Jo Taylor
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Posts posted by Jo Taylor
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By the way how do most people who's clients are British receive the deposit and balance?
PayPal, or via a sterling account opened with HSBC in Jersey (with no UK address).
If you target the British market it makes sense to have the facility to accept sterling cheques.
The only other viable alternative is cash in euros, in which case you must make it clear that the property will be inspected before the deposit is returned.
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[quote user="Ron Avery"]Other than that there is no legitimate reason to have two eBay accounts.[/quote]
Many people have separate buying accounts (especially if they buy on eBay to sell on [;-)]) (or don't want their serious buyers to see what underwear they buy [:P]) and many others have separate selling accounts for different product lines - it's all perfectly above-board.
[quote user="Ron Avery"]The only thing that can be a problem is that you get Paypal correspondence in French.[/quote]
You can change the language of your PayPal account, and receive notifications in English. (But it can't be done with eBay accounts.)
JR, as you still have a UK address that's OK, as long as the address registered is that which receives your CC statements. It's also possible to add an extra delivery address to one's PayPal account, which is what you appear to have done.
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[quote user="ErnieY"]
Grand international money launderer that I am I have 2 totally separate eBay and Paypal accounts each with it's own email address and registered card.
No problem [;-)][/quote]
You can (and it's allowed) have as many eBay accounts as you like; each must have a separate email address.
Multiple eBay accounts can (and are allowed to be) associated to one PayPal account.
Multiple PayPal accounts, however, are not permitted (just one personal and one business/premier per person). It may be possible to create more then one, but you'd then be contravening the user agreement and it can (and it does happen) for all related accounts to be frozen and suspended. Separate people in the same household may of course have separate accounts.
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[quote user="Richardk"]I think what he's getting at is that to have two accounts as suggested one requires 2 different email addresses. This is because PayPal only allows an email address to be associated with one PayPal account.
[/quote]You can have up to eight email addresses on one PayPal account, but any of those cannot be registered to another PayPal account.
BUT, one person can only have one personal and one business/premier account. Creating another account by fair means or foul in another country can, if discovered, lead to suspension & freezing of all accounts. It is, as the second post said, to do with money laundering.
If you live in France, you cannot legitimately add a UK bank account to receive payments, but it appears you can add a UK Mastercard or Visa to make payments.
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All income from property letting MUST be declared and paid in France; there are no exceptions. Contracts must also be in accordance with French law:
The booking is made by signing a contract or by a simple exchange of letters. Two copies of the contract or letter must be signed when the deposit is paid. One copy must be given to the client, who must agree to the clauses contained in it. A description of the accommodation must be included if it doesn’t have an official grading. The contract or letter must also detail the following:
l
The duration of the rental.l
The price (which must not vary with the number of occupants).l
The responsibilities of the owner and tenant, which can be anything you choose, e.g. that the owner should provide x, y and z and tenants should leave the accommodation as they found it, not invite friends and family who aren’t listed as guests to stay, and supervise their children while swimming.l
The deposits and guarantee, if applicable. The deposit paid when reserving the holiday is the booking deposit (dépôt de réservation); in French law there are two types: arrhes and acompte. If the client pays an arrhes, he loses it if he cancels at any time. If the owner cancels, he must pay the client twice the amount of the deposit. If the client pays an acompte and he cancels, he must pay the whole amount due; if the owner cancels, he can simply return the deposit, but the client may claim damages. If the type of deposit isn’t specified, it’s assumed to be an arrhes, so it may be to your advantage to specify that it’s an acompte. If your contract is in English and simply uses the word ‘deposit’, you should stipulate the conditions under which it may be returned in full or in part. You should also take a security or guarantee deposit (dépôt de garantie), in case anything is damaged or broken. The contract must specify the time for the deposit to be returned. You may choose to send it back within, say, a week of the holiday’s end if there is no opportunity to inspect the property until after the guests have departed but this condition must be made clear on the contract.l
The cancellation conditions.l
Details of the taxe de séjour, if applicable.You'll find a lot more useful info in the Gites section of the forum
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We held a camping event in 2002 for owners of H Vans. It was attended by a huge number of Dutch, but instead of camping inside their vans as we'd allowed space for, they brought their tents, their kids' tents, their gazebos, their shower cubicles, their portable lav cubicles, their garden fiurniture... we had to extend into our neighbour's field and still they kept coming. [blink][:'(]
Two lots arrived three days early at 7.30am (while we still had 'normal' guests in) and set up camp on our front lawn / central courtyard: tables, chairs, barbecue, kids playing and shrieking loudly - that was the bit that woke us up. (It was a book-in-advance only event and these hadn't so we shrieked loudly back at them and they went away again. [6])
Having said that many of our favourite guests have been Dutch and several have become good friends. [kiss]
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Visitors to France by Country of Origin and Amount Spent (2005)
Country Arrivals Overnight Stays Receipts
UK and Ireland 19.7% 18.7% 15.5%
Germany 17.4% 17.6% 11.2%
Netherlands 15.3% 12.9% 5.4%
USA 3.6% 4.9% 13.4%(Top three in terms of number of visitors, plus USA. Netherlands spend by far the lowest amount per head, USA by far the highest.)
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Have only entertained Aussies three times. One lot were very spooky, not only had they known my brother-in-law in Brisbane but were going to stay in my former home village in England with someone I knew. The second lot left me eight huge fluffy towels. The third lot went off with my maps.
I cannot, therefore, draw any conclusions with regard to national propensities...
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There's someone on AngloInfo (Brittany or Normandy, can't remember) with some for sale [:)]
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Does anyone offer to take a machine load from their guests?
Never again! Washing machine was en panne, I offered to do it. Woman came to the door with a double armful of washing - no bag or basket - including all the smalls for three people [+o(], dumped it happily in OH's outstretched arms...
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The Gites de France inspection sheet uses "privative, communiquante" for a private adjoining bathroom.
It also has "privative, non communiquante" for a non-adjoining one.
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[quote user="ebaynut"] We frequently come across listings on the USA site, who are absolutely adamant that they 'WILL NOT SHIP TO CANADA!' [8-)][:-))] Why?...I don't know![/quote]
The Canadian postal system can be a real pain, as can their customs. (As in douanes, not habits!) Have look at the US eBay discussion boards [:(].
When you address a package to Canada it must have the CN22 customs label top left, with the seller's return name and address also top left (don't know how they can both be in the same place!). Name and address should all be in upper case, there are rules about point sizes, why and where gaps are allowed. There are also rules and regs about what can or cannot be sent to Canada from elsewhere, especially from the US. Once it gets into the country it has to then work its way through customs, which can take a very long time, and duty rates are high.
Canadian postal humor{sic}: "Canada Post doesn't really charge 32 cents for a stamp. It's 2 cents for postage and 30 cents for storage." (Gerald Regan, Cabinet Minister, 31 Dec 1983 Financial Post)
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[quote user="cassis"]The Dwaynes around here[/quote]
[:D][:P]
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The notaire will sort it all out.
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[quote user="Russethouse"]And lots of Dutch people speak English (thank goodness !)[/quote]
...but they're very tall, so watch those low beams!
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What were they doing for health cover after their E106 ran out and up to Nov. 2007?
If they were in the system and paying CMU (which is the case with most of those with gites who hadn't registered as a fully-fledged business) up 'til November last year they should still be entitled to a carte vitale. It's a bit difficult without knowing exactly what their situation is / was.
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Breakfasts must be included in the price of the accommodation.
As Quillan says, it's the law - this one:
Article D324-13
Créé par Décret n°2007-1173 du 3 août 2007 - art. 1 () JORF 4 août 2007
L'activité de location de chambres d'hôtes mentionnée à l'article L. 324-3 est la fourniture groupée de la nuitée et du petit déjeuner. Elle est limitée à un nombre maximal de cinq chambres pour une capacité maximale d'accueil de quinze personnes. L'accueil est assuré par l'habitant.They can be fined for not complying. You could report them to the relevant Comité Départemental du Tourisme.
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They will overpay you then ask you to refund / send on the excess to a third party, then do a chargeback on the credit card payment. You'll have lost the payment, and the part you refunded or forwarded; they will gain the latter.
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Cathy said:
Is it the latest edition?
The one that's the title of this thread is newly published.
Does it include all the latest laws?
As long as nothing drastic has sprung up between last summer and now... I just caught a hint of the proposed obligatory registration which was announced in August and included a caveat to that effect.
Jo - how long did it take you?
A lifetime m'dear - I learnt to write aged four and have been doing it ever since. And the learning curve for the practical aspects took me all the years I've had a gite, and all those when I used to do B&B. Seriously, though, it's very difficult to say - I wrote it over a period of around six months but was doing a lot of other things at the same time. One can bash out half a chapter in a day then spend three days researching one paragraph...Pierre said:
Hey Jo, when I buy a copy can I send it to you (with an SAE of course) for signing?
Of course. Just pm me when you're ready.And Cassis said more things to make me blush! [:$]
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Hello, yes it's me... [:$] [:$] [:$] [:$]
I have told the publisher it hasn't appeared in the Living France shop yet - I don't have any personal involvement in publicity / marketing or selling, but it's only been available for a month or so.
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We knit all our own croissants
Don't be silly, it's goats wot you knit! Croissants are crocheted.
Have you received a small package in the post yet?
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Nigel Farrell's been working in documentary production for twenty years or so, wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing was a concocted drama!
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I'm afraid that guests do wet the beds in all sorts of ways.
If any of mine ask, my prepared answer concerns spilling the morning cup of tea [;-)]
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It's always been necessary to complete a verification process once you have received more than €6,500 - "PayPal is required by law to comply with European Union Anti-Money Laundering regulations to collect information from customers when they receive more than the set limit in total payments." As far as I recall (in 2004!) it involved faxing proof of residence & identity, all done & dusted quite easily.
And yes, you can have a business / premier account with no further verification (until you reach the money-laundering limit); it's just a step up from the personal account to enable unlimited receipt of credit card payments. (Personal accounts have a limit on the number of credit or debit card funded payments received per year. To view your Personal account limit, log in to your account and click the View Limits link.) A premier account is for personal / business use under your own name; a Business account can be used by a company or group - multiple users.
Security / Damage Deposits
in Gite Owners Forum
Posted
[quote user="Callie"]Unfortunately not very convenient if there are guests who want to leave at 6am to catch a ferry ![/quote]
Another reason to have the means to refund the deposit by sterling cheque, or PayPal or similar.
If you don't have other measures in place, then it's a downside of letting. I have done it; I go back to bed afterwards (or do it last thing the night before: "Let me know when you're ready for me to come in and have a check round").
[quote user="Callie"]A thorough check out will take longer than 5 minutes.[/quote]
I know; I have been doing it for rather a long time. [:)]