Recommendations for Selling Agent and French Solicitor to sell property

You have not a snowballs chance in hell of selling a property with a leaseback in position

My lease finished 2 years ago. Once I enquired about terminating it they sent me details about new lease or paying €20,000 eviction tax to get my apartment back  I have contacted a French Solicitor that was recommended on this site and she has quoted me €1000 for the Bailiff and her services to exit the Leaseback pay the eviction tax etc - all of which will take a year. I asked a number of questions I wanted verified and she wants a further €300 + VAT for that and if I decide to sell it as a leaseback and lose 50% of what I originally paid,she has a Estate  Agent contact who will sell it for me - presumably at an extortionate 12%.  When will this nightmare end.   I believe there is a Greek Solicitor in France  who is well informed and not out to clear my bank account.  Does anyone have contact details for him?

My lease finished 2 years ago. Once I enquired about terminating it they sent me details about new lease or paying €20,000 eviction tax to get my apartment back  I have contacted a French Solicitor that was recommended on this site and she has quoted me €1000 for the Bailiff and her services to exit the Leaseback pay the eviction tax etc - all of which will take a year. I asked a number of questions I wanted verified and she wants a further €300 + VAT for that and if I decide to sell it as a leaseback and lose 50% of what I originally paid,she has a Estate  Agent contact who will sell it for me - presumably at an extortionate 12%.  When will this nightmare end.   I believe there is a Greek Solicitor in France  who is well informed and not out to clear my bank account.  Does anyone have contact details for him?

My lease finished 2 years ago. Once I enquired about terminating it they sent me details about new lease or paying €20,000 eviction tax to get my apartment back  I have contacted a French Solicitor that was recommended on this site and she has quoted me €1000 for the Bailiff and her services to exit the Leaseback pay the eviction tax etc - all of which will take a year. I asked a number of questions I wanted verified and she wants a further €300 + VAT for that and if I decide to sell it as a leaseback and lose 50% of what I originally paid,she has a Estate  Agent contact who will sell it for me - presumably at an extortionate 12%.  When will this nightmare end.   I believe there is a Greek Solicitor in France  who is well informed and not out to clear my bank account.  Does anyone have contact details for him?

Leaseback leases don't end, unless the lessor voluntarily gives up your property or if they agree to leave with you paying them an eviction indemnity. At the end of the term, if you don't sign another lease, the old one continues on the same terms... I went through this and the chance of getting them out without paying an eviction fee is very slim, a judge would need to decide this and you would need lots of evidence of them breaking the terms of the lease such as non payment of rent and commands de payer to prove non payment.  Eviction indemnities are normally 3 to 5 times annual turnover of the apartment - this isn't what you receive in rent, it is the turnover of your apartment, without any deductions, normally averaged over 3 years.  Solicitors fees for either route are expensive.  I would recommend you get the apartment valued by a local estate agent to see its value without a lease. You can then work out whether that, plus the eviction fee, VAT repayment and legal fees is better than trying to sell with a lease. Best of luck!

Thanks Polaris.  Does anyone know a Solicitor who is experienced in Leaseback who will  charge less than 300 + VAT an hour (what I have been quoted by Laurent Delanoe, Solicitor.  Preferably a Solicitor in the South.

Thanks in advance

Thanks Polaris.  Does anyone know a Solicitor who is experienced in Leaseback who will  charge less than 300 + VAT an hour (what I have been quoted by Laurent Delanoe, Solicitor.  Preferably a Solicitor in the South.

Thanks in advance

They are all bandits - notaries, solicitors, estate agents and management teams - pay the eduction fee and get your life back. I would suggest you negotiate directly with your management company and cut the line of crooks waiting to take your money. Once out sell it without a leaseback but be prepared to take a loss, they were all over priced to begin with

• Primarily because there is a commercial lease attached to your property the management company is entitled by law, to keep the property for the duration of the lease (each lease is normally between 9 to 11 years).  

• When the lease expires you can decide to renew or not. The management company has the right to renew the lease unless the owner informs the company at least six months before the term ends via recorded post or bailiff.  

• A leaseback is a commercial contract and commercial contracts in France typically include language for automatic renewal. If you do not wish to renew you must notify the management company at least 6 months before the end of the term of the contract. 

• However, if you do not renew, the management company is entitled to claim an eviction compensation in accordance with the French commercial code. This penalty for non-renewal should be determined in the contract. [Check the contract to see is the eviction indemnity amount specified...]

Breaking or exiting a french Leaseback contract mid-stream is difficult as French commercial leases are subject to public order legislation specifically designed to give lessees a high level of protection and guarantee over the continuity of the lease, so a commercial lease term is for a minimum period of 9 years. This legislation associated with commercial leases gives cover for Management Companies to request an eviction indemnity of about 3 times the highest year in the last 3 years rental turnover.Also at the 9 year stage when the existing Lease ends an owner (the landlord) needs to be vigilant  - unless the lessor (the property owner) gives the notice to the lessee  (management company) to terminate the lease (served by a Bailiff) it will be automatically renewed for a further period of 9 years. The Bailiff delivering the Notice of termination in writing should reside in the location of the Managemnet Company (not at the location of the property) I know under French commercial law the tenant  cannot agree to waive the eviction indemnity in advance of the Lease being signed. The Leasee can only waive it after the signing of the lease. 

Please see attached hyperlink to a court case taken on the eviction indemnity. It was in Montpellier Court of Appeal, January 10, 2017, 14/06714

An owner contested the eviction indemnity on terminating the lease contract after the 9 years had expired.The Notaire used is recorded as being based in Beziers. According to French law, the tenant (lessee) cannot waive in advance in the lease his right to an eviction indemnity in case of non-renewal of the commercial lease.

He can waive this right to damages AFTER signing the commercial lease.  The facts in this case, state the operator is a pro of this industry. He waives his right to an eviction indemnity prior to signing the Lease contract knowing well that this clause is without legal ground. Even if, it was for the lessor (the property owner) a substantial condition of the contract, i.e. one main reason why the buyer agreed to the leaseback. The operator of the leaseback property falsely reassured the buyer/lessor in the legitimate belief that his renunciation constituted a real commitment.

This behaviour is analyzed as a “wilful misrepresentation” (dol in French), meaning a fraud when writing the contract.The court ruled that the tenant (commercial operator) acted with the intention to willfully misrepresent the content of the lease contract.

Please note that this sort of success in court in relation to an eviction indemnity concerning leasebacks is a rarity so the facts of the case obviously favoured the owner.https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/juri/id/JURITEXT000036697268Cour d'appel de Montpellier, 10 janvier 2017, 14/06714 - LégifranceCour d'appel de Montpellier, 10 janvier 2017, 14/06714www.legifrance.gouv.fr

Owners should also look at a decision of the Court of Appeal of Poitiers from November 30, 2021 no. 20/01412 in which amongst other issues, the Court ordered that the drafting Notaires must cary 70% of the cost of the evection indemnity, due to the defective drafting of the leases, i.e. as professionals they ought to have known that a no eviction indemnity clause was contrary to public order ( professional negligence ). 

We are suing our notaire who allowed such a clause in the original and renewal (2nd.) lease, as well as the management company. They are both the experts in property law; we relied on them.