Paris Escalates Crackdown on Illegal Tourist Rentals as Fines Double to 100,000 Euros
France's top court upholds the Le Meur law, clearing the way for tougher enforcement in Paris.
Two converging developments show Paris hardening its stance against unauthorized short-term rentals.
On 11 June 2026, France’s Court of Cassation declined to refer a constitutional challenge to the Le Meur law, the 2024 statute that overhauled penalties for turning housing into tourist accommodation without authorization. By refusing to send the question to the Constitutional Council, the court left the law fully in force.
The Le Meur law sharply raised the cost of operating outside the rules. It doubled the civil fine for an unauthorized change of use from 50,000 to 100,000 euros per property, added a daily penalty of up to 1,000 euros per square meter until a property returns to residential use, and extended fines of up to 100,000 euros to the intermediaries that enable violations, including agencies and management companies. It also eased the evidentiary burden cities must meet to prove an illegal conversion, allowing a backlog of pending enforcement cases to move forward.
The penalties already have teeth. An April 2026 judgment imposed 585,000 euros on a property company that had converted an eleven-unit building in central Paris into tourist lets. Across 2025, its first full year under the new law, Paris recorded around 2.4 million euros in fines, up from 1.3 million the year before, and the city booked close to 1 million euros more in the first quarter of 2026 alone.
| Penalty | Before Le Meur law | Now (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Fine for illegal conversion, per property | 50,000 euros | 100,000 euros |
| Daily penalty until compliance | None | Up to 1,000 euros per square meter |
| Fine on facilitating intermediaries | None | Up to 100,000 euros |
| Example enforcement case, April 2026 | Not applicable | 585,000 euros |
| Paris total fines issued, 2025 | Not applicable | Around 2.4 million euros |
The direction of travel is clear. France has paired a higher ceiling on penalties with a lower bar to prove violations, and Paris is building the enforcement capacity to use both. Operators and the partners who service them now carry real financial exposure for any property running without the correct change-of-use authorization.
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