Anglais BTS Notariat

Proposition de corrigé

The scene takes place in a town. In the background, we can see a nice little house on sale on a grassy hill. A road leads down to the town centre. In the foreground on the left, we can see a mortgage loan office and a public notary’s office on the right. There are three people on the street outside the notary's office. Mr Broke is holding a toddler while Mr Slasher, the mortgage agent, is leading him into the notary's office where Mr Oldham is sitting behind his desk.

In addition to this very global description, the following can be said:

First of all, the names reflect the personalities or circumstances of the characters: Mr Broke is indeed "broke", meaning he has no money left and has to sell his house. The name Slasher could be interpreted as "throat cutter", in this case the person responsible for ruining Mr Broke and terrifying Mr Oldham. The latter’s name refers to old ham, which is a repulsive image and reflects a weak notary pressured into covering illegal practices and lacking the courage to resist or denounce the fraud.

. The notary looks cowardly and frightened as he is perspiring and shaking. He may be afraid of the agent who may have threatened him or because he has paid him off to turn a blind eye to the fraud and he fears the fraud may be eventually detected.

The cartoon reflects a situation that actually exists in the U.S.A. today. Some homeowners fall into debt and contact private mortgage agents who lend them money without specifying that the interest rate fluctuates in time. The rates keep rising till at some point the homeowners can no longer pay. They necessarily become more

Texte en francais

Aux Etats-Unis, plusieurs organisations dont le FBI, les banques et les associations de notaires combattent la fraude immobilière.

Les notaires peuvent être efficaces dans la lutte contre la falsification d’identité et les fausses déclarations. Leur présence physique est indispensable. Le notaire doit vérifier l’authenticité des identités et des documents impliqués dans les transactions, et les étudier attentivement avec les parties concernées et s’assurer que personne ne soit contraint à signer.. L'usurpation d’identité ou la fraude sur des actes divers est courante aux Etats-unis.

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