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Old Jul 19th, 2015, 03:06 PM
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<i>The problem is these same few posters say the same things over and over when Paris apartment rentals appear.</i>

I see. You do not like the message so the strategy is to shoot the messenger. Agree with the law or not, the rental landscape in Paris is changing. That´s a fact, not a rumor or an assumption. Short term rentals will not change completely this week or even this summer, but change they will.

The recent law is called ALUR and it affects real estate transactions of all types. Of particular interest for those visiting Paris, it has provisions to restrict and control short term apartment rentals. The current crackdown started in the Marais and additional sweeps have been announced for the Latin Quarter and the area around Montmartre.

If I were renting an apartment in one of those locations, I would keep in close contact with the owner. The Mayor´s task force will not throw any renter out but they can force owners to cancel future bookings. The danger is that the apartment that one thought he had rented may quickly be withdrawn from the market.

I would have a backup plan to accompany any future apartment rental in the city of Paris.
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Old Jul 19th, 2015, 04:01 PM
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>><i>The problem is these same few posters say the same things over and over when Paris apartment rentals appear.

To scare and attempt to make people feel guilty</i><<

iris: You've rented in Paris in the past -- so have I. Many times. But that was <u>before</u> the current law/crack down. The landscape has had a sea change and what we were ALL used to/comfortable with in the past is no longer relevant. Simple as that. Those who try to explain the new situation do not deserve to be attacked. We aren't trying to make anyone feel guilty (well, at least most aren't ) - we are TRYING to explain that renting an apartment in Paris may no longer be safe/secure like before.

I don't like it either -- I'll miss renting places in the 5th. But facts are facts. Warning people about problems/crack downs is <u>very important</u>.
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Old Jul 19th, 2015, 04:05 PM
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Lisren, you messengers are fine as long as everything you say is factual. Not your opinion.

Think what you want, but scare tactics, guilt tactics are not acceptable, but honest dialog certainly is part of the equation.

Would you agree??

I haven't seen that from these same posters over and over.

You see, your last paragraph is another scare tactic!!

You disregard everything these companies are attempting to do with the city of Paris officials-very disingenuous.

But have it your own way--keep scaring people rather than except the fact that issues could be worked out that benefits Paris and renters using these companies.
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Old Jul 19th, 2015, 04:27 PM
  #44  
 
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I rented an apt. in Paris for 5 days in April of this year. It was posted on Flipkey and when I contacted the owner, I got a reply back from an agency and they sent me a contract to sign, which also included travel insurance which was included within the initial quote.

They required 1/3 or 1/2 to secure the reservation and I paid the rest 1 month before my reservation.

They had me remit payment by credit card through their website, not Flipkey.

Because they processed my credit card, they didn't require a big security deposit either or cleaning fees.

So I had no problems with being denied the use of the rental because of the Mayor's crackdown.

That's not to say other people won't be unlucky. However, vacation rentals have been around decades in Paris. I rented vacation apts. there in the early '90s. (and the process is much better now, compared to back in those days wiring foreign currency and waiting weeks for confirmation).

It will take a long time for them to shut them all down, assuming that the ones they shut down don't pop back up later, resulting in a giant whack-a-mole game with tens of thousands of vacation apts.

If they do succeed in shutting a significant percentage of them down, hotels will raise rates and real estate prices may flatten because a lot of buyers of Paris apts. are depending on using them for vacation rental income.

Oh and the other thing is, if AirBnB or for that matter Uber were French companies, you wouldn't see any of this happen.

Supposedly there are a lot of drones being flown in Paris because guess what, one of the biggest names in consumer drones is Parrot, a startup based in Paris.

How long are Paris Mayor's term? Maybe the current mayor leaves office and this policy goes away too. Or some French startup appears which lists Paris vacation flats.
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Old Jul 19th, 2015, 04:32 PM
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>>You see, your last paragraph is another scare tactic!!<<

Oh - I give up -- what did I post that that was 'scare tactics' WHAT?? Warning people about potential problems/issues IS important. Especially since so many have been used to renting w/ no issues at all. Like it or not -- the situation is NOT the same as it once was.

(I thought my post was <u>very</u> measured and conciliatory - unlike some . . . just sayin' )
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Old Jul 19th, 2015, 04:53 PM
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janisj; These issues will be worked out with the companies and the City of Paris.

Until then and I believe it will be soon, or at least this year, scare tactics, guilt tactics continue.

So to say that someone will have a problem with their apartment rental, legal or illegal is a blip on the radar screen as I have previously suggested.

Tens of thousands of these apartments in Paris [40,000 with Airbnb alone], I want to know how many problems have had a problem until this is resolved.

No one answers that questions.

On the rector scale ZERO until this issue is resolve.

I know, I know the inspectors are out there, but how many problems have they solved.

The City of Paris wants this resolved as do these companies, like Airbnb.

Why am I taking issue with these people like manouche and others, because I am an immoral person. Ask them.

Having been called the most ignorant person on Fodor's, that was never a problem.

But immoral, I will not forget.

So to say people renting an apartment in Paris that they should consider having a problem without 'explaining' the probably of that happening, explaining the parties are working issues out, for me is self serving and an opinion that is meaningless.

But for people like 'Born' it makes renting an apartment in Paris uncomfortable.

Sorry janisj, these few people have nothing to offer.
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Old Jul 19th, 2015, 09:13 PM
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And so it should make people like "Born" uncomfortable . If people are breaking the law by renting out their apartments and not paying the taxes due and contributing to the lack of housing for residents I would like to know . Same matter is happening in NewYork .
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Old Jul 19th, 2015, 10:54 PM
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<i>How long are Paris Mayor's term? Maybe the current mayor leaves office and this policy goes away too. </i>

I believe that Mayor Hidalgo has 6 or 7 years left on her term as mayor.

It should be made clear that the law ALUR does NOT originate from the city of Paris. ALUR was signed into law only after the Assemblée nationale and the Sénat agreed to it. It is national in scope and applies to cities with populations greater than 200,000.

Nothing in the law prohibits someone from advertising or acting as an agent to arrange apartment rentals. The bulk of the law applies to apartment owners. The only element that the City of Paris and Airbnb, or companies like them, is negotiating is how much money these types of companies owe the city in unpaid taxes, specifically the <i>taxe de séjour</i> which should have been collected and paid to the city but was not.

Airbnb has never, up to the time of these recent talks, collected nor paid the appropriate taxe de séjour to the city which they were obligated to do when they collected the rental revenues. Airbnb has agreed to start collecting and forwarding these payments but what they might owe in unpaid back taxes could be sizable. I am sure that Airbnb is being very nice to the city right now in hopes of having their accrued tax bill forgiven.

Airbnb´s problems are completely different from the concerns of potential renters of vacation apartments. When the mayor´s task force halts illegal vacation apartment activity, it fines the owner of the apartment; Airbnb is not fined nor sanctioned in any way. Airbnb may lose future listings but they still make their profits even as owners are fined. The risk to renters is that they may have their anticipated lodgings withdrawn from the market, possibly on very short notice.

Skeptics like to raise the question of the law´s effectiveness. As an example, Adrian Leeds, mentioned in a previous post, had a very visible presence in the vacation rental market in Paris. However, in her own words, ¨ My rental properties have been sold and all of the owners we represent have a choice as to whether they want to continue renting short term or not.¨

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...de_France.html

Change to the vacation rental market in Paris is coming. Some will like the change, others will not.
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Old Jul 20th, 2015, 02:58 AM
  #49  
 
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janisj; My comment was not directed at you.

It just so happened that we posted at about the same time and it was meant for the poster before you.
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Old Jul 20th, 2015, 06:49 AM
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It doesn't matter how many statistics are quoted from verifiable sources - on this or any other travel forum.

If you don't like the message - I should say, The Truth - you wouldn't believe it anyway, no matter if it had been presented by a pile of Supreme Court Justices waving King James Bibles.

Doubting Thomas had a serious problem with that, too.

I would really like to know how many of you have rented apartments in Paris more than once - and how long ago that might have taken place. I dare say that many of the chronic complainers on these forums have never rented in Paris at all, but just like to argue.

It would also be interesting to find out how many of you are friendly with people who own rental property in Paris, if you do not own rentals yourselves.

If you live in Paris, as a few of us do, you overhear people talking about their rental experiences all the time - while waiting around for hours with their luggage piled up in a cafe, trying like hell to figure out the door code when there is no one to meet them, upset because the place they rented in the 4th was yanked off the market and they had to go stay in the bowels of the 18th because the owner had a friend who let him use his apartment there, but it was way too small to sleep 5 people.

On the other hand, if you don't live here, you can pick and choose from whichever internet articles please you, and continue to imagine any kind of fantasy that suits you. Selective reasoning often leads to a fall.

If you don't know what you're talking about, though, you shouldn't pretend that you do.
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Old Jul 21st, 2015, 08:41 AM
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Statistics are helpful in this matter. For example, you are 8 times more likely to die on the cab ride to your apartment (1-5,000) than the total number of Airbnb rentals (40K) Now assuming one each day gets shut down, it's a factor of 8. If it is less, then the disparity is greater.

The purpose is to gauge your risk. I've stayed in apartments 3 times, the last of which was March-April this year. I've been concerned about illegal rentals, so much so that before I put a deposit on an apartment next May-June, I asked the company for information concerning their apartments. I got the registration information from them directly.

I've also spent over one month of total days in Paris, using the metro every single day and not once have I been pick-pocketed. You prepare for the worst, but don't live as though it is inevitable.

If my trips to Paris (they are getting longer each trip) were limited to hotels only, I simply would not go to Paris. I suspect that the Mairie and the National Assemblie are weighing the interests of both affordable housing for its' residents and the number one income driver - tourism. If they lose even 10% of the tourists due to the apartment crackdown, a 1.5 billion loss in euros spent would also have an impact. Affordable housing would need to get even more affordable, as 10% is the profit center of most businesses, you lose the last 10%, you don't have much profit, which means fewer jobs.

I do agree it would be more helpful to gauge the risk level if the Mairie would offer some form of easy to check status of apartments. In this digital age, I find it hard to figure out why a system isn't in place to do just this. It is amazing what ills can be cured with tax money, .
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Old Jul 21st, 2015, 08:57 AM
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<i> In this digital age, I find it hard to figure out why a system isn't in place to do just this.</i>

It´s very simple. Owners must apply to the city for permission to rent their properties as the commercial ventures that they are. If owners do not apply for the required permits, the city will have no list to present.

I actually sent an email to the city to inquire at the list. Basically, few owners have complied with the laws. The result; the city has no list which is one of the reasons there is a mayor´s task force to assure compliance with the laws. It´s a small force, some 20 people, and the number of illegal apartments is probably in the tens of thousands.

Things are moving slowly but should pickup a bit after the next big sweep announced for the near future in the Quartier Latin and around Montmartre.
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Old Jul 21st, 2015, 10:46 AM
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Actually, the largest number of visitors coming to Paris do not stay in apartments, but in hotels outside the periphery. Americans and other English-speakers do not make up more than 1/3 of the total visitors to Paris - though they might like to think they are more important than that.
The Asians also outspend the Anglophones, on a daily basis, something like 3 to 1.
Paris did quite well, economically-speaking, before the apartment craze hit in 2008. It's highly likely the city will survive without the enormous amount of illegal rentals, once the craze calms down.
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Old Jul 21st, 2015, 12:33 PM
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I've been to Paris three times, and stayed in an apartment once (for a one week stay--the other two trips were only for a couple of nights). I like to do a one week rental for part of my European trips. So, as long as Paris is going to have this rental prohibition, I guess I won't be taking any extended trips to Paris. It's one of my favorite places to visit, but I won't make anything more than a two night stay as long as the rental situation remains the same. Maybe this will work out great for Paris residents, but I doubt it.
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Old Nov 4th, 2015, 04:49 PM
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I returned from Paris and Provence early October after 16 day trip. We rented 2 different apts in Paris and two in Provence. We had zero issues. We loved having the extra space, 2 bedrooms, washer and kitchen. We were welcomed nicely and all apts were as nice or nicer than we had imagined. This is the way to go if you are traveling with friends.
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Old Nov 13th, 2015, 11:21 AM
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Airbnb had a meeting in Paris, with 5000 of its hosts from around the world there to brainstorm ideas.

The company is trying to compromise with the city:

"Paris—Airbnb’s largest single market—has been a battleground.

Paris officials say there are some 30,000 tourist apartments available for rent in the city—about 2% of the total number of units—with as many as two-thirds operating illegally.

Airbnb says this is a fringe issue on its platform; just 17% of hosts in Paris say they rent out apartments other than their primary residences. It isn’t clear how many of those might be doing so without city authorizations.

The defeated measure in San Francisco was similar to the one in Paris that doesn’t allow short-term rentals for more than 120 days a year, unless the owner gets special authorization by paying for the creation of another long-term rental in the same neighborhood to keep the number of apartments the same.

The three-day Paris confab, which also includes workshops to share tips on how to attract business travelers and sessions explaining things such as insurance policies, opens a day after Airbnb published what it calls its “community compact.”

In the document, Airbnb pledges to pay its “fair share” of hotel and tourism-related taxes, as well as to share anonymous user data to inform city policy.

Perhaps the biggest new promise is that Airbnb said it would ask hosts in cities with housing shortages to commit to only renting out properties that are their primary homes for short-term rentals. But the home-share site said it would push to allow vacation homes to be allowed to rent in some cases."

http://www.wsj.com/articles/airbnb-m...ges-1447357106
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Old Nov 13th, 2015, 11:40 AM
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Frankly, if you follow all the news articles concerning AirBnB in Paris, you will quickly realize that the people who run this organization are masters at marketing. Every move they make is geared to getting free advertising. It's really brilliant.

AirBnB is also being heavily criticized for "not demanding or providing any proof of acceptable housing and safety standards" in Paris. The fact that this company advertises but does not take responsibility for the places it recommends is morally reprehensible and dangerous for the client.

The latest permutation is the "BnBSitter" - a Parisian client can contract with AirBnB to provide a cleaning and/or concierge service for their rental. The fees for these services will be charged to the client, though there is no mention of any taxes being paid to the city, nor any of the usual employee benefits such as insurance, child care, medical, etc.

AirBnB is dedicated to subverting the dominant business paradigm.
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Old Nov 13th, 2015, 11:46 AM
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<i>The company is trying to compromise with the city:</i>

The law ALUR which bans most all vacation apartment rentals does not originate from the city of Paris. It is a national law applicable to any French city with more than 200,000 inhabitants. The only subject which Airbnb has discussed with the city of Paris was Airbnb´s failure to collect and forward the applicable <i>taxe de séjour</i> which Airbnb has now agreed to do.

If Airbnb wants to negotiate a compromise, they´ll need to do it with the Assemblé National and the Sénat.

<i>Paris officials say there are some 30,000 tourist apartments available for rent in the city</i>

The city has stated that there are over 30,000 illegal apartments offered through locations such as Airbnb and others:

http://www.thelocal.fr/20151113/airb...ance-this-year

<i>The defeated measure in San Francisco was similar to the one in Paris that doesn’t allow short-term rentals for more than 120 days a year,</i>

Maybe defeated in San Francisco but not in Paris. The limit on a primary resident´s being able to offer his home as a vacation rental is 4 months per year.

<i>But the home-share site said it would push to allow vacation homes to be allowed to rent in some cases."</i>

Airbnb can push all that they want but there are no such provisions in the current laws and the Assemblé National, when passing the current versions of the law ALUR, were vehemently opposed to allowing secondary homes to be exempt from the control measures.
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Old Nov 13th, 2015, 12:08 PM
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>>The defeated measure in San Francisco was<< somewhat due to the $8.5 million spent by Airb&b to defeat it, vs $300K to support it. Vote was 56% to 44%.

Similarly, a recent SF measure to tax heavy-sugar soft drinks was defeated because of lots of money spent by the soft drink industry. A Calif initiative to tax cigarettes was defeated with a large campaign/money spent by the tobacco industry (Calif has one of the lowest cigarette taxes in the US). Also, the same-sex marriage initiative was defeated after a last minute influx of $$$$$$ from some group in Utah.

Follow the money. IMO, all of these measures would have won if money had not entered the picture.

AirB&B is now taking a cooperative position with SF in fear that something "more drastic" than what is "already on the books" will become law. Oh - by-the-way, the current SF AirB&B law was written by a member of the Board of Supervisors who was running for a higher office, with major campaign contributions from AirB&B. The SF planning dept plus almost everyone pro & con on the current law, believes that the law is unenforceable because data that regulators need to enforce the law, is not available anywhere. People are required to register their rental units with The City - few have.

Stu Dudley
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Old Nov 13th, 2015, 12:15 PM
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<i> People are required to register their rental units with The City - few have.</i>

Basically the same in Paris (few have applied for city approval of their vacation rentals) except that in Paris, the requirement for Airbnb (and others like them) to collect and forward the <i>taxe de séjour</i> could give the city the evidence they need to prove illegal activity and could give the tax man the revenue trail he might need to find and to document the activities of those offering illegal rentals and to confirm that taxes are paid on the revenue that they generate.
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