Our Paris Apartment....

Here's a link to an article titled "Tenant protection laws are onerous."  By the title you may surmise that the laws are deemed "onerous" because they are very one-sided toward protecting the tenant.  Those of us who lack the means to buy Parisian real estate might well title the same article "Tenant protection laws are pretty darn sweet."

The two elements of these laws that caught my attention are these: all agreements between landlord and  tenant are for a minimum of three years (unless the tenant wishes a shorter lease), and it is impossible to remove a tenant - even for the non payment of rent - until the end of that term.

Let's review.

In a purely hypothetical example, let's say that my friends Mark, Greg and I were to draw straws and one of us were to rent an apartment in Paris. Something nice, maybe in the Marias, in the 3rd arrondissemont; not too far from the Picasso museum or this little Irish pub where the ex-pats hang out. We all pool our money to get the place rented, and then, well, see above.

Let's review.

At the end of the three years, we are (1) evicted and (2) next guy on the list rents a place and, voila*, three more years of life on whatever the French word for "dole" is.

Three guys, nine years for three months rent and some sort of deposit that, who knows, French law possibly says we still get back. In addition, since there will be periods when none of the three of us are visiting, we can rent the place out to tourists three to six months out of each year.

Not to mention the book deal.


* French for "then."