Two record fines in Paris for illegal Airbnb rentals

In two separate rulings dated January 26 and February 4, reviewed by AFP, the Paris Judicial Court convicted a property company (SCI) that owned a one-bedroom apartment in the 9th arrondissement and a couple who owned a one-bedroom apartment in Montmartre for renting them out as tourists without authorization. This is prohibited when the property is not the tenant's primary residence.

Both actions were brought by the City of Paris. The SCI was fined 81.500 euros and the couple 75.000 euros each, for a total of 150.000 euros.

Furthermore, the owner of the apartment in the 9th arrondissement, who refused to remove it from the platform despite the procedure, must stop Airbnb rentals and put the accommodation back into residential use, under penalty of a fine of 1.000 euros per day.

In Paris, these are the first convictions for such high amounts since the adoption of the Echaniz-Le Meur law in November 2024, which aims to better regulate the market for tourist rentals like Airbnb. Previously, the maximum fine was 50.000 euros.

"This is very good news," Barbara Gomes, advisor in charge of rent control, rental platforms and tenant protection at the Paris City Hall, told AFP.

With these dissuasive fines, "the message must be very clear: now, impunity is over. It will no longer be possible to do illegal Airbnb," she insists.

"We can no longer afford to have people who see housing only as a speculative commodity, like any other," warns Ms. Gomes. "Offenders must be severely punished, in proportion to the harm they cause to residents" who are struggling to find housing.

In early February, the city of Marseille also obtained civil convictions against two owners for the illegal operation of 23 furnished tourist accommodations.

The companies of two multi-property owners, an orthopedic surgeon from Périgueux and a Parisian developer who invested in seasonal rentals by dividing apartments in two buildings in the city center, must pay heavy fines, respectively 171.000 euros and 40.000 euros.