I had heard so many times before that to search for an apartment is a nightmare in Paris but I really never believed the commentaries until I had to look for one. In order to be elegible for even being considered as a good tenant for a flat you need be a millionaire, a friend of someone in the most influencing circles and a high rank member of a masonic lodge. And that’s just to be in equal terms with the other candidates that post their dossiers along with you. Once the owner receives dozens of these, he studies them carefully (?) choosing the one that presents the smallest risk to his property (for example, a couple seems not to be as dangerous as a single man who might destroy the premises any night when he arrives late at home after partying with his comrades). Just for the record, a complete dossier requires at least the following:
- Your three last receipts of payment: if you just started working you may provide your copy of the contract, however, if this is the case, it is possible that you are still in the trial period and your dossier has lost many points already. In addition, you must be able to demonstrate that you earn at least three times the value of the monthly fee of the apartment.
- A copy of your identity card: if your tenant has any prejudices against your origins (country for example) you’ve already lost more points.
- A RIB (relevé d’identité bacaire): you better have a well known bank.
- A bailsman (garant): not just anyone, it has to be someone that on its own earns three times what you will pay monthly for your flat and he needs to present the same documents as you plus his last receipt of taxes payed the last year. If your bailsman has not been living for more than a year as a salarié and he hasn’t payed taxes, you lose more points. You may be tempted to ask that well known bank mentioned before to be your garant, but be advised that you need to freeze a whole year of rent in the bank and pay 2% of the amount frozen every trimester (suppose a thousand euro rent, you would be freezing 12,000 euros and paying 240 euros every three months). You may be also tempted to use loca-pass: it is not well seen and not widely accepted, neither by agencies nor particulars.
- A tad of luck so the stars are aligned at the proper angle and the universe conspires for:
- You liking the piece of shit that Parisian apartments usually are.
- The owner thinking you are elegible to take even though you meet all his constraints.
- Nobody else who earns more than you presenting their dossier.
- Being able to pay the ridiculous amounts of money asked for the space that in any other city or country would buy you a really nifty flat.
And yes, after all these, the people in the agencies say good-bye, after not offering you anything worth it, with a big fat “Bonne recherce!”.
Photo taken by awk @ the Georges Pompidou Museum in Paris (March 2008)
