The distress is palpable when they return to the unfinished construction site. A couple from Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais region, invested their life savings and took out a bank loan totaling 300,000 euros to purchase two rental apartments. Four years later, neither property has materialized. “We don’t know what to do anymore. We are bothered at every level and we have no answers to our questions. Our lives are suspended and put on hold. We feel like we have a sword hanging over our heads,” confided.
The apartments were bought from a real estate developer: Fiducim, which was placed in judicial liquidation in July 2026. The group has appealed this decision. Through its promotional videos, the company promised luxurious, turnkey properties. Yet, more than a hundred customers have never received these apartments. In 2023, management was nevertheless reassuring about the delays.
Broken Promises and “Abnormal Financial Flows”
During a site meeting, a client recorded an exchange where the executives stated: “My associate and I have decided to own up to our mess. We will do our utmost to deliver to you in March 2025. Everything we are telling you is concrete, it’s facts.” However, while around twenty projects were completed in various French cities, nearly 22 construction sites are currently at a standstill, both in mainland France and overseas.
Contacted for comment, Julien Ridon, one of the co-managers, justified the situation by citing an unprecedented crisis in the property development sector, marked by a sharp rise in construction costs and a scarcity of financing. However, the company’s strategy is now under intense scrutiny. Christophe Barthélemy, a lawyer representing Fiducim buyers, highlighted serious concerns. “There are numerous court decisions already rendered against Fiducim in favor of unpaid subcontractors and suppliers. Certain decisions report abnormal financial flows. That is all I can say at this stage,” the counsel stated.
A Former Employee Speaks Out
the company lose its footing in a tense real estate climate? A former employee claims she was never informed of the group’s financial difficulties and was even encouraged to prospect for new clients. “I am a victim of a whole mechanism of people who needed salespeople. I didn’t see anything. And for them, it effectively allowed them to do their financial somersault,” she asserted by phone. Many clients have since filed complaints against the group, as their lives remain in limbo, burdened with loans for homes that exist only on paper.
