In Paris, and in cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants, the law is clear: it is prohibited to rent your main residence for more than 120 days per year on Airbnb.
However, a young student has just won her case against the city of Paris, which sued her for illegally renting her main residence and demanded 20,000 euros from her.
The young woman rented her apartment for 253 nights in 2019 while she was doing an internship in Amsterdam, Holland, and 152 nights in 2020 during her schooling in London.
In her defense, she highlighted the professional nature of her absences, one of the reasons which allows her to rent her main residence more than the authorized limit.
To prove her good faith and demonstrate that the absences were time-framed and temporary, the student had to provide a number of documents such as her internship agreement, service contract, lease contract in Amsterdam, but also school certificate and insurance. dwelling in London.
The city will have to pay the student 2,000 euros to cover her legal fees.
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In the judgment, rendered on January 10 and published by Le Figaro, the Paris Court retained the professional reason for its decision: “
Completing an internship must be assimilated to a professional reason, in that it is part of a process of discovery and integration into a professional environment, whether or not it has given rise to remuneration.
Pursuing a course of study may also be considered a professional reason provided that it takes place over a specific and limited period
.
A decision that must be taken with caution for the lawyer of the concierge service through which the student passed, Maître Demeuzoy.
The lawyer specializing in Airbnb-type furnished rental law warns: “There may be a reversal in jurisprudence, and in the care that the decision is final, there is always a risk that the court of appeal will not be I don't agree with this first decision.
It is necessary to ensure that the internships and university curriculum match the rentals, because here too there may be interpretation by the judge.
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