Paris student fined €20,000 for exceeding Airbnb rental limits during study abroad
A student in Paris is facing a €20,000 fine after renting out her apartment while studying abroad, in a case that highlights France's increasingly strict enforcement of short-term rental regulations.
The woman rented out her Paris apartment for a total of 400 nights between 2019 and 2020 while completing an internship in Amsterdam and a university course in London. She let the property for 253 nights in 2019 and 152 nights in 2020, substantially exceeding the maximum number of nights permitted under Paris law.
At the time of the rentals, the legal limit was 120 days per year for primary residences. Paris was the first city in France to implement a stricter 90-day limit, which came into effect on January 1, 2025, under the Loi Le Meur passed in November 2024. Under French law, a primary residence is defined as a home where the owner lives for at least eight months per year.
Court rules internship was not a professional obligation
The City of Paris initially took the student to court, but she won both in the Paris court and on appeal. She argued that she had a professional reason for renting out the property while abroad.
However, the City appealed to the Cour de cassation, France's highest criminal and civil court. The court ruled that renting out a main residence as a furnished let for more than 90 days per year is punishable by a fine of up to €10,000 per year, making the student liable for €20,000 over the two-year period.
The decision ultimately turned on the precise wording of the law. The student had argued a "professional reason" (motif professionnel), but the law requires a "professional obligation" (obligation professionnelle). The court determined that she was not legally obligated to take an internship or a course of study, unlike an employee being transferred abroad by their employer.
Paris intensifies enforcement efforts
The case comes as Paris has dramatically stepped up enforcement of short-term rental regulations. The city issued nearly €1 million in fines for illegal short-term rentals in the first quarter of 2026 alone, backed by a new 150-person enforcement brigade. Paris Deputy Mayor for Housing has stated that the city aims to reclaim approximately 20,000 apartments from illegal Airbnb rentals.
New regulations that came into force on May 20, 2026, now require all furnished holiday lets to have a registration number from the mairie. Under these rules, platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com must transmit rental data monthly to the French government, which forwards it to eligible municipalities for enforcement purposes. This EU Short-Term Rental Data Regulation requires all short-term rental hosts across Europe to register on a pan-European database.
Paris has also cracked down on lockboxes, which renters use to access keys without meeting property owners. The lockbox ban, announced in January 2025, carries fines of up to €1,500 for first-time offenders and €3,000 for repeat violations. Property owners were given 15 days to remove the devices before city services destroy them. Similar efforts have been launched in Lille, Annecy, Saint-Malo, and Nice.
Part of a Europe-wide trend
France's regulatory tightening reflects a broader European movement to control short-term rentals. Major cities including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Vienna, and Edinburgh have implemented similar restrictions in 2026, with Amsterdam reducing its annual cap to as low as 15 nights in some high-demand districts.
The pressure on housing is particularly acute in Paris, which drew nearly 50 million tourists in 2025. France is the short-term rental industry's biggest market outside the United States, with more than 1 million listings nationwide.