Starting years ago with the Minitel (computer terminal
preceding the Internet 20 years ago in France!), on
line advert popularity has been used by more and more
people for seeking a property to rent or buy. Nowadays,
on the Internet, the most popular website are
A Vendre A Louer
(http://www.avendrealouer.fr/) and seloger.com which give you a large range
of properties to rent in Paris (through estate agencies).
Direct ads
You may decide to consult the direct
advertisments in magazines such as “De
particulier à particulier” (every Thursday) where
you don’t have fees to pay. It can be less expensive,
but you better check the average price of the accommodation
regarding the area and the inventory before renting
anything. Also, for valuable items, the landlord might
have to choose between 50 people, and the winner is
not obviously the first arrived.
You will find also ads with Hestia (http://www.hestia.fr/) that is specialised in adverts between individuals. After paying a subscribtion fee (package between 130 and 160 €, for 4 months), you will have access to a large database of up to date offers.
Contracts
If you decide to pass through an estate
agent, you will have to provide 3 recent payslips.
He will check that your monthly salary
is about 3 times the rent value (or sometimes
4 times when they take advantage of a large demand!),
which is often held as a guarantee for the payment.
The main problem with renting is that the real estate agent will often ask a number of papers you have to provide (3 last pay slips, the last tax, a certificate of the company that certifies that you're not on probation or in notice period).
If you do not have all these papers, you may resort to the guarantee of parents or family (or deposit), or try to use LOCA-PASS ® (organisation managing the 1% accommodation tax on business and can act as a guarant).
The payment of several months' rent in advance is not legal in France (the deposit must be limited to one month for unfurnished accommodation; for furnished accommodation, the deposit is decided freely by the landlord, usually 2 months but can be more.).
Before to sign the contract you can
negotiate several weeks free of rent if you need to
do some work such as paintings or repairs (which
is frequent). The deposit
(caution or dépot de garantie) is paid by the tenant
to the lessor. In general it is equal to 2
month’s rent and is given back in full to the
tenant on departure if the inventory carried out on
your departure does not mention any damage.
Moreover, the estate agency will ask for fees
(as payment of the service, the deposit will be paid
in addition), usually about 1 month’s rent.
If you rent in a building, your rent will include the
charges (lift, water…).
You need to contact the local town hall to register
your new accommodation. Each year you will pay a “taxe
d’habitation” (sort of Council tax) regarding
the place where you live the 1st of January of the year
(the landlord will pay a tax for the property called
“taxe foncière”).
Notice
You can leave whenever you want, given a 3
months notice. Same notice period for the landlord.
[A law protecting the tenant, the landlord cannot
advice the tenant to leave during the months between
mid-October and mid-March.]
Household insurance
The tenant is obliged by law to inform the owner of
the fact that the property (the building) is insured.
You must provide proof of the insurance upon
reception of the keys and then each subsequent year,
on the request of your landlord. The insurer pays the
lanlord on your behalf in the case of fire, explosion,
flood damage, attacks on the building, riots and acts
of terrorism subject to the terms and conditions of
your contract.
You can find information at all the insurance companies:
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Comments
08/03/2008
