Earn three times the amount of the rent. A recurring expression that echoes in all real estate agencies. Today, the residents of Nice are divided into two categories: property owners who benefit from the rising residential rents, and the others. Those who have to resort to multiple schemes to be able to occupy one; if they fail to prove sufficient income, earning three times the amount of the rent…
A student at the Faculty of Arts in Nice, his summer goal is straightforward: Find housing. In Nice, it turns out to be a real challenge. A partially declared waiter job in Old Nice, single friends, and good looks have kept him from ever sleeping outdoors. Originally from the capital, he has already navigated the maze of rental applications. Last year, a part-time job and an acquaintance of an acquaintance were enough for him to secure a three-year lease in the 14th arrondissement. In Nice, he doesn’t know many people. He tried private ads, the internet, agencies from private to private, private internet ads… The question comes back like a leitmotif: “Young man, do you earn three times the amount of the rent?” Negative response after negative response.
“I broke up with my girlfriend, I had no choice,” he adds. “With a computer, it’s not hard.” Fake and forgery. “It’s either that or nothing. I have no one who can vouch for me.” Three pay stubs created on the fly thanks to a program downloaded from the net. A photocopied employment contract. A salary adjusted to three times the rent. Re-photocopy. The student is now armed to face the real estate agencies. “Salespeople, real estate agents like that,” he recounts his meeting at the agency: “A real piece of theater. I played the role of a young executive in a suit and tie. I pretended to have a business discussion on the phone. I was describing a so-called software program that I was selling to professional clients. I knew this program because I sold it as a telemarketer last year during a summer job. I knew it well, it seemed real. With a smile on his face, he concludes: “I got it in the end and I never had trouble paying my rent!”
The insurmountable guarantee for unpaid rents
Elodie, management assistant at CL Immo agency in Nice admits, “Since all agencies offer guarantees for unpaid rents, it is much harder to appear solvent.” She points to a sheet above her desk titled “documents to provide.” “Three pay stubs, a permanent contract of more than one year, a salary of three times…” “That’s what insurance companies demand to be considered solvent.” A formalism with no alternative. “They are very strict. These types of insurances have flooded the real estate market. Agencies commissioned on their subscriptions therefore do not hesitate to offer them. “About 80% of the owners subscribe to it with us,” Elodie specifies.
Albert Pastorino (the surname has been changed), a real estate agent, blames the state: “In reality, it’s the law on household over-indebtedness that is at the root of the problem. It limits the individual’s indebtedness to a third, and agencies cannot deviate from it. Insurance companies just align and comply with the law.” Legislation adopted to protect the interests of French households…
Some people are luckier. Julie, a student pharmacy technician just picked up her housing assistance file at one of Nice’s Family Allowance Funds. “A week before arriving in Nice, I responded to an ad on the Internet. I came across a young teacher who trusted me.” She realizes her luck and admits, “I know I remain an exception; many friends have had much more difficulty or are still looking.”
Albert Pastorino admits with a hint of sarcasm: “Sometimes, we come across files that we know are falsified or don’t seem clear. But you know, we are paid by the rental fees… As long as the file gets past the insurance barrier in Paris… It becomes so difficult to find solvent tenants… Even more difficult when they are students staying in Nice!”
