Split Payment for Property Managers: How to Stay Compliant with France’s Carte G requirements

Key takeaways

• Split payment automatically divides a guest's payment between your commission, the owner's share, and provider fees the moment it's collected.

• In France, it allows concierges without a Carte G license to collect guest funds and send out instant payouts while staying compliant with the law.

• Hostaway's native integration with Unlocker enables property management companies in France to automate payment flows directly from their Hostaway accounts

Do you manage properties in France on behalf of owners and dread the financial admin involved? If you do, you know the drill: calculate expenses and commissions at the end of each month, then send out the invoices and follow up until they're paid. Meanwhile, you're often fronting cash for cleaning or maintenance while you wait to be reimbursed, a squeeze that gets worse the more properties you manage. 

The good news: there's a way to automate all of it. It's called “split payment,” and this guide covers what it is, why it matters especially if you operate as a conciergerie in France, and how to set it up.

What is split payment?

Split payment, also known as "payment splitting," is a technology that automatically divides a guest's payment between multiple recipients the moment it's collected.

So when a guest pays for their stay, the amount is instantly split and routed to the right parties:

• Property manager’s commission

• The owner's share

• Service provider fees such as cleaning, laundry, maintenance, etc

Unlike the traditional setup where the full amount lands in the property management company’s account first, and you manually send everyone else their cut afterward, split payment handles the distribution at the source. No one waits, and no one needs to do the math by hand.

Why French conciergeries need a licensed split payment provider: the Carte G problem

Under France’s Hoguet Law (1970), collecting rent or booking payments on behalf of a third party such as an owner generally requires a "Carte G" professional real estate management license. Most short-term rental conciergeries or property management companies don't hold one. 

The license is issued to an individual person, and is non-transferable. However, a qualified individual within the business can hold a Carte G license themselves as long as they meet the underlying education/experience, financial guarantee, and insurance requirements but the company itself can't hold the license as an abstract entity. 

This means vacation rental operators in France without a Carte G license must ensure that their guests’ payments first land in each property owner’s bank account. They can then invoice each owner for their commission and for expenses such as for cleaning, repairs, etc. In practice, this tends to mean:

• Late payments

• Accounting reconciliation nightmares across properties and owners

• Owner frustration and, eventually, owner churn

STR management companies who don’t hold a Carte G license and skip this aggravating but essential step can be subject to fines of up to €30,000 and up to two years imprisonment.

Rather than the traditional, compliant fallback for conciergeries without a Carte G where the listing stays in the owner's name, the guests’ payments go straight to the owner's bank account, and the conciergerie only invoices for its own services and expenses, split payment offers a third path that's both automated and compliant. 

In this case, a licensed split-payment provider such as Unlocker, and not the property management company, receives the guest's payment into a ring-fenced payment account, then separates and pays out each party's share the moment the money is collected: the owner's net share to the owner, the commission to the property manager, provider fees to service providers. 

Because the funds never sit in the property manager's own bank account, the property manager isn't "handling" third-party funds and doesn't need its own Carte G. It's a change in how the money flows, not a workaround of the law.

Why split payment is essential for French property managers

Split payment isn’t just about compliance and convenience. It can also be a powerful lever for efficiency and growth.

Save significant time

Say goodbye to "transfer Mondays." No more entering IBANs one by one or double-checking calculations across Excel spreadsheets. The system handles distribution automatically, also cutting out the human error that comes with manual reconciliation.

Improve your cash flow

You no longer have to front payments on behalf of owners or service providers while you wait to be reimbursed. You receive your commission as soon as the guest pays, improving cash flow and giving you real-time visibility into your finances instead of waiting until month-end to know where you stand.

Stay compliant with French regulations

The Hoguet Law strictly regulates handling funds on behalf of a third party, and generally requires a Carte G license to do so. Because split payment routes funds through a licensed provider instead of your own bank account, you can manage your payment flows without holding the funds yourself, and without needing to hold a Carte G.

Build stronger relationships with owners and providers

With split payment, owners get their funds faster and, in many cases, can track their income in real time through a dedicated dashboard. They are also not burdened with having to re-transfer your commission and expenses. For owners deciding whether to stick with you or move to a competitor, the speed, visibility, and convenience offered can be the deciding factors.

The same goes for your service providers. Cleaners and maintenance crews get paid the moment the guest pays, with no chasing you down for a transfer which makes it easier to keep reliable providers on your roster instead of losing them to conciergeries that pay faster.

Look more professional to the owners you're pitching

Automated, transparent payouts send a signal to prospective owners: you're running a real financial operation, not a side hustle held together by spreadsheets and good intentions. For owners comparing conciergeries, especially ones with several properties, that can be the difference between winning the mandate and losing it to whoever looks more established.

How to set up split payment with Hostaway

To provide this solution to French property managers, Hostaway has partnered with Unlocker, the go-to split payment solution for French conciergeries, purpose-built for the real estate management industry.

With this native integration, you can automate your payment flows directly from your Hostaway account:

1. Create an Unlocker account and connect it to Hostaway.

2. Set your distribution rules — commission percentage, owner share, and any service provider fees.

3. Your reservation data syncs automatically, and Unlocker splits every guest payment the moment it's collected.

From there, it runs in the background: every booking is split according to your rules, with no manual transfers and no monthly invoicing chase.

Take your French property management business to the next level

Split payment isn't just a convenience anymore. For French property managers, it's becoming the practical way to operate without a Carte G license.

Automate your payments and you save time, avoid fronting cash, and give owners a faster, easier, and more transparent experience, one that keeps them with you instead of shopping around.

FAQs

What is split payment? 

Split payment automatically distributes a guest's payment between multiple recipients as soon as it's collected. Typically, this means the property management commission, the owner's share, and service provider fees.

What are the benefits of split payment for property managers? 

It automates payouts, reduces administrative work, minimizes calculation errors, and simplifies cash flow management, all while enabling concierges to remain compliant with French law. Short-term rental property owners also receive their income faster and get greater visibility into their payments.

Is split payment legally required for short-term rental property managers? 

There's no single rule mandating "split payment" by name. In France specifically, a conciergerie generally can't legally collect a guest's payment and forward the owner's share without a Carte G license. So without split payment (or a license), the compliant option is having the guest pay the owner directly and invoicing separately, which is where the monthly admin headache comes from. Split payment lets you automate that flow without needing a Carte G yourself.

How can I set up split payment with Hostaway? 

Hostaway has partnered with Unlocker to offer a dedicated split payment integration. Once you've created your Unlocker account and connected it to Hostaway, your reservation data syncs automatically so payments are distributed according to your rules.