FAQ: Tenants (from 3 months to 1 year rentals)
Guidelines for good neighborly conduct
1. How should one behave with one's parisian neighbors, to be on good terms with them?
- Respect your neighbors and try to keep on good terms with them (politeness and discretion).
- Avoid making noise in communal areas when carrying luggage in the stairs, slamming the front door, running in the stairs, ...
- Do not make too much noise in the apartment which would be likely to disturb neighbors (music or radio volume too high, slamming doors, talking louddly with the windows open, highheels on the floor ...).
- Noise should be kept to a minimal level, if you think it might bother you, then don't do it yourself.
- Observe the general prohibition in France to make noise after 10pm.
- Follow the instructions and regulations posted in the building.
- Do not smoke or crush cigarettes in public areas of the building.
- Do not dispose of litter, paper or cigarette butts in public areas (staircase, lift ...).
- Do not use the apartment for professional purposes, do not receive the general public in the apartment.
- Do not displace the furniture around the apartment.
- Throw your garbage in the appropriate garbage bins regularly and sort your garbage from your recycliables.
- Do not leave the windows wide open when leaving the apartment.
- Keep your Paris short term rental and its content in good condition.
Process - Procédure
2. Can you explain the whole Paristay process to rent an apartment ?
To help you find the best long term apartment rental in Paris for your stay, we have developed a few simple steps to help you with your search:
--You can go directly to the “Apartment Request Form”, enter your arrival & departure dates and the number of people staying, fill the form and send us the form without actually selecting any apartments. We will recommend apartment rentals which match both your dates and requirements by e-mail so that you can then select a first and second choice from our rental suggestions.
--However we do recommend that you look at the detailed apartment descriptions for furnished apartments that fit in with your dates :
1. Go to the home page, you see “Start here / select date”, enter the dates of your stay, the number of people staying, and click “search.”
You can sort the apartments by price, district, or number of bedrooms (click on “sort by”, and click on your choice).
2. Click on “Add to my favorites” the apartment that you would like to reserve or the apartments that you like the most.
3. Click on “Send Request ” to fill your rental request.
4. Please complete the form with the basic information we need to help us process your request. Send it by clicking on send request at the end of the form.
You will then receive a confirmation by e-mail with the details of your request.
5. If the apartment you have requested is available, we will then send you an Agency Agreement by e-mail for you to complete and return by fax within 24 hours.
If we are unable to rent the apartment or if you selected more than one on the request form, you will receive an e-mail with links to apartments that are available asking you
to give us your first and second choice before sending you an agency agreement.
6. Please return with the signed Agency Agreement a confirmation of Pay Pal or bank transfer for the payment of the agency fees within 48 hours and a copy of your passport and any other requested documents.
7. Upon reception, a lease agreement for your rental will then be e-mailed to you with the owner’s bank details. Please sign and return a copy of the lease and a confirmation of the bank transfer for the first payment to the owner as indicated in the lease.
PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT THE RENTAL PAYMENTS ARE MADE DIRECTLY TO THE OWNER AND NOT TO PARISTAY
8. When you arrive, the owner or his representative welcomes you at the apartment, you get he "Inventory-Etat des lieux" and the keys, you give him a copy of the security deposit bank transfer statement and a copy of your insurance.
YOU ARE AT HOME! HAVE A WONDERFUL STAY IN PARIS!!!
3. How can I make a request for an apartment ?
Come to our website www.Paristay.com .
1. You can see the place “Start here / select date” : Enter your arrival and departure dates.
Enter how many people you are. Click on “search”
2. Paristay.com proposes you a selection of high quality available Paris apartments located in the best central places.
You can choose to sort them out by price, district or number of bedrooms (click on” sort by” and click on you choice).
3. You can visit each apartment : You’ll find 20 to 30 photographs of each apartment, a localisation map, an access map, a full apartment description. Make your choice (you can choose several apartments) and add them to your favorites, by clicking on “add to my favorites”.
4. Click on “Send request” and fill the form, send it. That’s it!
A reservation agent will contact and help you to reserve your apartment.
You’ll receive the agency agreement and then the lease.
Communication avec Paristay
4. How do I contact an agent ?
The first step must always be filling in a request form.
Prices - Prix
5. What does the rental price include?
In each apartment’s description, there is a list of utilities included (sometimes Internet + Cable TV).
Telephone and electricity are charged according to consumption (about 50€ to 100€ / month, depending on the size of the flat and on how much you use electrical heating and hot water).
6. Is the rental price mentioned for the whole apartment or per person ?
7. How is composed the total cost of an apartment for rent ?
The rental price (to the owner).
The refundable security deposit (to the owner).
The check-out cleaning fees (to the owner or representant), see the commission rates page.
8. Are the electricity fees incuded in the rental price ?
In the case of rental<6 months, the electricity counter is checked on arrival and departure.
Kilowatts used are to be payed by the tenant, they are deducted from the security deposit.
In the case of rental>6months, the tenant subscribes in his or her name, and pay the bills directly to the electricity company
(except in certain cases where the owner has included the electricity in the rent).
Payments - Paiements
9. How must I pay the rent ?
10. How must I pay the agency fees ?
11. What are the means of payment ?
2. The rent will be paid to the apartment owner by bank transfer (the owner is an individual person who doesn’t have a credit card machine).
3. The refundable security deposit is paid one week before arrival to the owner by wire transfer or sometimes by check (in Euros), depending on the owner policy.
Security deposit - Dépot de garantie
12. When is the security deposit returned ?
Paristay works in confidence with the owners. If there is no damage in the long term apartements in Paris , no lost keys, no unpaid charges, the security deposit will be fully returned to you , as usual, without any problem.
All french rentals require a security deposit.
13. What is the security deposit for ?
14. How and whom is the security deposit to be paid ?
It must be paid by wire transfer or Euro check (depending on the owner policy), a week before arrival.
15. What should I do if I loose the keys ?
We would advise you to be very very careful with the keys to the Paris long term rental apartment.
- Loosing a keys set is always a problem because we don't know who will obtain them. For security reasons, the owner has to change the door lock and all of the keys, which is quite expensive. The cost will be deducted from the security deposit. CONTACT YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY IMMEDIATLY.Call the owner or his representative as soon as possible (always keep the number of your insurance policy ,the telephone number of your insurance company and the tel number of the owner or his representative in your pocket!). Don't call just any locksmith from the yellow pages, most of them charge too much and don't do a good job.
- You could also forget your keys inside the apartment: the door is simply closed but not locked.An honest locksmith can open it easily. But If you call any locksmith, if he is dishonest, he could break the lock voluntarily (even if it is not necessary) to sell you a new lock at a very high price!!! CONTACT YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY IMMEDIATLY. Call the owner or his representative as soon as possible.
- You could also break the key inside the lock
CONTACT YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY IMMEDIATLY. Call the owner or his representative as soon as possible
If you cannot reach the owner or his representative during the night, you’d better go and sleep to an hotel.
When you pay a service, always ask for an invoice or a receipt on an official document.
If you believe the locksmith was dishonest (he voluntarily broke or destroy the lock), you can call the Répression des Fraudes Office (8 rue Froissart 75153 Paris Cedex 03) 01 42 71 09 14, they will investigate.
Insurance - Assurance
16. Should tenants need Insurance in france for rentals >90 days ?
17. What type of insurance do I need?
18. Am I obliged to take out insurance ?
19. Is “tenant liability” insurance not sufficient for my stay?
20. What if the owner is already insured, do I really need to be too?
21. Would a civil liability policy be enough cover?
22. It’s the first time I’ve been asked to take out obligatory insurance. Why haven’t I heard of this before?
Some agencies do not notify their customers of this obligation for the tenant to have multi-risk home insurance. A professional agency will always ask that you take out insurance. If you have any doubts about who you are dealing with check to see if they have:
-A Travel Agency Licence Number from the Ministry of Tourism
or
-A Certification Sales Reference Number from the Prefecture de Police of Paris.
Visits - visites
23. May we visit the apartment before deciding ?
For the 3 to 6 months rentals, we always try our best to organise a visit but it’s not always possible.
Arrival and Departure - Arrivée et Départ
24. What is the best way to get into Paris from Charles de Gaulle Airport ?
. The second option to pre-schedule an airport van on the Internet. You can reserve directly on the website and it's easy with the luggage. Some of these services have an option that allows you to get an exclusive van so you don’t have to drive around Paris while they drop off other passengers. That way you can reliably make your apartment arrival time. They meet you upon arrival with a sign with your name on it.
The usual taxi/van drive times from Charles De Gaulle Airport are about 1 hour depending upon traffic.
. The third choice is to take the RER Train and Metro but the Paris metro is not luggage friendly and especially so after an airline flight when you are already tired. Additionally you will often have to walk and carry your luggage for the last part to the Paris long term apartment .
25. How is the Apartment condition and inventory carried out ?
You check together room by room the condition and the contents of the apartment.
Then both of you sign the "Apartment condition - inventory agreement".
When you leave the apartment, this agreement is signed again by both of you.
26. Must the owner be here when I leave the apartment? May I leave the keys inside the apartment when I go?
Miscellaneous
27. What should I do if, during my rental, a problem in the appartment occurs?
If a problem comes up (plumbing, electricity, heating...), do not phone to a repair person. Instead, contact the apartment owner to inform him of the problem. Do not pay out any money without the owner's approval.