In large cities and tense areas, many tenants (students, young workers, mobile executives) agree to sign any contract to get a roof over their head: civil leases, secondary residence leases, ultra-free contracts inspired by short-term tourist rentals… On paper, these leases seem to offer more freedom to the owner with a very high rent, a limited duration, stricter notice and almost no protection for the tenant.
However, as soon as the accommodation is occupied for more than 8 months per year and constitutes your main residencethe law of July 6, 1989 applies automatically, whatever the title of the contract. The lease can then be reclassified as a classic residential lease, with major consequences: minimum duration increased to 3 years for an empty accommodation (1 year furnished), rent control applicable in tight areas, reduced notice, and above all the possibility of demanding reimbursement of the overpayment of rent over the entire past occupancy period. You still need to know how to spot an abusive lease and gather the right evidence.
How to recognize an abusive lease?
A lease is abusive when it does not correspond to the actual use of the accommodation. “The lease must correspond to the use made of it by the tenant, it is a regulatory obligationrecalls Olivier Princivalle, president of FNAIM Grand Paris. If you live in the accommodation on a regular basis, for more than 8 months per year, it is a main residence”. Therefore, you must benefit from a residential lease subject to the 1989 law, and not a simple civil or secondary residence lease, even if that is what you signed.
The evidence to gather to have your contract reclassified
To obtain requalification, you must prove use as your main residence. “First, you must keep a copy of the advertisement, then obviously your rental contract, as well as the rent frequencies with the effective justification of the period during which it was paid”explains Olivier Princivalle. To this, add any document showing that you really live there: local tax notice, energy bills, employer certificate, tax declaration indicating this address, etc.
Procedures, deadlines… and reimbursement of overpayment of rent
In practice, start by trying a amicable agreement with your landlord. “It’s always better, because the legal procedures are very long and expensive. People don’t go there because the context is tense”underlines the president of FNAIM Grand Paris. Without a solution, you can enter the departmental conciliation commissionthen the judge, to request the reclassification of the lease. If the rent exceeds the legal ceiling in a tense area, you can demand the refund of overpayment over the non-prescribed period, depending on the duration of the contract and the difference from the reference rent.
