Attestation d’hébergement: Dos & Don’ts?

This article concerns Students who are using accommodations that provide only an “attestation d’hébergement” and not a valid rental contract.

Hope you are aware of the following risks and the basic rights that you are missing out.

Attestation d’hébergement should only be given free of charge and no rent must be charged for it. It’s illegal to give or take money for this document.
The person giving the attestation and the person receiving it should live at the same address. It cannot be issued to someone not living at the address.
If you are the host, it is recommended to issue this attestation only to the people whom you trust. The document can be easily misused for so many illegal purposes.
If you are renting, you can host someone free-of-charge as long as there are no explicit restrictions in the rental contract.
If someone is charging rent against this attestation, it means that the rental is not declared to the tax department and the person is not paying the relevant taxes. So, it becomes an illegal accommodation doing tax evasion, etc.

If you are using the “attestation d”hébergement” as an address proof, you have to attach the following documents along with the attestation.

Modèle de lettre – Attestation d’hébergement
An identity proof of the landlord or the tenant.
- French or European Citizen: Photocopie of the National ID card.
- Non-European Citizen: Photocopies of the Passport and a valid french titre/carte de sejour.
An utility bill less than 3 months old. For example electricity bill, gas bill, landline number bill, mobile number bill, etc.

Students are entitled to a housing subsidy called APL from CAF. Around 35-40% of the rent is subsidized by the French govt. This allocation can go higher for job seekers.
A valid rental contract is mandatory for this subsidy.
If you aren’t staying in a legal accommodation, you are missing out on this important subsidy.
So, CROUS residences should be your first option. If not, try to find private accommodation that provides a valid rental contract via Studapart, seloger, etc. You can find all the relevant information in the following article.

Everything to know about a student accommodation in France?

If you think that you are paying a lot less for illegal accommodation, you are losing many other things.
You won’t be able to declare income taxes if the landlord doesn’t provide all the required documents. Students can submit a zero-tax declaration if they are not earning any income. This is very important for so many things in the future, including the 10-year resident card and French citizenship via naturalization.
The landlord can ask you to leave at any time even during nights or winter months. This can get very complicated.
Often, these landlords don’t return the rental deposits. It gets complicated because the tenant is equally responsible for this situation.
France has a winter truce between November and March. So, a landlord cannot evict a tenant during these months. However, this protection may not be applicable to people living illegally without a contract.
Students might face some issues while renewing their student visas. Often, the landlords of these illegal accommodations don’t provide the documents required for the process.