The city of Marseille has filed a lawsuit against three property owners accused of illegal rentals on Airbnb. These proceedings aim to penalize practices worsening the housing crisis. The city is seeking about three million euros in total fines.
On Monday, November 24, 2025, Marseille's judicial court hosted an unprecedented hearing where the city sued three property owners for the first time over unauthorized short-term furnished tourist rentals, mainly through the Airbnb platform. The city's lawyer, Me Jorge Mendes Constante, stated: «We have given you here a panel of the 6000 owners who rent illegally on Airbnb in Marseille... All are in illegality.»
Marseille has 12,900 tourist furnished apartments, with 6,000 in irregular situations—half of the total. These investors often buy secondary residences and convert them into tourist rentals without complying with regulations, which require compensating with equivalent classic rental housing. Outgoing mayor Benoît Payan has made this issue a political marker four months before municipal elections.
The targeted cases include a surgeon from Périgueux who divided a bourgeois building in the 1st arrondissement into 14 studios without permission and rented them illegally; a Parisian investor who converted a credit-purchased building into undeclared Airbnb rentals; and a couple who rented a Panier apartment despite a peril order. The city demands a halt to tourist rentals and 100,000 euros fine per apartment, for about 30 properties involved.
Defense lawyers challenged this strategy. Me Olivier Burtez-Doucede criticized: «This notion of exemplarity does not please me... I don't like putting everyone in the same basket.» Me Xavier Demeuzoy added: «Airbnb renters are not slumlords.» Me Manon François questioned pursuing the other 6,000 cases. The decision is deferred to February 2, 2026.
These proceedings highlight tensions over real estate speculation, which depletes affordable housing in neighborhoods for residents.