idiosyncrasies of French law? “Does five hundred thousand dollars mean so little to you?” “Does my office mean so little to you? Do you want me to sacrifice my office for the sake of this building?” Suzanne said nothing but her facial expression made it clear she felt that if she were the one running the show, everything would be different. In the end, however, even Suzanne gave up in despair. In France, as anywhere else, no intelligent buyer would purchase a building without valid deed documentation. But unlike in many other countries, the French government refuses to grant documentation for a building that differs even slightly from the original plans. Even minor internal changes invalidate the building for authorization. In this case, the building, which she had received as an inheritance from her dearly departed parents, of blessed memory, had undergone various changes. The building had four stories, each of which had two apartments in which various tenants had lived over a period of many years. Each tenant had made changes in accordance with their needs. Now, returning the building to its original state was proving to be very complicated. At first, Ernst had thought that cosmetic changes would be sufficient. He quickly arranged for page 4 story supplement PURIM 5770
these changes to be made and requested the necessary documentation from the recorder of deeds. But the documentation was not provided, although a sharp reprimand was. Ernst hired a contractor to rip down walls and build new ones in accordance with the original plans, but it hadn’t occurred to him that the electrical system would have to work in accordance with the changes. His request was denied for the second time. This time, he hired a professional whose field of expertise was preparing buildings so that they would be eligible for government approval. He did everything exactly according to instructions but he soon learned that he still had a long way to go. Approval for electricity, approval for gas, approval for the heating system and approval for appraisal. Approval for the engineering, approval from the municipality regarding the payment of old debts… every day there were new demands. “I can’t handle it anymore,” Ernst said to his wife. “Would you like to try?” Suzanne agreed to try. She couldn’t stand the foot-dragging any longer. Every day Ernst told her that he was about to obtain all the necessary documentation and then they’d be able to sell the building for an excellent price. She was afraid that the building would earn a reputation as “problematic” and then no one would want it. Bracing herself for a long haul, Suzanne accepted responsibility for the project. She cleared her busy schedule and began running around from one office to another. She spoke to city clerks, government clerks, real estate advisors and even a private attorney whose signature she hoped would speed things up. Wherever she went, everyone promised to help. Wherever she went, she had to sign documents for which no one seemed to understand the purpose. She dealt with vociferous arguments and carefully collected document after document. After a while, she began to fear she would go mad. “I made lots of progress,” she old Ernst one evening,