When a British tenant leaves a French rental property, the most frustrating answer from a landlord or agency can be: “The deposit cheque was sent.” A cheque may have been written, posted, returned, cancelled, or left uncashed. Those events are not interchangeable. If the former tenant has moved back to the United Kingdom, the distance can make a simple repayment dispute look more complicated than it is, but Brexit does not allow a landlord to treat an unproved payment as final.

French residential-tenancy law gives the landlord a limited period to return the dépôt de garantie, meaning the rental deposit. The tenant must still distinguish the amount that is genuinely disputed from any lawful deduction for rent, charges or damage. The central question in a cheque case is evidence: did the tenant actually receive the repayment, or can the landlord prove only that a cheque was prepared or posted?

This guide is for a British tenant who rented a home in France, returned the keys and has not received the alleged deposit cheque. It explains the one-month and two-month deadlines, the proof required from each side, the 10% late-payment increase, the formal notice, conciliation and the court route. It also sets out a practical file for a tenant who is now living in the UK, including postal evidence, bank records, translations and the information needed to calculate the net claim.

I. What does French law require when a landlord says the rental-deposit cheque was sent?

A. When is a deposit actually repaid after the keys are returned?

The starting point is Article 22 of the law of 6 July 1989 on residential tenancies. The official Légifrance text of Article 22 links the repayment period to the handover of the keys. It provides for a maximum period of “« un délai maximal de deux mois à compter de la remise en main propre, ou par lettre recommandée avec demande d’avis de réception, des clés au bailleur ou à son mandataire »”. In practical terms, the tenant should preserve proof of the date on which the keys were returned and the identity of the person who received them.

Where the entry and exit condition reports match, the repayment period is reduced to one month. Where the reports show differences, the ordinary maximum is two months. The distinction is important because the landlord may have more time to check or justify a claimed repair in the second situation, but the longer period is not permission to retain the whole deposit without an account. Any undisputed balance remains payable. A statement that the file is “still being processed” does not explain why the tenant has received nothing.

The money at issue is the dépôt de garantie, not the rent for the last month and not a third-party guarantee. A British tenant must normally continue to pay rent and charges until the tenancy ends. The official Service-Public guidance on a residential rental deposit also explains that the deposit cannot simply be used as the final rent payment. Keeping those two accounts separate prevents the landlord from alleging a rent arrear and prevents the tenant’s deposit claim from being obscured by an unrelated dispute.

A cheque raises a further issue. Writing a cheque is an instruction to a bank; it is not automatically proof that the creditor received the money. The tenant should ask four different questions: was the cheque issued, was it sent to the correct address, was it received, and was it paid or otherwise made available to the tenant? A landlord may be able to answer the first question while failing to prove the other three.

The allocation of proof follows Article 1353 of the Civil Code. The official text of Article 1353 states: “« Celui qui réclame l’exécution d’une obligation doit la prouver. Réciproquement, celui qui se prétend libéré doit justifier le paiement ou le fait qui a produit l’extinction de son obligation. »” The tenant therefore needs to prove the tenancy, the payment of the deposit, the key handover and the unpaid balance. When the landlord claims to be released because a cheque was sent, the landlord must be able to justify the payment or the event that extinguished the repayment obligation.

This principle was applied directly by the Cour de cassation, Third Civil Chamber, 12 February 2026, no. 24-21.258. The decision concerned a cheque whose receipt was disputed. The Court stated: “« sans constater que le bailleur justifiait de la réception du chèque par le locataire, qui la contestait, le juge a violé les textes susvisés »”. The exact lesson is narrow but valuable: a court cannot treat the landlord’s assertion as enough when the tenant disputes receiving the cheque and the evidence of receipt has not been established.

The case does not mean that every uncashed cheque automatically gives the tenant judgment for the full deposit. A landlord may prove a different form of repayment, show that the tenant supplied an incorrect address, establish that the cheque was delivered and later lost, or demonstrate a lawful deduction. The point is that the court must identify what happened to the payment. A cheque number in an accounting spreadsheet is evidence of an internal record; it is not, by itself, evidence that the tenant obtained the funds.

The tenancy agreement remains relevant. Article 1103 of the Civil Code provides that “« Les contrats légalement formés tiennent lieu de loi à ceux qui les ont faits. »” The official Légifrance version of Article 1103 must be read with the mandatory residential-tenancy rules. A clause cannot lawfully remove the statutory deposit timetable or convert a disputed, unreceived cheque into conclusive repayment. It may, however, identify the landlord, the agent, the agreed bank details, the address for notices and the manner in which the keys were to be returned.

Article 22 also addresses the tenant’s new address. The statutory increase for late repayment does not apply if the landlord was unable to return the deposit because the tenant failed to communicate a new address. A British tenant who moved back to the UK should therefore prove when and how the new postal address was supplied. The best evidence may be a signed move-out letter, an email acknowledged by the agency, a recorded-delivery receipt, a return of the condition report, or a message in which the landlord confirms the address.

There is a similar practical issue where the property or its management changed hands. Article 22 places the repayment responsibility on the new landlord after a transfer of the property. An agency may have administered the tenancy, but the tenant should identify both the owner named in the lease and the person or company that managed the departure. A letter sent to only one outdated address can create avoidable arguments. The tenant should send the formal notice to every reliable address and keep proof of each delivery.

If the landlord retains a provisional amount for building charges, the 20% ceiling and the annual accounting rules must also be checked. That issue is different from a cheque that was never received. The landlord should identify the charges period, the basis of the provisional retention and the later accounting date. A landlord cannot describe the entire deposit as a pending charges reserve indefinitely while also saying that the remaining balance was repaid by a cheque for which there is no delivery evidence.

B. Which evidence can prove or disprove the alleged cheque payment?

The evidence should be separated into four bundles: the tenancy and deposit, the departure and keys, the alleged payment, and the landlord’s deductions. This organisation matters because a British tenant may be corresponding from another country and a judge should be able to understand the chronology without reconstructing it from a long email chain.

• Tenancy and deposit: keep the signed bail, meaning the tenancy agreement, the receipt or bank transfer showing the deposit, rent receipts, any inventory and any document stating the furnished or unfurnished status of the home.
• Departure and keys: preserve the notice to leave, the entry and exit condition reports, photographs, meter readings, the key-handover appointment, a signed key receipt and the recorded-delivery proof if the keys were posted.
• Alleged payment: ask for the cheque date, number, amount, payee name, copy or bank image, address used, postal tracking, proof of delivery, proof of presentation, any return or cancellation and the date on which the landlord says the tenant was informed.
• Deductions: request the itemised account, invoices, quotations, rent or charge statements, photographs, reports and any evidence linking the alleged loss to the tenant rather than to ordinary age, a pre-existing defect or the landlord’s own duty.

For a payment made by cheque, the envelope can be as important as the cheque copy. The tenant should retain the envelope, postmark, tracking label, address window, returned-mail stamp and every message concerning delivery. If the cheque was sent to an old French address after the tenant had supplied a UK address, the timing of the address communication may be decisive. If it was sent to the correct address but never arrived, the postal tracking and any request to cancel and reissue the cheque should be preserved.

A bank statement can prove that the cheque was not credited, but it may not prove what happened in the postal system. The tenant should obtain a statement covering the relevant period and, if possible, a bank confirmation that no cheque with the relevant amount was paid in. A statement should be read alongside the landlord’s copy of the cheque. Differences in the payee name, amount, date or signature can identify a separate problem. A cheque that was returned unpaid is not the same as a cheque that was successfully deposited.

Article 22 permits deductions only where they are supported. The official text refers to sums “« sous réserve qu’elles soient dûment justifiées »”. A landlord who says that a part of the deposit was retained for a repair should identify the damage, compare the entry and exit reports, explain the tenant’s responsibility, and provide a quotation, invoice or other reliable evidence. The landlord cannot avoid the accounting obligation by saying that the rest of the deposit was “covered” by a cheque if the cheque itself was never received.

Article 7 of the residential-tenancy law governs the tenant’s responsibility for damage and ordinary maintenance. The official Légifrance text of Article 7 requires the tenant to answer for damage occurring during the tenancy unless the tenant proves that it arose through force majeure, the landlord’s fault or an uninvolved third party. That rule does not make every difference chargeable. Normal wear, age, defective construction and a defect already recorded at entry may defeat a deduction or reduce its amount.

The landlord’s maintenance duties can matter where the claimed “repair” is really a building problem. Article 6 requires the landlord to provide decent accommodation and maintain the premises for the contractual use. The official Article 6 text refers to “« un logement décent ne laissant pas apparaître de risques manifestes pouvant porter atteinte à la sécurité physique ou à la santé »”. A British tenant should therefore keep reports of damp, leaks, unsafe wiring or defective heating. Those reports may explain why a later repair was not the tenant’s responsibility and why a deposit deduction should be disputed.

The Supreme Court’s approach to justified sums is also important. In Cour de cassation, Third Civil Chamber, 10 September 2020, no. 19-10.033, the Court stated: “« le dépôt de garantie est restitué par le bailleur déduction faite, le cas échéant, des sommes restant dues au bailleur et des sommes dont celui-ci pourrait être tenu, aux lieu et place du locataire, sous réserve qu’elles soient dûment justifiées »”. The tenant should claim the net amount that remains due after genuinely proven sums, rather than presenting a gross claim that ignores a documented debt.

In Cour de cassation, Third Civil Chamber, 27 June 2024, no. 22-21.272, the Court reproduced the rule that “« des dommages-intérêts ne peuvent être alloués que si le juge, au moment où il statue, constate qu’il est résulté un préjudice de la faute contractuelle »”. For a deposit dispute, this helps frame the issue correctly. A landlord’s invoice or quotation may be relevant, but the deduction must correspond to a real and established loss. A tenant who challenges the cheque should still answer any separate, properly evidenced repair or rent claim.

Documents prepared in the UK should not be altered. Keep the original bank statement, postal receipt, email export and PDF. Prepare an English working translation for your own use and, if proceedings require it, obtain a French translation that identifies the document and preserves dates and amounts. A translation should make the file understandable; it should not replace the original evidence. If the deposit was paid in euros from a UK account, keep the account statement showing the euro amount, the sterling debit and the exchange-rate information available on the transaction date.

The tenant should also make a short chronology. It should state the date of the lease, deposit payment, notice, exit inspection, key handover, communication of the new address, end of the one-month or two-month period, landlord’s first mention of the cheque, and every later request for proof. A chronology often exposes a contradiction: for example, a landlord may say the cheque was posted before the new address was supplied, or may refer to a payment date after the statutory period without explaining the delay.

II. How can a British tenant recover an unreceived deposit cheque after Brexit?

A. What should the formal notice demand and how should the amount be calculated?

The first formal step is a mise en demeure, meaning a formal notice requiring the debtor to perform. The letter should be short enough to read and detailed enough to remove ambiguity. It should identify the property, the tenancy, the parties, the deposit paid, the key-handover date, the applicable one-month or two-month deadline, the amount received so far and the fact that the alleged cheque was not received or not credited.

Article 1344 of the Civil Code describes the formal step. The official Article 1344 text states: “« Le débiteur est mis en demeure de payer soit par une sommation ou un acte portant interpellation suffisante, soit, si le contrat le prévoit, par la seule exigibilité de l’obligation. »” The notice should therefore state the amount demanded and the action required: pay the net deposit by bank transfer, or provide within a defined period the documents that prove delivery and payment of the cheque together with the itemised legal deductions.

A good letter asks for the cheque’s date, number, amount, payee, address, postal proof, proof of delivery, bank presentation and any cancellation or replacement. It should say plainly that writing or posting a cheque is not accepted as proof of repayment unless the tenant receives the funds or the landlord proves the event that discharged the debt. The wording should not accuse the landlord of fraud without evidence. The aim is to define the issue that a conciliator or judge will later have to decide.

The calculation should show separate lines. Start with the deposit paid. Subtract only the rent, charges or repair sums supported by documents and linked to the tenant’s legal responsibility. Then show any amount already received. Finally, calculate the statutory late-payment increase on the amount still owed. Article 22 provides for an increase of 10% of the monthly rent excluding charges for each started month of delay, subject to the statutory exception concerning the tenant’s failure to communicate a new address.

The timing of that increase was confirmed in Cour de cassation, Third Civil Chamber, 22 June 2022, no. 21-14.525. The Court held: “« la majoration court de plein droit à l’issue du délai de deux mois suivant la remise des clés »”. The applicable one-month period must be used where the entry and exit condition reports match. The tenant should list the first day after the applicable deadline, the completed or started monthly periods and the base amount. A transparent calculation is easier to correct if the landlord proves a lawful deduction.

Suppose the monthly rent excluding charges is €1,100, the deposit is €1,100, no deduction is justified and the repayment is two complete started months late. The late increase would be calculated by reference to 10% of €1,100 for each started month, subject to the precise dates and the amount still due. The example is only a method: the tenant should use the rent excluding charges shown in the lease and calculate the period from the legal repayment deadline, not from the date of the first angry email.

If the landlord proves that a €250 repair deduction is justified, the tenant should not claim that €250 as if it were automatically part of the unpaid deposit. The claim should show the gross deposit, the accepted or disputed deduction, the amount of any valid cheque actually received, and the balance. If the cheque was never received and the landlord proves a lawful deduction of €250, the principal balance may be €850 before any applicable increase. This disciplined approach also protects the tenant from a counterargument that the claim is inflated.

Send the notice to the landlord’s current reliable address, the address in the tenancy agreement and the agency that handled the departure. Use French recorded delivery where possible and send a simultaneous email with the letter and evidence bundle. A tenant living in the UK can use a French lawyer, a representative or a reliable service for delivery. Keep the posting receipt, delivery result, PDF sent, email headers and any response. If a letter is returned, keep the unopened envelope and send it to the other known address.

The notice should provide a reasonable deadline for payment or a complete response. It should request bank transfer rather than another untracked cheque and give the account details through a secure channel. If the landlord claims that a cheque remains available, the tenant should not deposit a cheque made out incorrectly or sent to a stale address without checking the bank’s requirements. The tenant can ask for cancellation and a replacement payment while reserving the right to claim the statutory increase and costs that remain legally recoverable.

Do not use the deposit dispute as a reason to withhold the final rent. Do not sign a settlement that releases all claims before the payment has cleared. If the landlord offers a partial transfer, record whether it is an undisputed part-payment or a proposed full and final settlement. A short written reservation can prevent an ambiguous bank transfer from being presented later as acceptance of the landlord’s complete account.

B. Which amicable and court route applies when the landlord still refuses?

If the formal notice produces no payment, the tenant should prepare the required amicable step. For a claim not exceeding €5,000, Article 750-1 of the French Code of Civil Procedure generally requires an attempt at conciliation, mediation or a participatory procedure before the claim is filed, subject to its exceptions. The official Article 750-1 text refers to the consequence “« à peine d’irrecevabilité que le juge peut prononcer d’office »”. The Service-Public procedure for an unreturned deposit identifies the conciliator of justice, the departmental conciliation commission and mediation as possible routes, depending on the dispute.

A request for conciliation should not be a second vague complaint. Attach the lease, deposit proof, exit report, key proof, address communication, the landlord’s cheque assertion, the bank evidence showing no credit, the formal notice and the calculation. State the precise settlement sought. The tenant can ask the landlord to pay the balance, provide proof of the cheque’s delivery and accept a documented deduction where appropriate. If the landlord does not attend or refuses a reasonable proposal, keep the invitation, response and certificate. Those documents show what was attempted before proceedings.

The departmental conciliation commission may be useful for a residential-tenancy dispute, especially where the issue includes charges, condition reports or the deposit timetable. Its role is not the same as a judgment and it cannot turn an unproved cheque into a payment. The tenant should make sure that the commission receives the correct French address for the property and the landlord, and should mention that the tenant is now resident in the UK. Missing an appointment is avoidable when the tenant asks in advance whether the exchange can be handled in writing or by remote attendance.

When the matter is not resolved, the relevant court is generally the tribunal judiciaire with jurisdiction for the property, acting through the protection litigation judge for residential-tenancy disputes. The claim should request the unpaid net deposit, the applicable 10% increase, any legally supported ancillary sum and costs where justified. The file should explain why the cheque did not discharge the obligation, rather than simply repeating that the tenant feels ignored.

The tenant who has returned to the UK must plan service and communications carefully. Give the court a reliable postal and email address, identify whether an address for service in France is available, and confirm any representation requirements before filing. A French lawyer can help with the procedural form, translation and hearing arrangements. A tenant who acts alone should use the court’s current instructions and keep proof of every filing. A case should not be allowed to fail because a court letter was sent to an address that had not been monitored since the move.

The central issue remains proof of receipt. The 2026 decision in no. 24-21.258 is particularly useful because it prevents the court from skipping that question. The landlord may produce a cheque copy, bank ledger, postage record or witness statement. The tenant can respond with the bank statement, absence of delivery, an incorrect address, a returned letter, a cancellation request or a chronology showing that the alleged repayment was never available. The judge can then distinguish a cheque that was delivered and lost from one whose delivery was never proved.

A landlord may also argue that the deposit was absorbed by rent or repairs. The tenant should answer each item rather than treating every deduction as automatically unlawful. In Cour de cassation, Third Civil Chamber, 26 October 2023, no. 22-20.183, the Court dealt with proven rent and repair sums and the way they were set against the deposit. The decision does not authorise unexplained retention. It confirms why the claim should show the net balance after a real, demonstrated debt is considered.

If the dispute also concerns an unfit home, Article 20-1 of the law of 6 July 1989 may provide a separate route. The official Article 20-1 text allows the tenant to ask the owner to bring the property into compliance and refers to the departmental conciliation commission where there is no agreement or response within two months. That provision does not decide who receives a cheque, but records of damp, heating or safety defects may be relevant when a landlord attempts to charge the tenant for work that belonged to the landlord.

Paris and Île-de-France do not create a separate post-Brexit deposit regime. If the property was in Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne or another department, the property address remains important for identifying the competent court and the relevant local conciliation channel. A tenant living in London, Manchester or elsewhere in the UK does not transfer the dispute to a UK court merely because the cheque was expected in a UK bank account. The French tenancy and the French property remain the connecting facts.

The limitation period should also be checked before a tenant waits through repeated promises. The key documents are the lease, date of key return, deposit amount, landlord’s deductions, communications about the address and all payment evidence. If negotiations continue, write down what is being discussed and whether the landlord acknowledges a balance. A conciliator or lawyer can then assess the limitation position and the correct procedural route on the actual dates.

Before filing, run a final checklist:

• the deposit payment and amount are proved;
• the keys and their return date are proved;
• the entry and exit condition reports are compared;
• the new UK or French address was communicated and delivery is evidenced;
• the landlord’s cheque assertion is recorded with its date, amount and alleged address;
• the absence of bank credit and any postal failure are documented;
• each deduction is accepted, challenged or left for proof;
• the one-month or two-month deadline and 10% increase are calculated;
• the formal notice and amicable attempt are retained; and
• the requested net amount is stated consistently in the notice, conciliation file and claim.

Conclusion

A landlord’s statement that a French rental-deposit cheque was sent is not the same as proof that a British tenant received the repayment. The tenant should establish the key-handover date, the one-month or two-month deadline, the new address supplied and the precise evidence for every alleged deduction. Where receipt is disputed, Article 1353 places the payment issue in focus, and the 2026 decision no. 24-21.258 confirms that a court must not assume receipt without evidence.

The practical route is to preserve the cheque and postal trail, obtain the relevant bank statement, send a precise mise en demeure, calculate the net balance and statutory increase, attempt the required amicable step and then bring the claim before the court connected to the French property if necessary. Brexit changes the distance and the logistics, not the French legal framework. A clear cross-border evidence file gives the tenant the best chance of separating an unreceived payment from any deduction that the landlord can actually justify.