Letting
Gites Successfully
Despite all the bureaucracy surrounding the letting
of property in France and all the laws one must adhere to, there is
a surprising shortage of information and documentation available.
Moreover, it is not unusual for your Marie to be unaware of legal
requirements. Consequently, the first time a property owner is aware
of falling foul of these laws is usually when he or she has a gendarme
standing on their doorstep. Ignorance might be bliss but is, of course,
no excuse as many a gite owner has found to his/her cost. This minefield
needs to be navigated with due care and although I will try to cover
in general terms the various aspects of your tax and legal requirements,
I would advise you to seek expert advice wherever possible. Whilst
there are laws to obey there are also numerous pitfalls that can be
avoided with a little common sense and sound advice.
Any property owner, letting to members of the public
by law must provide booking conditions in French and an invoice to
anyone booking the property. Anyone renting your property, who feels
they have justification for complaint can request the intervention
of an huissier (a bit like a bailliff in UK law). Obviously, if you
are dealing with an English speaking clientele you need to also provide
them in English. However, should the French authorities be involved
in a dispute, your English conditions will be worthless. Even if you
are involved in a dispute fought in a UK court of law it is important
that your booking conditions, which are a legal contract, stand up
to UK law.
During the course of my work I see some horrendous
examples of what property owners consider legal terms and conditions.
This normally occurs because someone copies an example that a friend
is using and then alters it to suit their personal requirements. The
problem is that the friend had done the same thing and this has been
repeated several generations deep, a bit like Chinese whispers. By
the time the property owner arrives in court thinking he/she has a
legal contract, they soon find themselves with little or no protection
at all. Some are so bad that a bus-driver could drive a lawyer through
them. No contract will be considered legal if the court judges it
to be unfair or prejudicial to the property owner.
Under French law, if someone chooses to stay in your
property overnight, they have accepted the property and the conditions
you impose. This does not, however, affect their legal rights.
All property owners must, by law, carry property
insurance and under French civil law the equivalent of public liability.
You must also inform your insurer that you are letting the property.
If you are purchasing a property for the purposes
of letting this should be made clear to your Notaire at the outset.
You should also inform your Marie. In some areas, there is a tax payable
to your Marie for every person who stays in your property of approximately
1 Euro per day per person. You should check this out. Some Mairie's
will be ignorant of this law whilst others will enforce it with a
vengeance. There is also a tax payable for each property you own.
Failure to inform the necessary authorities could result in a nasty
bill some years down the line with compound interest added.
So, the moral to the story is to do your homework
first, rather than assume you can get away with it! "When
in Rome, do as the Romans do."
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