The "slum landlord" of Grigny 2 in Essonne receives a minimum sentence and is exempt from punishment

After nearly ten years of proceedings, Dominique F., described as a major "slum landlord" in the run-down Grigny 2 condominium (Essonne), was sentenced on Wednesday, September 17, for refusing to rehouse but was exempted from punishment by the Paris Court of Appeal.

Following the first appeal hearing in October 2023, the former engineer was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence and a €100.000 fine for forcing families to cohabit in unsanitary conditions in Europe's second-largest condominium complex, located in the priority district of Grigny - one of the poorest municipalities in the Paris region.

Some rented premises had neither water supply nor wastewater drainage. Initial complaints were filed in July 2016.

The owner of 40 apartments in the complex, four of which were at the heart of the legal proceedings, had appealed to the Court of Cassation.

The Court of Cassation ruled in May that the Court of Appeal had wrongly ruled that "the hybrid shared accommodation imagined by the defendant, with divisions and subdivisions, fell outside the provisions of the law relating to shared accommodation." This was confirmed by the Paris Court of Appeal on Wednesday.

"I'm glad the law was respected," reacted the 65-year-old multi-owner, wearing a cycling jersey, as he left the hearing.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the case brought by the municipality of Grigny, which had filed a civil suit and was awarded 10.000 euros in compensation for material damages.

The damages paid to the other civil parties, tenants of Dominique F., were definitively confirmed during the cassation.

One of them, Foulematou Diaoune, had rented the living room of a "large apartment" to Dominique F. in 2012, for 630 euros per month.

"When I arrived, there were holes in the floor, in the wall, everything was dirty," with "bedbugs, cockroaches" and "electrical wires" hanging in the bathroom, the mother told AFP.

"The dilution of the facts in the judicial marathon has reached its peak today," Philippe Rio, PCF mayor of the town, criticized on Wednesday, for whom "we no longer talk today (about) victims" like Ms. Diaoune.

"The (political) battle continues" nevertheless for the mayor who sees a "legal victory but not a moral victory" for Dominique F.

Between 2012 and 2024, according to the town hall, 36 convictions were handed down against "unscrupulous landlords" in Grigny 2.