SCI & Legal Structures

When the Architecte des Bâtiments de France Blocks Your Insulation

Nearly a third of French homes sit inside a heritage perimeter where one official can veto your insulation. What the architecte des bâtiments de France can refuse, how to appeal, and why a refusal does not make an F-rated flat lettable again.

The Commission Départementale de Conciliation, Explained

A tenant or landlord can bring the other before a free, State-run conciliation body long before any court is involved. What it can examine, whether its findings bind anyone, and why not turning up is the worst move available.

No Attestation, No Lease: the One-Month Insurance Rule That Can End a French Tenancy

A Montpellier court has evicted a tenant not for unpaid rent but for failing to hand over an insurance certificate. Why the judge had no discretion, the one-month clock behind the ruling, and the two levers every French landlord should understand.

Buying or Selling a Tenanted Property in France? The Lease Survives the Sale

In France the lease follows the walls. Article 1743 hands the tenant to your buyer, deposit obligations included, and the congé pour vendre is the only clean way to sell empty. What buyers inherit, what sellers keep, and where the traps are.

Who Can Actually Sign Your French Lease? Indivision, Usufruct and SCI Traps That Get Tenants Evicted

After an inheritance or through a family SCI, many foreign landlords sign French leases without fully owning the property. Article 595, article 815-3 and the two-thirds rule decide whether that lease stands - or gets the tenant evicted.

The English Investor Guide: How to Create a Société Civile in France

For many British investors looking across the Channel, the dream of owning French property—whether a Parisian apartment or a farmhouse in Dordogne—often leads to...