This is one of the latest consequences of a case which shook the life annuity world more than 15 years ago. At that time, an unsavory American company called Life Invest Fund 3, whose headquarters was located in Fréjus, had increased its life annuity acquisitions in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region. Problem: neither the contracts nor the marketing methods corresponded to current standards of what is practiced in terms of life annuity and the American company did not have serious guarantees. However, if a life annuity sale gives rise to the payment of an agreed capital (the bouquet) it is also most of the time accompanied by a monthly annuity paid throughout the life of the seller.
In this story, MMe Leteis had sold his apartment La Ciotat in 2009 to this American company. However, it quickly stopped paying the famous pensions and, above all, it found itself in liquidation in 2012, as France Bleu Provence reminds us. Following a decision by the Fréjus commercial court, justice would have authorized the sale of the apartment for 40,000 euros when it was worth more than 300,000, according to the victim’s son Adrien Leteis. But it is true that nothing was specified as to the amount of capital which had been paid initially
Abuse of weakness
With his illegal occupation of his mother’s apartment, Adrien Leteis intends to draw attention to what he considers to be a “a scam, an abuse of weakness in an organized gang”knowing that he was never able to make his voice heard. A good connoisseur of the life annuity market notes, however, that this case, which is undoubtedly dramatic and which has caused other victims, remains quite specific. Indeed, most well-crafted life annuity sales contracts contain a termination clause. Just as a rental lease is automatically terminated in the event of non-payment of the rent, non-payment of the annuity cancels the life annuity sale, if this clause appears in the contract. No doubt some victims of the company Life Invest Fund 3 were able to recover their property in time and then resell it to a serious person.
The second difficulty specific to this case is due to the judicial liquidation of the company that purchased the property. In this specific case, the sellers of the property are no longer compensated as a priority (they are not “first rank creditors”), they arrive after the State or the employees. When in doubt, you should always ensure that the buyer has solid guarantees that will compensate the seller in the event of difficulties. This is also a precaution that must generally be taken by notaries to secure this type of transaction. Let us remember that although there are still here and there cases of life annuity scams relying on unscrupulous professionals, they can be counted on the fingers of one hand each year. Most companies specializing in the subject currently offer contracts protecting both the buyer and the seller.