Paris Apartment Rental

I have rented in France every year for over a decade. This year, I found a great place at Paris Attitude. I had never used an agency before, and will never do it again. There were all kinds of requirements, such as the ones you list. I also had to pay the agency fee prior to getting the contract. They required that I buy French insurance coverage for the apartment. And I sent the entire payment (to avoid bank fees) and the reaction was alittle off. I used them, because there have been several stories lately about people being scammed through vacation rentals. Warnings to never wire money, use a credit card (no one takes them for this,) etc. Never again. Way too much work and hassle. I stuck with it because I loved the apartment and had invested a lot of effort to it.

We rented an apartment on the Ile St. Louis, 60 Euros a night and required no deposit. Very quick repiles from owner, please message me if you want more info!

That deposit seems really excessive based on my most recent experience. I booked and apartment in the 2nd Ar. this past September through AirB&B and paid the cost of the rental upfront (no deposit). AirB&B holds that money until you complete your stay and then the tenant gets the money. I have no complaints from the whole process. If you need to cancel there are ways that you can cancel with minimal penalty depending on the apartment. Hope this helps!

Holley,
I decided not to use My Apartment in Paris and also Paris Attitude for just that reason (too much up-front money and too high of security deposit). I had originally been interested in them because the actual apartment rent was cheaper than the others (Paris Best Lodge, VRBO, etc). But in the long run, after the agency fee, security deposit, etc. they weren't any cheaper. I found my apartment on VRBO and there's no agency fee, he only wanted 350 Euro deposit to hold the reservation ( the rest in cash on arrival) and only 250 Euro damage deposit refundable when leaving. I did check Trip Advisor for reviews before deciding and on this forum VRBO seems to have a pretty good rep. I've never heard of having to fax your passport/credit card. Good luck.

We rented two apts from Paris Attitude and had a good experience with them. We had to pay an agency fee as Sue said, but even with that fee the price of the apts was less than other agencies. We rented two very nice apts on Ile Saint Louis (my favorite neighborhood in Paris - normally very expensive and a lot of agencies don't have any apts there to rent) for a very low amount, $90/night and $110/night respectively (it was for a month - they give a better price for that long). We did not have to send a copy of a cc or passport. We had to pay the deposit money in cash the day we took possession of each apt but we got it back the day we left. They did not force us to pay for insurance - it was optional. It was a bit of a hassle sending money to the agency and to two owners, and having cash for the deposits, so, for that reason alone I plan to rent from VIP.com next time - if I can afford it (they're more expensive than PA). VIP is an American company and you can pay by cc. Much easier. But we had a good experience with Paris Attitude and they are a lot cheaper than a lot of other agencies. At least they were summer of 2010.