DECRYPTION - Can a landlord evict his tenant in view of the Paris Olympics?

Juline Garnier / Photo credit: MAGALI COHEN / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 3:00 p.m., February 14, 2024

While many Parisian owners already seem to be inflating the prices of their property in view of the Paris Olympic Games, others could be tempted to rent out their apartment... which is already occupied. Can they still do it? Some professionals are warning about the abuse of “recovery leave”. Europe 1 explains.

Will my landlord kick me out of my apartment to take advantage of the Olympics and inflate prices? If the question sends chills down your spine, it is very present in the minds of many tenants living in Paris. Parisian owners are already banking on the organization of the Games to inflate the rental rate of their apartment. On Airbnb, prices can even reach 1,000 euros per night. However, can they recover a property that is already occupied? Fortunately, the law protects tenants with very specific rules. But you have to hang on. We take stock.

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Resumption leave, a reason to closely monitor

In fact, an owner cannot recover his accommodation before the end of the lease contract. It is possible to do this only in certain cases: it is necessary to “issue leave”. Legally, three reasons allow the owner to regain the use of his property: leave for resumption of housing, leave for sale of the property and leave for legitimate and serious reasons. Leave for takeover refers to the fact that the owner wants to accommodate himself or a member of his family there. And it is in this case that professionals see the most abuse.

"The two most contentious leaves are return leave and leave for legitimate and serious reasons. These two leaves are very difficult for the tenant to control. He can only check whether its implementation respects a priori

the

framework provided for by the law", notes David Rodrigues, legal manager specializing in real estate law at the National Association for the Defense of Consumers and Users Association (CLCV).

For leave to be effective, it must follow a very precise form: the letter of leave must be sent by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt and must contain the reason for the leave, the name and address of the person benefiting from the return. , the relationship between the lessor and the beneficiary of the recovery and the “justification of the real and serious nature of the recovery”. Without this, the tenant can challenge the landlord's decision and stay in the apartment. Otherwise, he will be ordered to leave, within three to six months depending on whether the accommodation is rented furnished or empty.

“An artistic blur”

Unfortunately, failures exist and unscrupulous owners know how to take advantage of them. “For recovery leave, the texts do not define a date of entry into the home of the owner's relative, nor a minimum duration, causing a real artistic blur,” criticizes David Rodrigues. Example: an owner issues leave for a recovery in order to accommodate his daughter. After the end of the lease, she ultimately only stayed there for fifteen days and left the full benefit of the now empty accommodation to her parent.

In this type of abuse, recourse still exists for the duped tenant. "He can carry out an informal investigation

a posteriori

to demonstrate - thanks to his neighbors for example - that the reason for leave was ultimately not respected. In this case, he can request compensation or compensation, such as asking the owner to pay the difference between his old rent and his new one if it is higher. But he will not be able to return to the accommodation,” specifies the legal manager.

No independent body exists to control these methods because they fall under private law. All that remains are associations and legal advisors to provide support. Paris town hall also offers meetings with “specialized lawyers” in case of doubt. Note that leave for "legitimate and serious reasons" is easier for a tenant to contest because the request to leave is based on the need for heavy work, neighborhood disturbances or a fault on their part. It will therefore be easier to prove the non-necessity of the leave in question, with testimonies from neighbors or an expert opinion attesting to the state of the apartment concerning a work project. The same goes for leave for sale.

Towards a “truce” on rental evictions for the Olympics?

To limit abuses in view of the Olympic Games, communist senator Ian Brossat, former deputy mayor of Paris in charge of housing, announced Tuesday on Franceinfo that he had tabled a bill to impose "a truce"

rental evictions that the event would provoke, recalling that owners

"do not have the right"

to take leave for recovery

“any way”

. 

The proposed law would consist of extending the winter break until November 1 for "bona fide occupiers", instead of stopping until March 31.

A good idea for David Rodrigues, who specifies that tenants are often reluctant to challenge their landlords on this type of decision. If the lawyer has not yet noted any abuse of recovery leave specifically linked to the Olympic Games, he would not be surprised by this type of strategy in the coming weeks.