Firstly, the accommodation is furnished
: therefore equipment necessary to the renter's every day life should be available
: beds, kitchen, closet, table, chairs, furniture, cooking utensils
and at least one shower room.
Secondly, it is a seasonal rental : that means that a rental cannot last more than
a season (3 months maximum).
The accommodation can be rented for days, weeks or months
to a passing clientele and will in no case be the renter's main home.
Seasonal rentals are totally free in the eyes of the law and their organization is subject only to the civil code (common law).
Classification of certain seasonal rentals in France
The law allows classification or grading of certain seasonal rentals
so that the renter is assured a quality product which matches the standards set by the grading (decree of January 8th
1993). The owner asking for a grading must observe the obligations set by the grading
or risk not being awarded the grading or it being taken away if the accommodation
no longer corresponds to the quality standards.
Furnished seasonal rentals are qualified as "furnished tourist accommodations"
: "furnished tourist accommodations are villas, apartments or furnished
studio flats, for the exclusive use of the renter, for rent to a passing clientele
who rent by the day, week or month, and who do not take it up as main residence.
These furnished tourist accommodations are graded according to different categories,
represented by a number of stars according to their level of
comfort and charm.
The minimum conditions are: to be free from specific permanent odours
and located away zones of nuisance resulting from a listed establishment,
major roads, railroad tracks, or airports (for example).
Our advice before you commit yourself
Ask for a detailed description of the place
Do not leave anything to chance. You are going on holiday and your stay is inevitably for a limited time but it is not a reason for you to put up with rudimentary furnishings or
cooking utensils in bad condition. There again, you need to be vigilant and do not hesitate
to ask the owner for supplementary information.
A descriptive statement and rental conditions needs to be sent
in duplicate, one for the owner or his representative
and the other for the renter. If the information in the descriptive statement and rental conditions are
inaccurate, the owner or his representative
can be fined.
Check reservation requirements : deposits or down payments
The sum of the reservation and the payment date
must be negotiated by the two parties. It is recommended that no sum be paid prior to the signing of the contract and you must know to what the payment corresponds (deposit or down payment)
You must be careful about the terms used in the contract because in a seasonal rental, the misuse of a contractual term can have dramatic consequences in case of cancellation.
Many unforeseen events, illnesses or accidents, may force the renter to cancel his or her reservation
even though the down payment had already been made.
To what extent will the sum be repaid? One must then see if the contract mentions
deposits or down payments.
Deposits are used as a way of retraction. The renter can withdraw, however
the owner keeps the deposit (the latter is considered to
have suffered a loss because of the renter's withdrawal from the reservation of the property for rent). Inversely, if the owner
decides not to rent his accommodation, article 1590 of the civil code obligates the latter to pay double the sum of the deposit paid by the renter.
A down payment is a firm and definite commitment.
In case of cancellation , the owner can reclaim the total amount of rent
of the planned stay or the period during which the accommodation was not able to be rented to someone else.
However, case law accepts that in case of unforeseeable and
insurmountable events, the renter can be exempt from making the payment.
Inversely, the renter can ask for compensation from the owner if
the cancellation is of his or her own doing. There is a moral and material loss which is
caused by greatly jeopardized holidays, additional expenses caused by the change of circumstances...
It is recommended to indicate the nature of the sum paid in the rental contract.
lf the payment is a deposit (a part of the accommodation price) or a down payment.
Enquire about the amount of the deposit
For deposits, individuals who occasionally rent out their accommodation are not targeted by the law.
Leave well insured
The owner of the accommodation can ask the renter for
a photocopy of a proof of insurance to check if as tenant of the accommodation
you are insured against tenants' risks (fire, water damage,...), or by a "holiday" extension of the insurance policy that you have taken out for your home, or by a specific contract for the length of your stay in the accommodation.
Don't hesitate to check this guarantee against the value of the furnishings. This estimation can appear in the contract. Being insured personally against material damages that you could be responsible for is not a trivial matter, because the owner's insurance company
will be sure to turn against you.
Insist on a lease
A lease must be written up before entering the accommodation. The lease formalises the agreement between the two parties.
It can result from a simple exchange of correspondence or in the form of a document in duplicate, signed by both the owner
and renter, each keeping a copy of the contract. It is strongly recommended to conduct the rental in this way in order to be
prepared in case of dispute.
The rental contract should be very precise.
The rental accommodation must be indicated by the following:
The exact address of the accommodation (apartment or house) the number of rooms and surface area -
areas and amenities that the renter has exclusive access to (garage, terrace,...)
or those that he can access in the same way as the building's other residents (parks, courtyard, swimming pool,...
The duration of the rental must also be precisely determined,
with start and end dates. For seasonal rentals, arrival and departure times are often indicated
(recommended).
The total rent should be note in the rental contract. The method of payment and additional costs
should also appear. A visitor's tax designed to finance public services and equipment
is collected by all communities, in high and low season. The contract
specifies the amount that you must pay as a reservation fee as well as the amount of the deposit.
Service charges, unless included in the rent can be calculated on an inclusive basis
using real consumption of water, electricity, gas and telephone. In this case
payment is made at the end of the stay or a few weeks later when the bill is sent.
In the case in point, do not forget to read the meters during the inventory at the beginning
as well as the end of the stay to avoid any dispute between the two parties.
