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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, one of the most popular website is A Vendre A Louer (http://www.avendrealouer.fr/) which give you a large range of properties to rent in Paris (through estate agencies).

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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.]

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”).

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:

- MATMUT – http://www.matmut.fr
- AGF – http://www.agf.fr
- AXA – http://www.axa.fr
- GAN – http://www.gan.fr