Of course, but from my experience enforcing any such agreement (which may well need to be drawn up by Notaire to have value & be enforceable before a tribunal) will, no doubt, need the service of an avocat. As said they aint cheap even in small towns. Expect about 100 eur for first consultation and, say, 100/130 eur an hour thereafter. Should you loose you pay Defendant’s costs who maybe legally aided.
If your French is up to it you could try and represent yourself. But the procedure is very complicated and its fraught with difficulties. I would not suggest this course of action. These kind gestures of yours etc are great as long as they work out for both parties.
On a brighter note I imagine if you have extra Judicial Protection with your home Assurance and you have declared the guest (as recomended by another reply) they may fund the action for you with any franchise imposed in the contract ?
Sorry this is an old topic. Pretty much everything has been said, but it’s definitely worth remembering that French law is extremely lenient on tenants and squatters. French judges tend to be left-leaning hence property owners are rarely seen as the victim from an overstaying and underpaying tenant.
Not only that but delays to get any kind of eviction from the judicial system can easily take 2 to 3 years.
Your tenant needs some more time to answer - 6 months “renvoi”
Your tenant appeals the decision of the tribunal in your favor - 12 months to 2 years.
Getting a bit cold outside: “trève hivernale” no evictions from october to april.
Holiday periods: forget july and august.
Meanwhile you have to pay lawyer fees etc… We only just managed to get rid of our tenants who refused to leave and were 1 year late in their rent. It took us 18 months. 10k in legal fees just this year. 30k of unrecoverable rent. And 40k payout to get them to leave. The alternative was another 2 years of anguish.
Ours was a special case as the last known tenancy agreement was from 1991, but still…
If you do any kind of letting remember to get some insurance!!
In your case, I would just say no. Or draw up a short, proper letting contract + take some insurance, promising to return the rent money once the tenant has left.
However, note that it is slightly easier to remove a bad tenant in furnished lettings.
In this case it would not be a let or rent as no money will be changing hands.