How do you tell a prospective landlord that you are interested in their apartment, but not wire them money?

Just tell them.

The deposit is to hold it for you, if you’re not sure, don’t send it.

You need to stay in a hostel the first night or two (or week) while you look at the apartments you might be interested in. Don’t bother searching for places now if you’re not going to rent one without viewing it. Wait until a week or so before you fly, and make a list of the places you’re interested in, and appointments to view them when you first get there.

Are you studying at a university there? Ask their office of international students to help you find a place. My school has tons of resources for int’l students who come here.

It’s likely that if they are asking for money to be wired at all, they are scam artists. People who do good business know that asking for something like this is unacceptable.

I understand why it would be necessary for them to “hold” the apartment, and money is definitely a way to show them I am serious about it. But all the Craigslist emails and stuff say, “CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY—- AVOID SCAMS BY DEALING LOCALLY
** Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home
** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping.” Wiring money is the first thing on there. I would really like to walk into my apartment when I arrive…hahaha.

Well it sounds like you have a Catch-22, because you don’t want to rent the apartment until you view it, but you also want to already have an apartment rented when you arrive. Which one do you actually want?

But I also don’t want to wire money because that is stupid.

You are right La chica gomla, I would much rather view the apartments first and deal with landlords face to face than via email and western union. I really like your idea about staying in a hostel or hotel at first. I will definitely consider that. I am also open to other ideas. Thank you guys so much I really appreciate it.

Contact a local realtor who has an international connection. They probably deal with legitimate property management companies all over the world. The property manager in Paris will have to pay a small referal fee to the local agent, but you will be sure to be dealing with professionals and not get scammed, although you may still have to rent the place “sight unseen.”

The Craigslist housing section is rife with scams requiring money transfers. You’re wise to be suspicious.

A local tracvel agent may also be able to help you find legitimate rental companies. Doesn’t the school have a housing placement program too?

Interesting, when I advertised houses, I got lots of answers from people in Europe who said they were interested, etc. but I would have to wait for them to see it. After the 2nd or 3rd, I realized this response was a scam.

Ask Ben and Andrew how they found their place. They were in France to work.

As someone who was subletting, I basically wrote off everyone who emailed me from a foreign nation as “probably a scam”.

I would look into student housing services rather than craigslist to find housing overseas, like http://student-apartment-paris.paristay.com/

@EmpressPixie We still are in paris.

I skyped with the person to make sure she was legit before I wired in the security deposit.

Where are you looking? I have some friends here who might be able to help you out.

Also, the big risk here isn’t really that someone is going to scam you. Talk to them on the phone.

The risk is that the apartment will look good in the photos and not as grand when you arrive.

Andrew,

I will be attending school at Le Cordon Bleu, which is in the 15eme. I would like to have an apartment there, although right now anywhere in the city is better than nothing.

My email address is hsrsmith AT gmail DOT com

The answers I was receiving all had a similar theme, the person was in some humanitarian work, nursing or something, and they were definite they wanted to rent—it was a paragraph long, and clearly not legit.

There is only one 100% reliable solution that most foreigners are unaware of: the huissier de justice, who is a private judicial officer with the ability to personally attest to a situation and whose constatation is the final word in a court of law.

You can pay a huissier de justice to verify that the landlord is legit, to visit the apartment and certify that the pictures are not misleading. No one here would ever rent an apartment without having a huissier personally inspect the place and report any apparent fault that the landlord didn’t mention in his ad. This is particularly important because no landlord can hold you responsible for degradations if they were reported by the huissier before you signed the lease. Without a “constat”, the landlord knows you would not want to navigate through the esoteric french legal system and are most likely to drop your deposit than challenge his word. So many landlords here prey on unaware foreigners it’s a risk you just can’t afford to take.

Now, why is the huissier so reliable? There is a limited number of licenses available so no one can create an office if the government doesn’t think it is necessary. It is extremely rare. Because licenses are in very short supply they’re also very expensive, far out of reach of most law students who have to work as apprentices for years in the hope that their boss will sell his license to them when he retires. In a sparsely populated rural area a license can cost several hundred K’s. In Paris it’s in the millions.

Then, assuming the aspiring huissier can finance 10% of the acquisition and find a bank to loan the remaining 90% (and banks don’t loan money easily here), a long and harrowing confirmation process begins, because the profession is tightly controlled by the legal system (and also because france and bureaucracy go together like surrender and white flag).

Bottom line is: an huissier will never risk losing his license unless he stands to make far more money than his office will bring in his lifetime. I hate to say it, but in this country, as a foreigner, the only person you can trust is the one who can’t afford to screw you over.

While in france, make sure you have an huissier’s hotline number on speed dial.

@Jack_Haas ; How does the questioner go about finding one?

I couldn’t find resources about huissiers in English. I’ve searched mant expat sites and message boards for recommendations but nothing came out. Worse, the Us embassy website doesn’t make the difference between a notary and a huissier even though their roles in society are totally different. They list notaries, attorneys but not a single huissier.

I Would suggest visiting their professional organization’s website at

www.huissiersdeparis.com.

Directory is at http://huissiersdeparis.com/annuaire-des-huissiers/fr/

You can search by district (arrondissement) and find email addresses by clicking on the names.

It’s probably best to inquire directly by email in English to make sure at least a clerk is fluent.