myol

I've been living in an apartment in France for a few months now but with noise issues and a leak. I have house insurance through the rental agency (i know..), which basically acts as a subsidiary of a larger dedicated insurance company. In relation to investigating and fixing the leak the rental agency are pretty much ignoring my emails. I contacted the dedicated insurance company directly who seems to be on a close basis with the rental agency, as in their response they CC'd in a number of employees of the rental agency.

Long story short, the insurance company threatened that if the leak is not repaired I will loose my rental deposit. A friend living nearby has also experienced water damage and so far over 14 months nothing has happened.
The noise issue is unrelated and something that cannot be resolved or even reported (it's too low to be recorded). It is badly affecting my health, so I need to find a new apartment asap.

I have read that the notice period of leaving an apartment is three months. The regie will not fix the leak in that time so I believe I have a high chance of loosing that money as already threatened by the insurance company. As far as I'm concerned the deposit money is gone.

What other issues can occur from leaving an apartment before the three month notice period, asides from loosing my deposit? Can I be blacklisted somewhere from renting? Can they communicate that other rental agencies? Would my credit rating be affected?

I plan to give my notice period soon so that other agencies can contact my rental agency for references without raising suspicion, but i plan to see the three months through only if I have trouble finding a new apartment.

G-J-B

I'm sure someone much better informed than myself will come along to offer you assurances. I am surprised by the insurance situation - as long as you declared the problem as soon as it was seen, none of it should be coming out of your own pocket as far as I am aware. Has the rental agency's insurance done nothing to rectify the situation? Keep copies of your communication with them. Does your insurance situation include protection juridique? If it does I would be straight onto them to sort it out from a legal perspective; the costs will be covered by the terms of your insurance.

You'd have to look at your contract, but I believe 3 months notice is the norm - just make sure it's done in writing and you send it registered with a return signature, three months from the date of your letter.

EuroTrash

France doesn't really have the concept of "credit rating" so don't worry about that.
French rental law is very specific on what documents a landlord can and can't ask a prospective tenant for. This may help https://www.service-public.fr/partic...osdroits/F1169

dmu

Hi, and welcome to the forum!
Just to clarify, what type of leak and is it causing "dégâts des eaux" either in neighbours' appartments or your own? Whatever, have you called in a plumber to deal with the immediate problem? He will give a Devis (Estimate) for the repairs, which you must present to the Insurance company for assessment. Your friend should have done the same, well before now....
AFAIK the insurance company can't make such threats about losing the deposit - normal house insurance is separate from the Rental Contract.
As said, your 3-month notice must be sent by LRAR (Lettre Recommandée avec Accusé de Réception), otherwise it isn't legally valid.
I wasn't aware that rental agencies exchanged info on their tenants and gave references.... As said, the concept of credit rating here is simply proving that you or a Guarantor are able to pay the rent in future, based on adequate regular income.
Good luck! I realise that you've got the additional issue of landlord/tenant liability, but I commiserate, as I've got a leak in my house and my Insurance will only reimburse "finding the cause of the leak and repair of any structural damage" (= dégâts des eaux), not the plumber's actual plumbing work. I will have to pay his full bill, and hope the Insurance eventually coughs up for what's in quotes.

myol

Thank you all for the warm welcome and quick responses. I appreciate the brief education on how things should work in France, I am going to send a recorded letter tomorrow along with an email - due to the covid situation. I will look into the legal side and send some more emails to both the insurance and Regie.

As for my and my friends situation, the Regies stated they would take care of the situation; sending out plumbers, getting building work quotes etc but they really drag their feet or in my case, ignore me. In my case the neighbors are not in the country so I followed the insurance companies claim statement and asked the Regie for the building insurer and other details. Nothing.

I understand I can battle the insurance company and regie for many many months to claim back my money, but honestly, at this point I need out of the apartment asap and i don't think a months deposit is worth the time and energy I will spend chasing up this mess.

So to clarify my intentions further (if it comes to it as a last resort), what can happen if I move out early, give my keys to the Regie and just stop paying my rent and leave the leak unrepaired? I understand the deposit will be gone but can anything else happen?

dmu

Once you've given your notice, some one more in the know will confirm that you can leave when you want, BUT you're still committed to pay the rent during this notice period. You'd still be legally the tenant, so keep the keys until the day of the "état des lieux" where you must indicate all the problems which they take into account when calculating the deposit to be returned (if any).
Don't forget to send an LRAR to your insurance company to cancel your Habitation/Civil Liability Contract, since you're moving, otherwise you'll find yourself with a bill for the following year. And use an insurance company of your own choice for your next appartment!
HTH

graham.miln

I am sorry to hear about your predicament. You can move out immediately, so long as you continue paying the existing apartment's rent up to the termination of the contract.

Is this the type of situation where a visit to a notaire could be useful?

A notaire could help ensure you know your obligations and may be better able to draw a line under the situation – a letter from a notaire will carry more weight with the regies and organisations involved. Even a call from a notaire might help nudge the situation along.