I am about to book a flat outside monaco with them and wondered if anyone had any experience dealing with them? TIA x
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Hi Nico,
Property rentals is a growing industry and becoming more and more exposed to fraudeulent behaviour.
As you can imagine there are many properties advertised by both individul property owners and through rental companies.
It is often a very simple booking process - the scenerio is a few pictures on the internet acouple of emails then often large sums of money are paid and transferred - I am hearing of more and more scenerios of where money has been transferred and then the owner or company has dissappeared - so you are absolutely right to be prudent.
In france if renting a property with through a french company the legal requirement is that company has the Carte Professionelle - it is a stringent qualification of both professionalism and ethics - basically the company must be insured and checked that the monies paid are accounted for and the product offered must be what was promised.
So I suggest you check the companies qualifications, SIRET number (its company registration) its address and insurance (it is insured to protect you against fraudeulent behaviour) for example a main french insurance company is FNAIM (you will see this used on many legitimate french rental companies) Also I suggest always you have a person at that company that is ultimately accountable (many web sites do not have a name or person etc)
Some so called companies have nice web sites and nice comments from previous guests that the company has been good in past - obviously can be taken into consideration but of course to a certain degree can be open to manipulation.
Ultimately the protection offered is that if using a company - they must be registered (if renting in france and paying money in france - they must be registered under french law and insurance)
It is of course different when dealing with directly an individual property owner - they are not directly accountable under company law - the agreement is based on trust - but of course you still have contratual agreement that the payment and product must be what is as promised.
Be very careful when paying money that this information is available to you prior to any transfer - because it is your right of reddress if anything goes wrong and it is a criminal offence for someone or a comapny to take money that is not covered by this insurance.
I am not making any dispersions against rentaflatriviera - they of course may adher to the above criteria.
My comments are general comments for potential renters to look out for in an area that is becomming more and more open to misleading and fraudeulent behaviour.
For your information - I run a rentals business in Nice, France - I do not unfortunately cover the Monaco area.
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Interesting information of Mr Manion re the registrated rentals company%26#39;s
Rentaflatriviera must be new on the market, but they look alright to me.
I also looked at the site of nicepebbles
Are they registrated in France of in the UK ?
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Paul Manion are you a lawyer ::))) or you lost a lot of money with wrong companies
rentaflatriviera is ok
it%26#39;s a company of appart%26#39;hotel like citadines, citea, sejoursdusud, pierre et vacances.....
in this one, near Monaco, in beausoleil, they opened 2 years ago, les jardins d%26#39;elisa, so you can not book if you want, don%26#39;t worry
To be honnest I trust more and prefer to book in direct with an hotel or apart%26#39;hotel instead of nice pebbles per exemple.
Because nicepebbles it%26#39;s different apartment everywhere in the cities...
Rentaflatriviera.com or sejoursdusud.com per exemple it%26#39;s one building with many apartments or rooms
You will have a service hotel, breakfast if you need, cleaning service, front desk for concierge and assistance....
it%26#39;s not an intermediate in the business
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If Paul Manion is a lawyer, he%26#39;s stuck some 5 years in the past (no offence Paul I%26#39;m sure you mean well!).
I finished my masters degree on EE law 2 years ago and the law PM relies on is from the Hauge Convention of the 1970%26#39;s. It was brought in before internet, before easyjet and before EE Law and freedom of workers, etc. I don%26#39;t want to bore everyone, but basically french rules like this have been superseded by various blanket laws designed to erase individual country laws which restrict in some small way freedom of workers, movements and freedom of competiton. In the event of a dispute, EU law will prevail. The French may not advertise the change (look at how they were with the smoking ban!) but they can%26#39;t insist companies now set up in the way described. This is a good thing for consumers otherwise there would be no competition - just highly regulated but often extremely badly run organisations hiding behind their governments regulations.
I%26#39;ve booked off the web and stayed in apartments for years and I have never had any trouble with any of them. I look for expensive websites, the faciities offered and that I can pay by credit card. I also favour on-line booking. It%26#39;s that basic ecomonic rule - those companies who have spent a lot catering for the consumer are the ones who will be around for the long haul. Otherwise, why spend? If a second hand car was in two showrooms for the same price, you%26#39;d always choose the one from the plush showroom than the shabby temporary looking one.(the one where when the shifty salesman moves on with your money). Same for websites and company structure. Of course, if the same car was offered cheaper down the road in a private sale with the owner, you might take a chance on that - but you know the risks. Same with booking with an owner.
I think you shouldn%26#39;t worry too much about who you book with as long as you feel comfortable with the person / company you are booking with.
I%26#39;ve booked with Rentaflatriviera and they seem just fine to me.
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Hi Raffers,
Certainly not as qualified as your good self in law.
But to clarify.
The legal requirement is that if you are a company (whereever in the world) but rent a property in france - you have to have the Carte Proffesionelle (this qualification means you a qualified to do the job)
I am sure that as someone that has studied to be a lawyer I am sure you understand the reason behind qualifications and what they offer.
What then happens is by having this qualification (the Carte proffessionelle) you can and must have imdemnity insurance to trade (again similar to other professions) this means that ultimately the client is insured against malpractice or worse and the client is garanteed that their money is safe (and in the case of rental agents there is no fraudeulent behaviour) and the client has right of reddress.
Of course many companies cheat the system (because lack of qualification or cost involved) and do not have the relevant insurance.
and they think by having a nice and impressive looking web site - clients can be deceived.
Of course ultimately the client makes the choice - but from my professional experience (as stated) I am hearing of more and more clients who have been exploited by so called genuine businesses - I am highlighting what differentiates a genuine company that rents in France - being a company that is insured (and the client has peace of mind) and a so called company that is not insured (and the client is exposed to malpractice)
It is a criminal offence to take clients money - and to not have insurance to cover that clients money.
So as again to potential renters if renting in France - simply ask has the agency got the Carte Professionelle - then they are insured against malpractice!
It is as simple as that.
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