One of the biggest fears of landlords when renting a home is that the tenant don’t pay them or have your home destroyed. There are times when both things happen, as has happened to the owner of an apartment in Paris to whom the tenant owed more than 26,000 euros and a house full of damage whose repair amounted to 37,000 euros.
As told to Le Figaro Immobilier The lawyer Samuel Zeitoun, his client rented a small renovated apartment of 20 square meters in 2022 for 980 euros per month. During the first months everything went normally, but after 8 months the tenant stopped paying rent. At first the landlord trusted his tenant’s promises to pay and let time pass while the debt accumulated.
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An elderly couple, forced to pay more than 9,000 euros after being evicted for a debt of 1,300 euros that was settled
It was not until the unpaid amount reached 14,700 euros that he decided to start the eviction process. But during the court proceedings, the landlord discovered that his tenant had been illegally subletting the home. The family that lived in the apartment paid 1,080 euros to the tenant every month, 100 euros more than he officially paid.
The tenant reported him for unsanitary conditions in the home
The judge ended up ruling on the termination of the contract and ordering the eviction of both the main tenant and the subtenants. But between the notification and the sentence, the tenant filed a complaint with the Regional Health Agency (ARS) accusing the owner of renting an unhealthy apartment, and an order was issued that the apartment was not habitable.
The eviction process dragged on for months, and the landlord faced a trial accused of renting a home in poor condition with sewage leaks, broken radiators, ventilation problems and defective windows, of which he had not been aware.
His defense was able to demonstrate that the apartment was in good condition at the beginning of the rental, and that the deterioration was a direct consequence of the tenant’s lack of maintenance. The owner was acquitted, but the economic damage had already been done.
After a year without being able to recover his home, the landlord accumulated a total debt of more than 26,000 euros in unpaid rent and had to face a budget of 37,000 euros. In total, he lost 63,000 euros, not counting legal fees.