This is yet another victory for the City of Paris against the Airbnb tourist accommodation rental platform. The Paris judicial court sentenced the company Airbnb Ireland to a fine of more than 8 million euros for having maintained since 2017 ads without a registration number, yet mandatory.
In detail, the court sentenced the company to a civil fine of 8,000 euros per advertisement for the rental of furnished tourist accommodation published without a declaration number – the Town Hall identified 1,010 – for “Breach of the obligations of the tourism code”, as stated in the judgment, consulted by AFP.
The court has “Taking into account the seriousness of the breach in question, its duration and its effects with regard to the general interest objective of combating the shortage of rental accommodation” in the capital, thereby sanctioning “Uncivil attitude” the American platform, “Whose economic balance is based on the provision of housing by Parisians”.
Extension of registration number
Airbnb, which must also pay 10,000 euros to the City for the costs of the proceedings, announced Thursday morning, a few hours before the judgment was known, that it would automatically make this registration number compulsory for all its Parisian rental companies afterwards. have applied it on 1er April for new announcements.
Airbnb announced in a press release that this measure would apply to Bordeaux from the end of July, to Lyon from the start of the school year, then to Lille, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, Strasbourg and Toulouse by the end of the year. The site has also created a “Portal for cities”, aimed at ensuring that the latter report advertisements that do not comply with local regulations.
“It took four years for Airbnb to end up respecting the law”, commented Ian Brossat, deputy (PCF) for housing of the mayor (PS) of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, recalling that “From 2017, the law provided that cities have the possibility of creating a registration number, and that platforms [so]are required to remove advertisements without a registration number ‘.
Airbnb “Is a company that has long been used to a form of impunity”, while “Other platforms had respected the law from the start, without having to be dragged into court”, commented Mr. Brossat, before adding that a similar procedure was underway against Abritel.
In Paris, as in other cities in France, owners who wish to rent their main residence on the platform cannot exceed a ceiling of 120 overnight stays per year. Beyond that, they must request a change of use from the town hall on which they depend.
In February, the City of Paris had won a legal victory in the showdown it is leading with tourist rental platforms. The highest French court had found this regulation to comply with European law, which had allowed the City of Paris to prosecute hundreds of unscrupulous donors. In addition, a decree published in mid-June already allows it to regulate the transformation of commercial premises into furnished tourist accommodation.