I've already elaborated a lot about the various courtcases Christine and I are involved in for the moment. It's a bit cynical because all we wanted when we moved to Italy was to lead a quiet and more secluded life and we didn't want any trouble with anyone. Alas, fate decided otherwise. Sometimes circumstances can force you to accept something you had preferred otherwise. In our case, the attempted rip-off by our ex-geometer and contractor. Last Thursday our sollicitor had organised a meeting at our house to bring all the parties round the table. It was something I didn't look forward to at all. There used to be a time when I could face a possible conflict situation with my head up high, as my former colleagues might remember. It was a very good front because in reality I can only run away from conflicts. These days the front is gone and running away is all that's left for me. Fortunately there are still Christine, our brilliant sollicitor and the expert she hired to assess the works carried out to our house and the damages that appeared afterwards. So I held myself together and watched the scene from the background. And it was a very nice scene indeed.
First our solicitor arrived together with Alberto, the expert, and we went through a couple of the details that were to be discussed. They agreed that for the works carried out so far we had already paid more than enough and that this would be the position they'd take against the others. Christine greeted them first while I was still creating some sort of order in the house. When I came out a couple of minutes later, Christine suddenly held a paper in front of my nose and asked: "is this my signature?" It obviously wasn't. It was like if a five-year old had written it... on the "Safety report for the building site". This is a document that should have been produced long before any of the works started and which we had never seen in our lives! "And this", Christine asked, "is this perhaps my signature?" No, again it obviously wasn't. "And this?" Again clearly not, although the last one was forged a lot better than the two previous ones. So apart from the building permit, Danilo had suddenly forged another three vital documents which he had "forgotten" to produce. Obviously responding to the request of our expert who hadn't found these vital documents in the files of the commune's administration. It was a very nice start of the event and things would only get better. Soon afterwards they arrived. Nasty Little Man Nezio leapt out of his truck and barged towards our terrace with his big belly high up in the air. His fat head resembled to a red balloon that was about to explode. He was after his money and his gestures didn't leave any room for doubt about that. Then we saw a rather unexpected little car drive up our entrance lane: a flashing yellow Fiat Panda. Not the sort of car you'd associate with a solicitor of the Danilo-clan, to let alone Big Bad Wolf Danilo in person. Then again, you may recall that in November 2009, when the works to our house had only just started, Danilo drove his brand new VW Golf off a cliff and was lucky to escape alive. Afterwards we heard about his drinking problem and when I saw him crawling out of the vehicle it was obvious that the serious overconsumption of alcohol had taken its toll. He was no longer the stylish and extravagant man we had got to know in the beginning and who had been able to completely fool us in this adventure. He had become an old man, his hair still long but thinning and very untidy. His overall looks were shabby and the wrinkles on his pale face had become deep, black grooves. The evil sparkle in his eyes had remained though and made us aware that he'd not be easy to deal with. This man was highly experienced in this sort of thing - he's probably been ripping people off since childhood - and he feels very secure because of the power he and his family enjoy in the area. Our two ex-solicitors, among which a very famous and respected one, had already wetted their pants, as a matter of speaking, when they heard about who we were up against. Danilo strolled calmly towards Nezio and us, sat down on one of the rocks bordering our terrace and grinned. He didn't say a word, but just sat there. Out of the same car stepped the family solicitor - Danilo's nephew. He was exactly the sort of solicitor you'd expect to defend a family of mobsters: slick, black suit and tie, unshaven, enormous black sunglasses (which he never cared to take off, even though there were more and more clouds in the sky) and a toothpaste smile. He presented himself and firmly shook our hands. The game was on...
Sabrina, our solicitor, was not impressed at all and decided to take the bull by the horns. She made a brief account of the problems and proposed that we'd rather come to an agreement because going to court wouldn't be good for anyone. She stressed that the works that Nezio started were still far from finished and the we had already paid him x Euros so far... "Period!"
- "Period? Whad do you mean... Period???", Nezio immediately intervened. Steam was blowing out of his ears and nose.
- "Yes, you heard. Period", Sabrina repeated. "Let's take the entrance lane, for example. You charged my clients a whopping €5.000 for turning it into a decent road. Look at it. Do you think that it looks decent?", she asked, pointing at something that rather looked like a tractor trail through a field.
- "It was decent when I left!", he shouted, "It's because of all the trucks and machines that came afterwards that the road is now in such a bad way!"
- "So, do you say that your concrete and materials arrived by aeroplane?", Christine wittingly asked. Nezio grunted furiously.
- "It is obvious that this road was not built properly", Sabrina went on, "and if necessary we'll have a court expert examine it. Would you agree to that?"
Nezio didn't say a word.
- "Right then, let's talk about the water problem", Sabrina said. Nezio shouted that he had carried out the drainage works correctly and that it was the fault of everyone who had continued after him that the drainage didn't work properly anymore.
- "They've damaged my tube!", he shouted.
- "Even if that's true, are you saying that they also raised the level at which you've laid the tube by half a metre?", Alberto intervened, "We've made a hole behind the house and found that tube of yours... only a foot deep, without protecting cloth, decent foundation or a sufficient layer of pebbles on top."
Nezio was about to burst. His head turned all purple. In rage he steamed to the back of our house, followed by Alberto. We couldn't hear anymore what they were saying but Nezio was shouting in the sort of frenzy of a madman. In the mean time Danilo and his sollicitor were standing a bit apart and were whispering to eachother. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but I did hear one sentence the solicitor said about Sabrina:
- "She's right, you know."
When everyone had calmed down again, Sabrina made her final offer to Nezio.
- "Or you agree that my clients have paid enough and we leave it at that, or we go to court. But be advised that if we go to court, an expert appointed by the court will investigate the works carried out with a miroscope. Every inch of concrete, every stone you laid... and will compare this to the figures in your calculation. You do understand this, don't you?"
- "Your clients agreed to the price proposed by my client", the other solicitor said.
- "You know very well that this was only an estimate", Sabrina replied, "and that these prices should always agree with those laid out by the Chamber of Commerce. It is the duty of the Director of Works (meaning: Danilo) to verify that these prices are in agreement with the legally established ones and to defend his clients against the contractor if they're not!"
Danilo didn't move an inch.
"So, Nezio, do you still want to go to court?", she repeated her question.
Nezio hesitated a second. His whole body trembled and he stared at the ground.
"Yes", he stuttered, "let's go to court then."
"Allright. It's your call. And remember that we'll then also have to send a convocation to the Director of Works because he didn't properly supervise the works, as is his task, and that he is also responsible for the damages."
Danilo was still sitting on that rock, behind Sabrina's back. He looked at her with his evil eyes and smiled in a very vile way when she said this. As if he accepted the invitation. "You go ahead... Let's see if you dare..."
Sabrina on the other hand only just got started. She then mentioned other damages, like not being able to open our B&B.
- "Thanks to you, my clients already suffered a year's delay for the opening of their B&B (the contract stipulated that Nezio had to be already finished by December 2009!). If you pursue this courtcase there will be a lot more delay involved and of course we'll ask the reimbursement of these damages!"
I hadn't thought of that, but a quick calculation told me that we'd be talking about tens of thousands of Euros in damages!
The meeting ended in a stalemate. Nezio would go to court and Danilo would hold on to his courtcase (which is due to have a first session next month). Although we're dead certain that their solicitor is getting more and more reluctant to take this road. Alberto showed him the damages to our house and they're pretty impressive indeed. At places the plastering is coming off and algae are beginning to show. Also parts of the floor in the corridor is covered in patches of chalk. Didn't Nezio say that water didn't get through the floor or something? And didn't we already mention the detrimental effect of water in the floor to the efficiency of our floor heating? The solicitor didn't say a lot anymore indeed. But we realise all too well that Nezio and Danilo are way too stubborn to give up their claims. Nezio because he's too stupid and Danilo because he's too confident. About this self-confidence, just to show you; when they left, Danilo had the bloody nerve to shake our solicitor's hand and to tell her "You've said that very well".
How about that???
So, there we are. In fact, we're almost hoping that they'd go to court because we are now confident that we're having a very strong case. Much stronger than we had ever imagined. We've found an excellent solicitor who'll do everything in her power to defend us. And a very good expert who easily overthrew all of Nezio's claims about a job well done.
To be continued...
