Forty Thousand

A homeowner in Kirchberg bought his apartment in a 1970s building in March 2025 and set aside €80,000 to renovate it. Months later he was locked out of a gutted flat, down half his budget, with a mortgage he could not escape and a contractor who had vanished. "The problem is I'm blocked. I don't have €100,000. I have a huge mortgage. The bank will not give me more money," he said.[1]

The plan had been straightforward: knocking down one wall, redoing the bathrooms, installing a new kitchen. He posted on Facebook for recommendations, in a group for Spanish speakers in Luxembourg. A man who introduced himself as a Bolivian national reached out. The full job, paid in six phases as work progressed, would come to just over €60,000. Multiple companies raised the first red flags. The contractor first sent a quote in the name of a Spanish company carrying his last name, without a valid registration number. Two days later, he sent a final quote in the name of a Luxembourg company with a valid business registration number (RCS). Demolition started on 4 September.[1]

The homeowner's confidence was wavering by this point, but the contractor pushed back, sharing voice memos from other collaborators and contacts he said would vouch for him. The two agreed to move away from an upfront payment of 40% and toward the six-phase structure instead. In early September, the contractor received the keys to the apartment. What followed was demolition, partial work, shifting excuses, and eventually silence. The apartment was gutted. The money was gone. The contractor had vanished.[1]

€40,000. That is what the contractor took. The apartment is gutted. The walls are down. The bathrooms are not redone. The kitchen is not installed. The mortgage is still there. The bank will not lend more. The apartment is not livable and it is not sellable and it is not finished and it is not started. It is a hole in a building in Kirchberg, and the man who made the hole is gone. The government announced seven measures to revive construction earlier this month. One of the measures was not a register of contractors. One of the measures was not a verification system for people who send quotes in the name of companies that do not belong to them. The red flags were there. The quote without a registration number. The quote with one, two days later, from a different company. The voice memos from people who would vouch. The 40% upfront payment, negotiated down to six phases. The keys handed over in September. The silence that came after. The apartment is still gutted. The man is still blocked. The investigation is ongoing.[1]