Social housing lawyer in Paris: asserting your rights, defending your lease.

The firm first examines the application on file, the household's needs and the decisions actually received from the body concerned. A transfer request must explain why the current housing no longer meets the family, professional or personal situation. Income, household composition, disability or current housing conditions must be established by consistent documents. The firm can then identify a problem in the processing of the application, a refusal to be examined or a step that is insufficiently documented in the file presented. A DALO appeal is subject to its own conditions: it is not the same as an ordinary transfer request to a social landlord. The first analysis therefore serves to determine the useful application, its addressee and the supporting documents still needed, without presuming that housing will be allocated.

Article L. 441-2-3 of the French Construction and Housing Code sets out several situations in which the mediation commission may be approached. The appeal may in particular concern a person who has received no suitable offer after the applicable period, subject to the regulatory conditions of access to social housing. Some situations allow a referral without that wait, notably having no housing, facing eviction without rehousing or living in premises unfit for habitation. For overcrowding and certain situations of unfit housing, the text sets particular conditions relating in particular to the household or to disability. The file must therefore set out precisely the situation relied on, the steps taken and the housing needs actually established. The firm compares these elements with the statutory conditions in order to prepare a reasoned application, accompanied by the documents useful for its examination.

A favourable decision of the mediation commission must be read together with its notification, the characteristics of the housing taken into account and the follow-up given. Article L. 441-2-3-1 of the French Construction and Housing Code provides for an action where the priority applicant has not received a suitable offer within the regulatory period. The administrative court may then order the State to provide housing or rehousing, possibly with a daily penalty payment (astreinte), under the statutory conditions. The firm checks the admissibility of the application, any offers made and the household's current needs before framing the application. This procedure seeks performance of the obligation to provide housing; in itself, it is not a claim for damages. Tenancy proceedings brought by the social landlord must also be followed according to their own documents and deadlines.

A culpable failure by the State to implement the priority decision may engage its liability for disruption to living conditions. The examination concerns in particular whether the situation that led to the decision persists, the housing conditions, the length of the failure and the household. Compensation therefore does not follow from a flat amount applicable to all applicants: the consequences suffered must be set out and justified. A prior claim for compensation must be addressed to the administration, and the conditions for bringing proceedings before the administrative court must then be examined. The Council of State (Conseil d'État) holds that this failure engages the liability of the State “even where the person concerned has not used the application for an injunction against the State provided for by Article L. 441-2-3-1 of the Construction and Housing Code” (CE, 5e ch., 21 February 2018, No. 405766, our translation). Finally, the daily penalty payment provided for by Article L. 441-2-3-1 is paid to the fund designated by law; it is not the applicant's personal compensation.

A family link is not enough: Article 14 of the Law of 6 July 1989 designates the beneficiaries and the conditions for continuation or transfer. For descendants, it requires in particular shared life with the tenant for at least one year at the date of the death or abandonment. A departure must not automatically be equated with the abandonment of the home referred to in the text: its characterisation must be examined. Article 40 adds the conditions specific to social housing, concerning allocation and the suitability of the housing, subject to the exceptions it provides for. In that case, the descendant lived alone in housing unsuited to the descendant's household, according to the findings accepted by the judges. The Court holds that “he could not claim the transfer of the lease in his favour” (Cass. 3e civ., 20 December 2018, No. 18-10.124, our translation). The firm therefore checks the status of the beneficiary, the proof of shared life and any exceptions that may apply.

You need to obtain the specific evidence relied on by the landlord: inspection records, statements, financial transfers or documents relating to occupation of the premises. Article L. 442-8 of the French Construction and Housing Code lays down a prohibition on subletting, subject to the exceptions provided for by law. The defence must therefore examine whether the premises were actually made available, the conditions of occupation and the nature of any sums paid. Presenting a situation as mere accommodation is not enough where the documents describe an occupation paid for by a third party. In the Bobigny judgment cited on this page, the court set the tenant's explanations against several consistent items of evidence. The firm prepares a documented response on each element in dispute and on the consequences sought by the landlord, in particular termination or the return of sub-rent.

The file must distinguish between an explained absence, actual occupation and a situation in which the leaseholder has ceased to live in the premises personally. The firm examines the lease, the reasons for the absence and the documents that make it possible to reconstruct where the tenant actually resided. Inspection records, consumption data, witness statements or letters must be read together, taking account of their date and their respective weight. A general reply is no substitute for documents capable of explaining the specific facts relied on by the landlord in support of its claim. The Versailles judgment cited on this page recalls the requirement to prove the breach and its sufficient seriousness in order to obtain termination. The defence may therefore concern whether the failure to occupy is real, the documented explanations and the sanction sought before the court.

You need to provide the writ of summons and its annexes, the lease, the letters exchanged and the documents relevant to the facts alleged against the tenant. The defence varies according to whether the claim rests on unpaid rent, alleged subletting, failure to occupy or other breaches relied on by the landlord. The firm examines the procedure, whether the complaints are well founded and the claims that can be put to the court in light of the documents. Hearing dates, notifications and enforcement documents must be noted in order to determine the responses needed at each stage of the procedure. Recognition of DALO priority must not lead to these proceedings being left undefended: the two steps serve distinct purposes. The possibilities of remaining in the home, of regularisation or of applying for time to pay or leave must be assessed according to the basis of the action and the situation shown.

The social landlord remains bound by the obligations set out in Article 6 of the Law of 6 July 1989, notably as regards maintenance and peaceful enjoyment. The request must identify the defects, the work expected and the reports already sent to the landlord, with proof of receipt. Dated photos, inspection records, available reports and written exchanges make it possible to document the condition of the housing and how the situation has developed over time. A claim for compensation also requires setting out the consequences actually suffered, their duration and the elements linking them to the landlord's obligations. The existence of a defect does not dispense with examining its origin and who is responsible for the work requested in the situation concerned. The firm thus distinguishes between the request for works, the discussion of responsibilities and the assessment of the loss that the documents can support.