If you have left a rented home in France and the landlord or estate agency has not returned your money, the first question is not whether Brexit has changed your rights. It is which French tenancy rules applied to the home, when the keys were legally handed back, and whether every deduction is supported by evidence. The French term dépôt de garantie means the security deposit paid at the start of the tenancy. It is often called a caution in everyday conversation, although caution can also mean a guarantor. That distinction matters when you write to a landlord or prepare a claim. A British tenant can challenge an unjustified retention even after returning to the United Kingdom. The relevant deadlines, evidence rules and court route are governed primarily by the French residential tenancy legislation, not by the nationality of the tenant. This guide explains the one-month and two-month return rules, the statutory 10% monthly penalty for late payment, the documents that a landlord must use to justify deductions, the effect of an incomplete or unilateral check-out report, and the practical sequence from a formal notice to the French court. It also identifies the recent decisions that make a difference when the landlord relies on vague renovation estimates, a private utility bill or an inspection prepared alone.

I. When must a French landlord return a British tenant’s rental deposit?

A. How long does a French landlord have to return the dépôt de garantie?

The starting point is the type of residential lease. A bail d’habitation is a French residential tenancy agreement. A logement vide is an unfurnished home, while a logement meublé is a furnished home. A bail mobilité is a particular short-term mobility lease. These labels are not interchangeable with the categories used in an English tenancy agreement, so the contract and the way the home was occupied should be checked before calculating a deadline.

For a standard residential tenancy governed by the law of 6 July 1989, the deposit is linked to the tenant’s obligations under the lease. Article 22 of Law No. 89-462 of 6 July 1989 sets the return mechanism. It provides that, where the exit condition report is consistent with the entry report, the landlord normally has one month from the handover of the keys. Where the exit report shows differences, the period is normally two months. The relevant event is not simply the date on which the tenant stopped sleeping in the property. It is the date on which the keys were handed to the landlord, the agency or the person entitled to receive them, in a way that can be proved.

The official Service-Public guide on a deposit in a residential lease follows the same distinction. It describes a maximum one-month period when the exit condition report is consistent with the entry report and a maximum two-month period where it is not. For an English-speaking tenant, the practical lesson is simple: keep the signed état des lieux, meaning the condition report, and proof of the precise date on which the keys were returned. A key handover confirmed only by a casual text message may create an avoidable dispute about when the clock began.

The amount returned may be lower than the sum paid at the start, but only for a legally recognisable balance. The landlord can deduct rent or charges that remain due, damage attributable to the tenant, or sums that the landlord is legally required to pay in the tenant’s place, provided the deduction is properly supported. Article 22 also deals with the final reconciliation of service charges in a building. A landlord may retain a justified provisional amount while the building’s accounts are being approved, but that is not a licence to keep the whole deposit indefinitely.

Late return has a specific statutory consequence. Article 22 states that the balance still due to the tenant is increased by 10% of the monthly rent excluding charges for each month of delay that has begun. The calculation is based on the principal rent, not on the amount of the deposit. For example, if the rent excluding charges is €1,200 and €900 of the deposit remains payable, a delay of two started months produces a statutory increase of €240, subject to the statutory exception concerning the tenant’s failure to provide a new address. The 10% increase is not a general contractual fine that the landlord can waive by inserting a contrary clause in the lease.

There is an important exception. The statutory increase is not due for a delay caused by the tenant’s failure to give the landlord or agency a new address when the keys were handed back. Give the new postal address and bank details at the handover, even if you are returning to Britain. If you did not do so, send them immediately with your formal demand and explain the date on which they were provided. The landlord may still owe the deposit itself, but the debate about the additional 10% may be different.

The Supreme Court’s third civil chamber addressed the timing of the keys and the statutory increase in its decision of 14 November 2019, appeal No. 18-17.729. The decision records the rule that le dépôt de garantie restant dû au locataire est majoré d’une somme égale à 10 % du loyer. It also examined a situation in which the landlord’s own conduct affected the physical recovery of the keys. The date must therefore be reconstructed from the documents, not simply accepted from the landlord’s later account.

A tenant cannot normally treat the deposit as the last month’s rent. The official Service-Public explanation of the last rent payment states that the tenant must pay the rent and charges until the end of the lease and cannot unilaterally deduct the deposit. Doing so can create a separate rent arrears claim, weaken the tenant’s position and allow the landlord to argue that the deposit was used to compensate a different debt. Keep the two obligations separate: pay the final rent when due, then claim the deposit and any applicable increase.

The claim is not open forever. Article 7-1 of Law No. 89-462 provides that actions arising from a lease are generally time-barred after three years from the date on which the holder of the right knew, or should have known, the facts allowing that right to be exercised. That three-year period should be treated as a final limit, not as a reason to wait. Evidence disappears, agencies change hands and a landlord may sell the property. A prompt written demand usually gives the dispute a clearer procedural shape.

B. Which deductions can a landlord lawfully make from the deposit?

The deposit is not a general refurbishment fund. A landlord may seek payment for a tenant’s contractual obligations, but the retention must be connected to an identifiable debt or damage and supported by documents. The usual comparison is between the entry condition report and the exit condition report. The landlord should be able to show what changed, why the change is attributable to the tenant, and how the amount retained was calculated.

French law distinguishes damage from vétusté, which means ordinary wear caused by time and normal use. Faded paint, a worn carpet or ageing equipment will not automatically justify charging the departing tenant for a complete replacement. The lease may refer to a wear-and-tear schedule, known in French as a grille de vétusté. Even without such a schedule, the evidence must distinguish the tenant’s misuse from the ordinary ageing of the home. Photographs, dated messages, check-in and check-out reports, invoices and estimates can all matter.

Article 3-2 of Law No. 89-462 requires the condition report to be prepared at the delivery and return of the keys, in the same form and in as many copies as there are parties. The report is to be made contradictorily and amicably by the parties or by a person they have jointly appointed. If that is not possible, a commissaire de justice, the modern French term for a judicial officer who makes formal reports, can be instructed, with the statutory notice and cost-sharing rules. The text says: Il est établi contradictoirement et amiablement par les parties. A document prepared by one side after the other side has left is therefore not automatically equivalent to a proper check-out report.

The older general rule in Article 1731 of the Civil Code must also be read carefully. It says: S’il n’a pas été fait d’état des lieux, le preneur est présumé les avoir reçus en bon état. In English, if no condition report was made, the tenant is presumed to have received the premises in good repair for rental repairs, subject to contrary evidence. The rule can operate against a tenant, but Article 3-2 limits the benefit of that presumption for the party that obstructed the preparation or delivery of the report. A landlord cannot deliberately prevent a proper report and then rely on the resulting uncertainty as if it were the tenant’s fault.

Article 1732 of the Civil Code adds the general rule that the tenant is responsible for damage or loss occurring during the tenant’s enjoyment unless the tenant proves that it occurred without fault. Its wording is: Il répond des dégradations ou des pertes qui arrivent pendant sa jouissance. That does not eliminate the landlord’s need to identify the alleged damage and quantify the sum. Nor does it turn every difference between two reports into a payable renovation project.

The Supreme Court clarified the evidential problem in its published decision of 16 November 2023, appeal No. 22-19.422. The Court held that un état des lieux de sortie établi unilatéralement par le bailleur … ne peut faire la preuve de dégradations imputables au locataire where the lack of contradiction resulted from the landlord’s failure to use the formal judicial-officer route. The ellipsis in that quotation shortens the sentence; the linked decision contains the complete wording. For a British tenant, this is particularly useful where an agency sends a spreadsheet or a set of photographs made after the keys were returned and says that the deposit will be kept on that basis.

That principle does not mean that every landlord loses automatically when a tenant disputes a deduction. The Court’s decision of 26 October 2023, appeal No. 22-20.183, shows the other side of the analysis. The deposit can be applied against established rent arrears and established repair liabilities. The Court explained that the deposit is returned within the applicable period after deducting sums due and properly justified. Its decision states: le dépôt de garantie est restitué dans un délai maximal d’un mois à compter de la remise des clés. The practical point is to separate three questions: did the debt exist, was it attributable to the tenant, and was the landlord’s deduction supported by the documents?

A private utility contract is not automatically a valid reason to hold the deposit. In its decision of 13 June 2024, appeal No. 23-14.760, the third civil chamber considered a landlord that conditioned return on the payment of a gas bill under a contract subscribed personally by the tenant. The Court required the lower court to examine whether the landlord could actually be liable in the tenant’s place. The decision applies Article 22’s requirement that sums retained be duly justified. If the final demand concerns a utility account that was your own contract with the supplier, ask the landlord to explain the legal basis and the evidence linking it to a sum that the landlord could have owed.

Ask for an itemised statement rather than accepting the phrase “renovation costs”. The useful questions are: which room or item is concerned; what did the entry report say; what did the exit report say; is the issue damage or ordinary wear; who paid or will pay the work; is there a quote, invoice, service-charge statement or utility account; and how was the tenant’s share calculated? A landlord may be able to rely on a reasonable estimate in some disputes, but a bare global figure makes it difficult to test causation, scope and proportionality. The more the deduction looks like a new-for-old improvement, the more important the wear-and-tear analysis becomes.

Finally, identify the correct debtor. If the property was sold during your tenancy, Article 22 places the duty to return the deposit on the new landlord, subject to the arrangements between the seller and buyer. If an agency managed the tenancy, address the formal notice to the landlord and copy the agency. A British tenant should not allow the two parties to send the claim back and forth without a written position. State the legal entity or person that received the deposit and ask each recipient to confirm its role.

II. How can a British tenant recover a French rental deposit after Brexit?

A. What should you send in a formal notice to the landlord or agency?

The first formal step is a mise en demeure. This means a formal demand that puts the debtor on notice and records that payment is due. It is more precise than a series of informal reminders. Article 1344 of the Civil Code states: Le débiteur est mis en demeure de payer soit par une sommation. For a deposit dispute, send the notice by lettre recommandée avec avis de réception, usually shortened to LRAR: a registered letter with proof of receipt. Send a copy by email and keep the electronic transmission, but do not rely on email alone when the address and receipt can be proved by post.

The notice should identify the tenant, the landlord, the agency, the property address, the date of the lease, the date the keys were handed back and the amount of the deposit paid. State whether the one-month or two-month statutory return period has expired. Then distinguish the principal sum from the statutory increase. For example, write that €1,000 of the deposit remains due, that the keys were returned on 3 June, that the applicable deadline expired on 3 July or 3 August depending on the condition reports, and that the statutory 10% monthly increase is claimed for each started month of delay. Do not inflate the claim by calculating 10% of the deposit; the statutory base is the monthly rent excluding charges.

Attach the lease, the receipt or bank statement showing payment of the deposit, the entry and exit reports, the key-handover evidence, photographs, emails, letters, the landlord’s deduction statement, invoices or estimates received, proof of the new address and your bank details. Number the attachments. If the landlord says that the exit inspection was “not signed”, ask whether a commissaire de justice was instructed under Article 3-2 and request the report and the notice of the appointment. If a report was made after you left, state that you dispute its unilateral character and the causal link to the retention.

Give a clear short period for payment, such as eight days after receipt of the notice. That period is a practical demand, not a replacement for the statutory one-month or two-month rule. Ask the landlord to pay the principal and the quantified statutory increase, or to provide a complete legal and documentary explanation for every disputed deduction. Say that, failing payment or a complete response, you will use the available conciliation and court procedures without further informal reminders. A precise notice reduces the risk that a later court will see only a vague disagreement rather than a quantified debt.

The Civil Code also contains a general rule on late payment. Article 1231-6 provides that damages for late payment of a monetary obligation consist of legal interest from the formal notice and that the creditor does not have to prove a separate loss for that interest. Its wording begins: Les dommages et intérêts dus à raison du retard dans le paiement. The special 10% increase under Article 22 and legal interest are not the same legal mechanism. State each item separately and ask for a calculation that avoids double counting; the court will determine what is recoverable on the facts and under the applicable rules.

If you have already returned to the United Kingdom, the claim does not disappear. Give a reliable correspondence address and keep the French property’s address in the heading of the demand. If you cannot attend a conciliation meeting or hearing, ask early about written participation, representation or a lawyer’s mandate. Do not assume that a landlord can require you to travel to France merely to receive money that should have been transferred to your bank account. Conversely, do not assume that every French court will conduct a hearing in English or accept an incomplete English-only bundle. A translated summary of the key French documents and a clear chronology can prevent a procedural problem.

Use the French vocabulary consistently. Write dépôt de garantie for the security deposit, retenue for a deduction or retention, état des lieux d’entrée for the entry condition report, état des lieux de sortie for the exit condition report, remise des clés for the handover of the keys, and mise en demeure for the formal notice. Avoid calling the deposit a caution if that could make the landlord think you are discussing a guarantor. The wording will not decide the case alone, but it helps the recipient and the court identify the precise claim.

A short structure for the notice is:

1. Subject: formal notice to return the dépôt de garantie and pay the applicable statutory increase.
2. Lease and property: identify the contract, address, tenant and landlord.
3. Timeline: signature, payment, departure, exit report and key handover.
4. Calculation: deposit balance, deadline, months of delay and 10% monthly increase.
5. Challenge to deductions: list each retention and the missing or inadequate document.
6. Demand: payment to the named bank account within the stated period.
7. Evidence: attach a numbered schedule and keep proof of receipt.

That structure also prepares the file for conciliation or litigation. If the landlord replies with a new allegation that was never mentioned at the check-out, do not respond only by telephone. Ask for the allegation, its date, the entry and exit comparison and the supporting invoice or estimate in writing. If an agency acknowledges that the landlord has not supplied the documents, keep the acknowledgement. A written admission that a deduction is unverified can be more useful than several messages saying that the retention is “unfair”.

B. Which French procedure should you use if the money is still withheld?

There are several possible routes, and they should not be confused. A commission départementale de conciliation (CDC) is a departmental conciliation commission for certain residential tenancy disputes. A conciliateur de justice is an independent justice conciliator who can help the parties reach an agreement. Mediation and a formal court claim are different again. Before choosing a route, check the amount, the type of lease, the location of the property and whether the landlord’s defence concerns a simple calculation or an allegation of damage.

For a claim for payment not exceeding €5,000, Article 750-1 of the Code of Civil Procedure generally requires a prior attempt at conciliation, mediation or a participatory procedure, subject to statutory exceptions. The text describes the rule as follows: la demande en justice est précédée, au choix des parties, d’une tentative de conciliation. Record the date on which you approached the landlord, the agency, the CDC or the conciliator and preserve the result. A court can reject a claim as inadmissible if a required prior step is not shown.

The amount threshold is not the only issue. Article 750-1 contains exceptions for an approved agreement, a legitimate reason such as manifest urgency or circumstances making the attempt impossible, an unavailable conciliator whose first meeting would be delayed beyond the statutory period, or another procedure listed in the text. Do not simply write “conciliation is optional” or “conciliation is always mandatory”. Identify the route used, the date it was attempted and the reason any exception applies.

If the dispute remains unresolved, the court normally involved is the juge des contentieux de la protection, the French judge responsible for many residential tenancy disputes, within the tribunal judiciaire for the area where the rented property is located. The official Service-Public guidance on disputes connected with a residential lease directs tenants towards a formal notice and the recovery process when the landlord does not return the sum. The property location matters even if the tenant now lives in Britain, because the dispute concerns the performance of a French lease and the condition of a French home.

Article 750 of the Code of Civil Procedure explains how a civil claim is introduced. It states that the claim is normally made by an assignation, a formal document served by a bailiff-like judicial officer, but that it may also be made by requête, a written application to the court, where the amount does not exceed €5,000 in ordinary oral proceedings or where a specific rule allows it. The text says: Elle peut l’être également par requête lorsque le montant de la demande n’excède pas 5 000 euros. Confirm the current form and filing channel with the court before submitting, because procedural forms and electronic services can change.

The claim should request a clearly stated principal amount and each additional item separately. Those items may include the unpaid deposit balance, the Article 22 statutory increase for each started month, legal interest from the formal notice where appropriate, and recoverable costs. Explain the entry and exit reports, identify the disputed deduction, and show why the landlord’s evidence does not establish the debt or its amount. If the landlord has proven rent arrears or damage that exceed the deposit, acknowledge that the court may set off the deposit against those sums. The decision No. 22-20.183 is a warning against presenting the deposit as an automatic win without testing the landlord’s underlying claim.

For a claim below €5,000, the conciliation requirement and the possibility of a requête can make the process more accessible, but accessibility is not the same as simplicity. The court will still need an address for the defendant, a coherent chronology, the lease and the relevant evidence. If the landlord is a company or the agency acted under a management mandate, identify the correct defendant. If the landlord lives outside France, obtain advice on service and jurisdiction before filing. A British tenant who has moved home should not use the former property address as a substitute for a reliable service address.

Prepare a numbered bundle rather than uploading every message in date order. A useful bundle includes: the signed lease; proof of the deposit payment; entry report; exit report; proof of the key handover; the new address sent to the landlord; the bank details; the landlord’s deduction notice; photographs with dates; invoices, estimates and service-charge documents; the formal notice and proof of receipt; the conciliation request and response; and a one-page calculation. If the documents are in English, provide a French explanation of the key passages and ask the court or your representative whether a certified translation is needed. Do not translate legal terminology loosely: retain the French term and explain it once.

The recent case law gives a practical checklist. Decision No. 23-14.760 means that a landlord should not hold the deposit for a personal utility contract without showing why the landlord could be liable for that sum. Decision No. 22-19.422 means that an exit report written unilaterally by a landlord who failed to use the formal judicial-officer route may not prove tenant damage. Decision No. 22-20.183 means that properly established arrears and repair liabilities can reduce or absorb the deposit. Decision No. 18-17.729 illustrates the importance of the key handover date and the 10% monthly increase. These decisions are not a substitute for comparing your own documents, but they show the questions a court is likely to ask.

Do not confuse the deposit dispute with immigration status. A French lease may help prove accommodation in a residence application, but a British tenant’s right to recover a deposit does not depend on holding a particular Brexit residence card. Conversely, a residence card does not remove the obligation to pay rent or repair damage. The GOV.UK guidance on living in France treats housing, tax and administrative issues as separate areas. The civil dispute over the deposit should therefore be documented independently of any visa, residence or return-to-Britain issue.

British nationality must not be used as a shortcut for either side. A landlord cannot justify an otherwise unexplained deduction by saying that the tenant has left France or is British. The tenant should nevertheless prove the contract, the payment and the condition of the home rather than relying only on nationality. If an agency refuses to communicate because you are British, preserve the exact words, date and identity of the speaker. A possible discrimination issue is separate from the deposit calculation and should be assessed on its own evidence.

Finally, act before the three-year limitation in Article 7-1 becomes a problem. Send the formal notice as soon as the applicable return period has expired. If the landlord offers a partial payment, record whether it is accepted as a part-payment and whether the balance and statutory increase are reserved. If you sign a settlement, read the release language carefully: a document stating that the parties have no further claim may prevent a later demand for the remaining deposit. If the amount is substantial, the deductions involve alleged damage, or the landlord has begun a counterclaim, have the lease and condition reports reviewed before accepting money in full and final settlement.

Conclusion

A French landlord normally has one month to return the deposit when the exit condition report matches the entry report and two months when it does not, counted from the provable handover of the keys. A delay can trigger a 10% increase of the monthly rent excluding charges for each started month, unless the tenant failed to provide a new address. That calculation is separate from the question whether the landlord can prove a lawful deduction.

For a British tenant, the strongest file is chronological and documentary: the lease, payment proof, entry and exit reports, key handover, new address, bank details, photographs, the landlord’s invoices or estimates and a quantified formal notice. Challenge ordinary wear, a unilateral post-departure inspection, a private utility bill and unexplained renovation costs. If payment does not follow, document the required conciliation step and bring the claim before the protection litigation judge for the tribunal covering the property, observing the €5,000 procedural threshold and the three-year limitation. Brexit does not turn a French tenancy into a British one, but it also does not erase a debt owed under French law. A tenant who has returned to the UK can still pursue the claim with a reliable address, a clear bundle and, where needed, representation in France.

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