Record fine in Paris for a building illegally converted into tourist accommodation

"The City of Paris welcomes the judgment handed down on April 15, 2026 by the Paris Judicial Court, which condemns a real estate company (SCI) to a record fine of 585.000 euros for the illegal transformation of an entire building into furnished tourist accommodation in the 9th arrondissement," the city hall said in a statement.

The City estimates that there are approximately 25.000 illegal tourist accommodations in a context of "high tension" on the housing market, marked by "fraud and numerous misappropriations" of housing.

Acquired at the end of 2022, the building in question previously housed a social residence intended to accommodate people in precarious situations.

It was completely transformed at the end of 2023 into eleven furnished tourist accommodations, rented on the Airbnb platform, without respecting the regulations in force, namely an "authorization for change of use".

This offence resulted in a principal fine of 445.000 euros.

"Additional shortcomings were also noted, including the absence of a registration number on some advertisements and the failure to transmit documents requested by a sworn inspector, bringing the total amount of the sanctions to 585.000 euros," it was stated.

The court also ordered the immediate cessation of the activity, with a penalty of 1.000 euros per day per accommodation, i.e. 11.000 euros per day for all 11 furnished tourist accommodations in the event of continued activity.

"This is the largest fine ever imposed on a landlord. It's a very big victory, especially since it involves a professional landlord with eleven properties, which is representative of companies that rent out properties on a chain basis," reacted Jacques Baudrier, PCF deputy for Housing.

"Two years ago, there were 1,3 million euros in fines issued for all of Paris, and last year 2,4 million. Since the beginning of the year, we are already almost at more than one million, so it is progressing very strongly and this is the result of the application of the Echaniz-Le Meur law" of November 2024, which aims to better regulate the market for furnished tourist accommodations such as Airbnb, he added.

This decision comes three days after the announcement, during an extraordinary Paris Council meeting, of the creation of a "housing protection brigade" of approximately 150 people tasked with intervening in particular in the fight against illegal tourist accommodations.