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The steps
You have an address, you have a meeting with an owner. On the
spot, you notice that you are not the only candidate ! Do not loose
your courage ! You have certainly the means to qualify and to accelerate
the steps. If you are wage-earning, take your last three pay slips
or, if you have no resources of this kind, a letter from a guarantor.
In this last case, it would be good that the person gives with payslips
or the organisation which takes care of you is represented. Once
this stage run successfully, other steps are necessary.
The lease (contract) and breach of contract :
Furnished flats
Set the duration of the lease with the owner.
Breach of lease : the time of notice must be set when you sign.
Empty flats
The duration of the lease is at least of three years (but you are
not obliged to stay there three years !).
Breach of lease : six months notice if the owner breaches the lease,
three months if it the tenant.
The notice must be sent by certified mail.
At any rate
Drafting a lease is compulsory. Several clauses must appear on the
contract :
signature of both parts (owner and tenant) ;
date of contract ;
description and destination of the flat ;
the rent in letters ;
amounts of loads (maintenance of the building, water…) ;
annual revision's conditions of rent and loads ;
date for the keys.
During the signature, the owner gives you two keys of the main door,
and should check that the cellar is empty.
Please, also know that you can not sublet your flat, except agreement
crossed (spent) with the owner. In that case, the rent for which
you ask should not exceed the rent fixed by the owner.
Deposit : A guarantee
equivalent to two months of rent except loads will be required.
This sum will be given back to you at your departure (two months
later at the latest) if the apartment underwent no degradation.
Attention : do not agree to pay a " entrance fee " (sum of money
which will be never restored to you), it is an illegal practice.
Guarantee : To obtain
this support, you must appeal to a third person. This pledge reassures
the owner. Indeed, if you can not pay the rent, your guarantor will
pay for you. A letter handwritten and signed by the guarantor or
the chosen organisation (inquire with the social services department
of your city hall) will be required.
Rents - loads : The rent
is set freely by the owner. The increase is foreseen in the lease.
Loads are a sum paid each month or each quarter to the owner. If
you judge that this sum is too high, you can ask for documentary
evidence during the annual regularization. Ask your owner sends
you every month a receipt of rent; you will need it to make a demand
of benefit to the flat (see farther). On the other hand, if your
flat requires works, ask, at the signature of the lease, for the
discount of rent to renew it.
The inventory : Please,
do not neglect it ! Be very watchful when discovering your future
apartment, even if it means being supposed to be for a pain in the
neck. Check the facet factory, the state of the electric installation…
The dinners in candles are romantic, but the eyes of a student are
too much solicited to work in the dark. If you come from a country
where winter is not so cold, know that in France the winters are
sometimes rough (-5 ° C). Then, turn the heating on ! try hot water
tank for find possible leaks, look at the evacuation of waters,
flush several times the toilet, check the windows… Look at the carpet,
the paintings and the furniture.
Insurance : That's it,
you have the keys of your flat! Before celebrating the event, you
should take out an house insurance (damage of waters and blaze),
even if you are accommodated free of charge. Please, do not forget
that a defect of insurance can entail the breach of the lease !
The mutual students offer generally interesting rates. You can also
take private companies. In any case, ask for brochure and examine
carefully the services proposed and the conditions required. Sometimes
it is better to pay a bit more and have no bad surprises ! In brief,
be careful even if people are not here to fool you ! If you meet
real difficulties with the owner, consult an association (see the
Address book).
To know more about it : contact Cosmopolit'
Services, 115, avenue de la Bourdonnais, 75007 Paris. Tel. : 01
45 51 00 22. Internet : .
This company is specialized in the assurance house of student flats.
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Downtown or suburbs, Paris or the provinces
