Landlord/Tenant law in France: Renter and or occupant bias is making it at times very difficult for landlords to take full advantage of their rights.  On the other hand, Paris is notorious for having thousands of vacant properties while there are equal numbers, if not more, of those who have no place to live at all.

This is where the group Jeudi Noir (Black Thursday) fits in, attempting to make good of John Locke's (not the one from Lost) labor theory of property.  Their goal is to get the Mairie de Paris and other political forces behind the creation of more housing that is accessible to those who cannot afford it in the Paris market.  This includes students, blue collar workers and families.  One of Jeudi Noir's techniques for this social activism is squatting vacant buildings in famous areas of the city.  Most recently, a group of their squatters was evicted from a fantastic 2500m2 17th century house on the Place des Vosges that had been sitting idle since the 1960's.  The group managed to occupy the building for over 1 year by forcing the owner to follow the proper legal process to evict the occupants.  The group was unable to overcome the law as such an outcome would have been ultimately contrary to property law as it stands in France today. Jeudi Noir did however manage to make their message heard and felt by a large portion of the French population given the acute economic problems currently being suffered in a large part of Europe and the United States.

Note that an equivalent adverse possession does exist under French law however 10 to 30 years is required in order to expropriate property from an owner who has failed to exercise their rights.

As of their latest actions, the group has now squatted 22 Avenue Matignon, which is within eyeshot of the presidential palace, l'Elysée.  This particular building is over 4000 square meters and has been sitting vacant since 2006 when the insurance giant Axa purchased the property.  Axa has threatened legal action intended to evict the occupants from the building, however under French law this may be particularly difficult between now and March 15th.

A judge may order the eviction of the occupants when there is no question as to their lack of right to occupy the property under Article 848 of the Code of Civil Procedure.  However, while the judge may enforce the order, he will no doubt be asked by the squatters to stay the eviction under article L 613-1 of the Code of Construction and Habitation (CCH, Code de la construction et de l'habitation).  Article L 613-1 states that the summary proceedings judge (juge des référés) may order a stay on the eviction legally obtained under article 1244 of the Civil Code if the occupants, habitation or professional, cannot be put in reasonable housing/professional location under normal conditions.  Moreover, this same article states that the occupants do not even have to produce a valid prior right to have occupied the property such as a written or verbal lease.

Article L 613-2 of the CCH states that the judge must also take into account the good or bad faith of the occupants and the respective situation of the landlord and the occupants such the age, health, family, wealth and the efforts made by the occupants to find housing elsewhere.  Finally, Article L 613-3 puts a nearly insurmountable bar on any evictions of habitable properties from November 1st to March 15th unless the occupants can be relocated under conditions that respect the individual and the family unit.  In other words, housing that is adapted to the occupants current situation.

So what does this mean for Axa and Jeudi Noir?  It's quite obvious that Jeudi Noir is acting with little good faith as they have intentionally squatted one of the more coveted vacant buildings in the city.  Axa does not have clean hands either as they have allowed the building to sit vacant for nearly 5 years which only invites such operations.  However, under article L 613-3 of the CCH, they are nearly guaranteed to stay there until at least March 15th.  Beyond that, and in light of the Place des Vosges squatting case law of the, Jeudi Noir will be unlikely to stay indefinitely.  But they will certainly be able to tie up the eviction in the courts for the months, if not years, to follow barring an intervention by the State for security reasons.

Recognizing this, Axa has presented some veiled "national security" arguments due to the proximity to the Elysée, but presumably the State will have to intervene to validate such an argument.  Given the current political climate and the real lack of proper housing in Paris, it would be very risky for President Sarkozy or his ministers to stand behind Axa.  This is particularly true as Axa will ultimately prevail, it is just a question of when.

As we say in French, affaire à suivre...