Tag: Case law
Leave a French Property to Rot and the Town Can Take It: the Constitutional Court Just Confirmed It
Own a French property and let it stand empty and crumbling? A commune can expropriate it on a fast-track procedure - and on 22 May 2026 the Conseil constitutionnel confirmed that procedure is constitutional.
A Small Debt, a Whole Home: France Tightens the Rules on Disproportionate Property Seizure (Cour de cassation, 21 May 2026)
Can a creditor force-sell your French home over a debt that is small next to its value? On 21 May 2026 the Cour de cassation reset how judges must answer - and it cuts both ways.
Going Around the French Estate Agent: When Foreign Buyers Owe the Commission Anyway (Civ. 3e, 7 May 2026)
A 7 May 2026 Cour de cassation ruling holds the buyer personally liable for €150,000 of damages — the full agent commission — when knowledge of the agent's right to fee, plus a behaviour pattern of evasion, evidences manœuvres frauduleuses under articles 1200 and 1240 of the Code civil.
French Expropriation Ruling: Foreign Owners Can Add the Lost-Rent Indemnity on Appeal
A Cour de cassation ruling of 9 April 2026 confirms that a property owner expropriated in France can claim the indemnity for lost rental income for the first time on appeal — a useful procedural opening for any foreign owner of a let French property.
Congé pour Reprise: A Landlord’s Death Mid-Notice Voids It (2026 Ruling)
An elderly French landlady served notice to repossess her tenanted flat, then died before the preavis expired. Her son tried to step in. On 16 April 2026 the Cour de cassation said no — and drew the dividing line every cross-border landlord now needs to know.
France’s 120-Day Airbnb Cap: The Cour de cassation Closes the ‘Internship’ Loophole (Civ. 3e, 16 April 2026)
The Cour de cassation has ruled that a student internship — even one embedded in a university curriculum — does not count as a 'professional obligation' for the purposes of the 120-day annual cap on tourism rentals of a French primary residence. We unpack what the 16 April 2026 ruling closes off, what it leaves intact, and how it interacts with the Loi Le Meur tightening.