protection for the tenants because the apartment is their primary residence. Rather, especially if the landlord is a company (often a bank or an insurance company), the lease is a commercial contract between two corporations.

If circumstances arise in which the family wishes to become the real tenant of the apartment, holding the lease, a deadlock situation can quickly happen that is nearly impossible to resolve. The family states, "You know us and you can trust us; we have been your tenants for X number of years and we have paid the rent all these years!" The landlord states, "I do not know you, you have never been my tenant, and as a new tenant moving in, you must accept these conditions I impose and guaranties I demand."

The issue is almost always the bank guaranty that the landlord demands, which can be equal to two years' worth of rent. This large sum of money is often invested in a French bank, typically at a very poor rate of return, and the bank charges a fee to issue the guaranty.

A very recent case I saw involved a client who wanted to avoid having to block this kind of money and asked if a French acquaintance could be the guarantor instead of the bank. To make a long story short, instead of the French person signing as a guarantor, his limited liability French corporation ended up becoming the tenant, signing a commercial contract that had no protection for the individual staying in the apartment. My client, enjoying her new place and totally oblivious to what had been done with the contract, purchased all the elements for a cozy kitchen and made other improvements. Less than two months into the contract, the landlord informed my client that six months later the premises had to be vacated. Then my client learned, to her disbelief, that she had no rights to the apartment. What was discovered then was that the management company had drafted the lease with only the French corporation as renter. My client and the French acquaintance both signed the contract without reading it, simply checking that all the names were there, but without verifying the provisions of the contract!

The most basic common sense indicates that no one should ever sign a contract without reading it and understanding what the provisions are.

In the relationship of essential distrust between landlord and tenant, everything must be checked and documented. Curve balls are thrown all the time. It takes several years to expel a non-paying tenant, so, rather than blaming the world and the French system that allows such crazy situations, understand the risk that a landlord or property manager takes in choosing a tenant. The latest legislation initiated by President Sarkozy was supposed to eradicate such deadlock situations by making it easier to expel tenants. The truth is that I have not seen any improvement in the relationship between tenants and landlords.

 

 

OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE FOR RENT
My former office space is approximately 35m2 and is now available. The monthly rent is 1,110.00€ TTC, payable quarterly. It has two rooms of about the same size and a small hallway. It is located in the courtyard and it is very quiet. The address is 52 rue Notre Dame de Lorette, 75009 PARIS.

 

 

OFFICE CLOSED FOR CHRISTMAS
I will celebrate Christmas in the U.S. and therefore the office will close on Friday, December 17th and reopen on Monday, January 3rd. 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.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Q & A

TENANTS' RIGHTS REGARDING IMPROVEMENTS TO AN APARTMENT

QUESTION
We are an American couple and when we moved to our first apartment in Paris, we paid the previous tenant a total of 100,000FF (about 15,250€) for the complete set of cabinets in the kitchen, one mirror and the toilet paper holders. When we decided to move out, we found out that the tenant did not own any of those things. They were the owner's property.

The property manager handling the apartment we rent told us this as well as many other disturbing things that were more or less true or acceptable, such as that my spouse could not have a key to our apartment since only my name was on the lease. We stayed there ten years, and had 32 leaks declared to our insurance company and countless electrical problems.

Now the property manager has just told us that we will lose our entire security deposit due to the condition of the apartment since not all the needed repairs have been done and we are now considered to be responsible for fixing this situation. I have never heard about a tenant being responsible for having the apartment repaired and painted after water damage. Can we sue this property manager for extorting so much money out of us?

ANSWER
The worst case in your situation is that you could indeed lose your deposit and have no recourse against the landlord or its management company since they have acted within the law. This alone shows how different the laws are in France compared to most other countries. Fully understanding these laws and the logic governing them is one of the most important things a foreigner must do. You are now forced to play by their rules, not by yours.

The first part of your question is quite easy to answer and the outcome quite simple. I believe that the manager's answer is inaccurate, legally speaking. These furnishings belong to you. The logic behind the division of responsibility in French law is quite simple, but often its application is quite complex. The landlord has control over, and thus responsibility for, everything that is real property. The tenant has authority and responsibility for anything that is cosmetic, that involves normal maintenance or is considered to be furniture. Stated that way it seems simple and logical. Regarding the improvements and equipment you thought you purchased from the previous tenant, to know if you had the right to buy them or not, the test is quite simple: if you can dismantle them with a screwdriver and remove them, just leaving screw holes, then they are yours and not the landlord's. If they are structurally part of the walls, ceiling or floor, then they belong to the landlord.

In the vast majority of the situations, a professional designs a very closely fitted set of cabinets and appliances for the kitchen, since Parisian kitchens often range from minuscule to nonexistent. This professional's client, often the tenant, pays a large sum of money to buy the design and all that goes into the kitchen. Yes, each cabinet can be taken out and is yours, but there is no point in taking the stuff since the chance of finding the exact same kitchen in another apartment is zero. So the tenant ends up leaving the equipped kitchen, hoping to get a token sum for it. Sometime they can get a fair price for it when a foreigner, not knowing the way the game is played, buys it in total innocence. Indeed, for this reason, many tenants are unwilling to put much money into renovating kitchens.

Aside from any legal consideration, even the best quality cabinets, if more than ten years old, are not worth much, and their fair market value could be close to zero. It does help to think that way: at least you do not have the impression of losing a lot of money.

Your second topic is a lot more complicated to explain, and even more difficult for foreigners to accept. The fact of the matter is that the tenant is liable for everything that happens with the apartment, since it is assumed the tenant did something to create any problem situation.

To follow this logic strictly, all the water damage and other visible problems are your responsibility and you should be prepared to pay for it - either that or let the landlord have the insurance money when each claim is settled. I want to make sure it is clear that in France every tenant is legally obligated to purchase homeowner's insurance (multirisques habitation). The nature of the household insurance policy is totally regulated by law. It must cover fire, flooding, water damage and leaks, burglary, and destruction by a third party, among many other things. Water damage in Paris is so common that it is a true nuisance, at best, to deal with, and it can create nightmarish situations (I have written several Q/As about this kind of thing).

Common sense may tell you that since the water came from elsewhere - such as another apartment, or from old and damaged pipes that the landlord should have repaired - you are not responsible for this situation. This can be 100% true, and still under French what it is boils down to is that, when the landlord does the final visit, between you and him, you are responsible for fixing visible damage, and he is not.

It reached a point that all French insurance companies signed an agreement called CIDRE (Convention d'Indemnisation Directe et de Renonciation à recours en dégâts des Eaux). In short, it states that any water damage to furniture and to "embellishments" such as paint will be paid by the victim's insurance regardless of the origin as long as the repairs cost less than 1,600€ (not counting VAT). The bottom line is that when damage becomes evident, you file a claim with YOUR insurance company, since chances are it could be paying the compensation.

So, YES, you should have declared every single incident of water damage, as your question says you did. When the last walk-through is done, you must give all documents related to them to the landlord so that he or she can "take over" the procedure of getting reimbursed for the necessary repairs. Otherwise you have to pay for the repairs necessitated by the water damage.

 

 

 

THE RIGHT OF INVESTIGATION OF THE PRÉFECTURE

QUESTION
I am an American and just went for the fourth renewal of my carte de séjour. My original meeting at the préfecture was in May. Though I brought everything they had asked for, they asked for other things (you know, the usual story), including my bank statements for the last six months. When I got the convocation for the follow-up meeting, the bank statements were not mentioned. I chose to comply with the convocation list of what I was to bring, rather than what the woman I originally met with had required. Two weeks ago I returned without the bank statements. The new woman I saw was furious. I explained my thinking (convocation trumps the word of the employee I had met with). She said she would have to speak with her manager. A good 45 minutes later (coffee break? cigarette break? Facebook time?) she returned, saying I could have the carte de séjour this time. "But I warn you," she almost yelled, wagging her finger at me, "next time you won't get your papers if you don't have six months of bank statements."

This seems like an enormous and unnecessary invasion of my privacy. I pay my taxes, as they saw from the papers I submitted - the French tax office has never seen reason to question my tax forms. Is their demand legal? If not, and I mention that to them, can they find some reason to refuse me my carte de séjour? I have nothing to hide, but I don't like the préfecture knowing where I spend my money. If they just want a list of money coming into my account, I can understand that. But how I spend my money is none of their business.

Probably like you, I have found each year that the personnel at the préfecture are becoming increasingly unpleasant, making unfair demands, and generally making it more difficult to get your papers. I'm sure the directive for this comes from higher up. Thanks for whatever light you can shed on this. I imagine I'm not the only person who has come up against this.

ANSWER
I understand your ire about the way you have been treated, but I must bring to your attention that two critical issues here have been totally missed. The first is that in France a list of documents is never binding; rather, it is always an indication of the information required, and you need to interpret this list in light of your situation and find out what documents are needed for you to comply with the legal requirements. So, a plain list coming in the mail, without any personal comment, must be interpreted. When you do get a personal comment from a civil servant indicating what the list means in your specific case, you must realize that this is a valuable piece of information and make sure you comply with it. In other words, if the civil servant gives you instructions to come back with a specific document or set of documents, this ALWAYS supersedes any generic instructions received. Understanding the need to interpret a French list is essential to make this process bearable, if not pleasant. If you go to the préfecture with your current attitude next year, YES you could run the risk of being denied your renewal. They may well see your attitude as contempt for a civil servant in a position of authority, as you are in effect disregarding their demands and therefore contravening their decisions.

This leads us to the second issue: préfecture is short for préfecture de police de Paris - i.e., it is the city police headquarters. Behind those civil servants you meet are police officers whose duties include enforcement of immigration law. I can assure you that it is far preferable to deal with a civil servant yelling at you and wagging her finger than with a police officer if you are taken into custody and spend several hours in a cell for insulting a police civil servant. I am sure you have watched cop shows and can picture what custody means. I cannot stress enough that the civil servants should be dealt with as if they were police officers.

Now, as for your question concerning whether their demand is legal, look at the list and other documents given to you and you will see the following: "l'administration se réserve le droit de demander des pièces complémentaires si nécessaires." My translation would be: "the civil servants have the right to ask for more documents if needed." It is only recently that this warning has been put into writing; the authorities want to make it clear that they definitely have the right to ask for more documents than those on the list. It is true that the request for bank statements represents an invasion of your privacy. The fact that they asked you to bring half a year's worth of statements leads me to believe that you are holding a carte de séjour mention visiteur that does not grant any right to work. You are therefore under oath that you will not seek work in France. This alone gives them an excellent reason to check ALL the statements of ALL your bank accounts (American ones included) so that you can prove to them that you are not working in France. Otherwise you would be committing a felony and their uniformed colleagues might handle you, although the chances of this happening to a North American are extremely small.

I really do not find that civil servants have become more unpleasant, but the regulations they are administering have become much stricter and therefore they have a lot more opportunities to say NO.

Think for a minute what would be the reaction of an American civil servant working in an immigration office, or of a police officer, if you did not comply with their request. My experience is that you would NOT have had a very annoying finger wagging; instead, you would have worn a pair of handcuffs for several hours.

To sum up your situation, you misunderstood the situation and what was expected of you, on several counts. You were at fault, not the préfecture. If you continue to dispute the authority of civil servants working at the préfecture, I believe that perhaps you have not adapted to the French way of life and should reconsider your stay in France.

The few times that North Americans have a black mark on their file, making it difficult to get favorable treatment thereafter, come from this kind of incident. So you are hurting yourself a lot, and for the long term, by behaving this way. It is never advisable to be confrontational with civil servants.

A Survival Kit for Paris 7 rue Ganneron 75018 PARIS - Copyright Jean Taquet. All rights reserved.
Phone: (33)(0)1 40 38 16 11 | Cell: (33) (0)6 16 81 48 07
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