Leaving a French rental property can be stressful when the landlord keeps some or all of the security deposit for alleged damage. For a British tenant, the dispute is often made harder by unfamiliar French vocabulary, a move back to the UK, a French bank account that has been closed, or a landlord who sends a short message instead of a proper calculation. The key point is that a deduction is not automatically lawful merely because it is described as a repair.

French residential tenancy law distinguishes between damage caused by the tenant and ordinary wear and tear. It also imposes a timetable, requires the landlord to justify sums retained, and provides practical routes for recovery. The result depends on the lease, whether the property was furnished, the entry and exit condition reports, photographs, correspondence, invoices or estimates, and the explanation given for each line.

This guide focuses on a British person who rented a home in France and has already handed back the keys. It explains the French terms used in the documents, the legal tests applied to alleged damage, the evidence that should be assembled, and the steps available when the landlord refuses to correct an unjustified deduction. It does not deal with buying a French property, company formation, or a landlord’s separate claim for losses exceeding the deposit.

I. Can a French landlord deduct alleged damage from a British tenant’s rental deposit?

A. How much can be retained, and by when must the balance be returned?

The first French term to identify is dépôt de garantie. It means the security deposit paid at the start of the tenancy. It is not an advance rent payment and it is not a general fund which the landlord may keep without explanation. The maximum amount depends on the type of lease. For an unfurnished home used as the tenant’s main residence, article 22 of the French Act of 6 July 1989 limits the deposit to one month’s rent excluding service charges. For a furnished main-residence tenancy, article 25-6 of the same Act limits it to two months’ rent excluding service charges. The loyer en principal is the rent itself, before recoverable charges and other additions.

The official text of article 22 of Act no. 89-462 of 6 July 1989 states that sums retained from the deposit must be sous réserve qu’elles soient dûment justifiées. In English, that means they must be properly justified. A landlord therefore needs to connect the amount kept to a real obligation of the tenant. A vague reference to “repairs”, a rounded figure, or a photograph with no explanation may be insufficient when the deduction is challenged.

The same provision creates two important deadlines. If the exit condition report matches the entry condition report, the landlord normally has one month from the return of the keys to return the deposit. If the two reports show differences, the period is normally two months. The comparison is not a licence to keep the money for two months in every case. The landlord should identify the relevant difference and explain why it is chargeable to the tenant. A disputed mark that was already recorded at move-in should not become a new deduction simply because it appears again at move-out.

For a furnished tenancy, the two-month cap on the deposit is confirmed by article 25-6 of Act no. 89-462, which provides that the deposit is limité à deux mois de loyer en principal. The higher starting amount does not remove the landlord’s duty to account for deductions. It can make the financial dispute more significant, particularly where furniture, appliances, paintwork and flooring are all referred to in a single undifferentiated deduction.

The landlord may retain a reasonable sum for unpaid rent, unpaid recoverable charges, or damage for which the tenant is responsible, but the calculation should be intelligible. A landlord may also retain a provisional amount for a co-ownership charge reconciliation in the circumstances allowed by article 22. That exception is different from a damage claim: it should not be used as a substitute for evidence about a broken appliance, a stained carpet or a damaged wall.

The deposit cannot simply be treated as the final month’s rent. The official Service-Public.fr guidance on the rental deposit explains that a tenant must continue paying rent and charges until the end of the notice period and cannot unilaterally decide that the deposit covers the last payment. If the landlord has used the deposit for alleged damage and the tenant has also failed to pay the last rent, the two issues should be separated in the correspondence. A tenant who has paid every rent instalment should say so and attach the bank evidence rather than allowing the landlord to merge rent and repair allegations.

The identity of the person who must return the money matters when the property has been sold. In Cass. 3e civ., 8 September 2016, no. 15-19.169, the French Supreme Court held that the obligation to return the deposit incombe au nouveau bailleur, meaning that it falls on the new landlord. A British tenant who moved out after a sale should therefore check the lease, the key-return correspondence and the ownership timeline before writing only to the former owner. Writing to both owners, with a clear request to identify the responsible party, can prevent a cross-border dispute being lost between two addresses.

Late payment has a financial consequence. Subject to the statutory conditions, the amount due to the tenant is increased by 10% of the monthly rent excluding charges for each commenced month of delay. The increase does not turn an unsupported damage allegation into a justified deduction. It is calculated on the amount of the deposit that should have been returned and the period of delay, and it can be included in a formal demand. The tenant should keep the date on which the keys were returned, the address supplied to the landlord, and evidence that the landlord knew where to send the balance. The legislation allows an exception where the tenant failed to provide a new address, so that detail should be dealt with expressly rather than assumed.

There is a practical distinction between the date on which the landlord must return the money and the date on which a dispute about the amount is finally resolved. In Cass. 3e civ., 8 December 2009, no. 08-20.340, the Supreme Court examined the relationship between the statutory two-month period and the landlord’s supporting material. The decision should not be reduced to the proposition that every invoice must necessarily be produced on the last day of that period, but it confirms why the tenant should ask for a precise account and preserve the date of every request. A landlord who has supplied no intelligible calculation may be in a weaker position than one who has promptly disclosed a genuine, documented disagreement.

French documents may use “retenue sur dépôt de garantie”, meaning a deduction from the security deposit. The word “retenue” does not prove that the deduction is valid. It describes what the landlord has done. The question is whether the deduction is supported by the lease, the condition reports, the tenant’s legal responsibility, and reliable evidence of the amount. A British tenant should read each line as a claim to be tested, not as an official determination.

B. What is damage, and what is ordinary wear and tear?

The second essential French term is état des lieux. It means a condition report recording the state of the property when the tenant receives it and when the keys are returned. Under article 3-2 of Act no. 89-462, the report is established contradictoirement et amiablement by the parties or by a person appointed by them. “Contradictoirement” means that both sides have been able to participate and comment; “amiablement” means by agreement rather than through a unilateral decision. If the parties cannot establish it in those conditions, a commissaire de justice, the French judicial officer who can make formal reports and serve documents, may be instructed under the statutory procedure.

The entry report is the baseline. The exit report is the comparison. A tenant should look for four possible outcomes: no change; a change which is ordinary wear; a change which is tenant-caused damage; or a difference which is too poorly recorded to support a reliable conclusion. The wording matters. “Paint slightly faded” is not the same as “large red mark on the living-room wall”. “Floor worn” is not the same as “three broken boards”. A landlord’s later invoice cannot rewrite what the parties observed at the time of key return.

Article 7 of the same Act places on the tenant the responsibility De répondre des dégradations et pertes qui surviennent pendant la durée du contrat, subject to exceptions such as force majeure, the landlord’s fault, or the act of a third party not introduced by the tenant. The rule is balanced by the landlord’s responsibility for work that is not the tenant’s responsibility. The tenant is not an insurer of every component of the property. The landlord must still analyse the cause, the timing, the condition at entry, and the reasonable cost of putting the property right.

The Civil Code provides a related presumption in article 1732: Il répond des dégradations ou des pertes qui arrivent pendant sa jouissance, à moins qu’il ne prouve qu’elles ont eu lieu sans sa faute. The English meaning is that the tenant answers for damage or loss occurring during occupation unless the tenant proves it happened without fault. That wording does not remove the need to identify what the damage was or how much it cost to remedy. It also does not make ordinary deterioration a tenant fault. The statutory rule on repairs and the evidence in the two condition reports must be read together.

Ordinary wear and tear is called vétusté. It is deterioration resulting from normal use and the passage of time: paint losing its freshness, a carpet becoming worn in a normal walkway, seals becoming less effective, or an older appliance reaching the end of its useful life. The distinction is not always mathematical. It may be affected by the age and quality of the item, the length of the tenancy, the number of occupants, the condition at move-in, and the existence of an agreed depreciation schedule, sometimes called a grille de vétusté.

The official Decree no. 87-712 of 26 August 1987 lists recoverable rental repairs and routine maintenance. Its rules help separate small maintenance tasks from a tenant’s responsibility for abnormal damage. Examples can include replacing small consumable parts or maintaining certain fixtures, while an owner cannot automatically charge the tenant the full price of a brand-new installation simply because an old component has failed. The decree is not a universal price list. It is a legal framework that must be applied to the actual lease and the actual condition of the property.

Depreciation is particularly important where the landlord has replaced an old item with a new one. If a ten-year-old carpet is removed because of one disputed mark, the landlord may not necessarily recover the full cost of a premium new carpet from the tenant. The relevant loss may be the reasonable cost of repair or a depreciated value, not an opportunity to improve the property. Ask for the age of the item, the original condition, the invoice for the replacement, and the calculation applied. If there is no calculation, state that the claimed amount is not verifiable.

The burden of proving the claim is also relevant. Article 1353 of the Civil Code states: Celui qui réclame l’exécution d’une obligation doit la prouver. A landlord claiming that the tenant owes the cost of a repair must prove the obligation. The tenant, in turn, should prove payment, a pre-existing defect, a notification of the defect, or another fact which extinguishes or reduces the claim. The safest letter does not merely say “I disagree”; it identifies the item, the evidence, the legal reason, and the amount disputed.

The Supreme Court’s decisions show why detail matters. In Cass. 3e civ., 1 February 2018, no. 16-27.204, the Court criticised a decision which had not analysed the evidence produced in support of the landlord’s retention. Its reasoning refers to the failure to examine sans analyser même succinctement les éléments de preuve produits. That is useful when a landlord has sent a bare figure or a generic invoice which does not establish that the tenant caused the problem.

In Cass. 3e civ., 24 January 2019, no. 17-31.286, the Supreme Court likewise required a real analysis of the alleged repair and the financial material. The decision refers to a lower court acting sans analyser, même succinctement, la facture. A tenant should not rely on that sentence as a promise that every invoice will be rejected. Its practical lesson is narrower and stronger: a decision-maker must connect the invoice to the alleged damage instead of accepting the landlord’s assertion without examination.

In Cass. 3e civ., 11 May 2022, no. 20-19.985, the Supreme Court addressed repair liability, the effect of ordinary wear, and the need to explain the compensation awarded. The case is a warning against treating a tenant’s deposit as a blank cheque for refurbishment. If the landlord relies on a damaged item, compare the condition at entry and exit, the age and useful life of the item, and the work actually needed. A new-for-old replacement may conceal a claim for improvement rather than compensation for loss.

Another useful decision is Cass. 3e civ., 9 April 2013, no. 12-13.226. It confirms that, where sums owed by the tenant exceed the deposit, the deposit can be applied to an established arrear. That does not mean a landlord may label an unsupported damage claim as rent. If the landlord says the deposit covers unpaid rent, request the rent ledger, the dates, the amount of each payment, and the contractual basis. If the landlord says it covers damage, request the condition-report comparison and the repair calculation. Keeping the categories separate often exposes an accidental or deliberate double count.

Finally, an absence of a jointly signed exit report is not automatically the end of the case, but it changes the evidential picture. The parties may have photographs, emails, a key-return appointment, an independent report, or a judicial officer’s report. A British tenant who left France should preserve the original files with their creation dates and metadata where possible. Screenshots can be useful, but the original photograph, cloud record, or message export is better. Do not edit the photographs before sending them; if you need to crop an image for readability, keep the untouched original.

II. What should a British tenant do when a damage deduction is disputed?

A. Which evidence and formal steps should be sent to the landlord?

Start by building a one-page chronology. Record the date the lease began, the amount and type of deposit, the date of the entry condition report, the date notice was given, the date the keys were returned, the address supplied for the refund, the landlord’s stated deadline, the date of the deduction notice, and every payment made after the final rent date. A British tenant often has evidence spread between a French agency portal, a UK email account, WhatsApp, a French bank application and an old phone. Download it now. Access can disappear after the tenancy ends.

Then create a deduction table. Use one row per item, rather than one total. The columns should be: landlord’s description; location; entry-report wording; exit-report wording; photograph or message; alleged cause; invoice or estimate; age of the item; amount charged; amount accepted; amount disputed; and reason for dispute. This format helps distinguish a genuine undisputed cleaning cost from an inflated deduction for replacing a worn appliance. It also gives a conciliateur or judge a usable record if the dispute escalates.

Collect the following material where it exists:

1. the signed lease and its annexes, including any depreciation schedule;
2. the entry and exit états des lieux, in the original French and with an English working translation;
3. dated photographs and videos of every room, especially the alleged damaged area;
4. key-return evidence, including a receipt, appointment email, handover message or judicial officer’s report;
5. rent and charge payment records, so that a repair claim cannot be confused with rent arrears;
6. the landlord’s itemised calculation, invoices, estimates, contractor reports and insurance correspondence;
7. messages reporting a pre-existing leak, defect, appliance failure or building problem;
8. evidence of ordinary maintenance, cleaning, repairs or improvements paid for during the tenancy;
9. the new address and bank details supplied to the landlord, together with proof of delivery; and
10. the landlord’s ownership or agency details if the property changed hands before the refund was due.

Translations should be transparent. Put the French text first, followed by an English explanation, and label your translation as a working translation unless it was prepared by a qualified translator. Do not alter a French invoice to make it easier to read. If a word such as “remise en état” appears, explain that it generally means putting something back into an appropriate condition, but argue from the specific work and evidence rather than from the label. “Nettoyage”, “réparation” and “remplacement” are not interchangeable financial categories.

Send a written request for the calculation before sending an angry summary. Ask the landlord or agency to identify, for each deduction, the contractual or legal basis, the entry and exit comparison, the causal explanation, the invoice or estimate, the date of the work, the age of the item, and the depreciation applied. Give a reasonable short deadline for the response. If part of the deduction is clearly justified, offer to accept that part while reserving the balance. A measured letter is easier to rely on later than a message alleging fraud without supporting facts.

If the deadline has passed or the landlord refuses to correct the account, use the French term mise en demeure. This is a formal demand, not merely a reminder. Article 1344 of the Civil Code provides the legal framework for putting a debtor in default. It begins with the words Le débiteur est mis en demeure de payer. In practical terms, the letter should identify the agreement, the date of key return, the amount of the deposit, the exact sums disputed, the documents attached, the amount requested, the late-payment increase where applicable, and the deadline for payment.

Use a delivery method that gives you proof. A French registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt is commonly described as a lettre recommandée avec avis de réception. If you are in the UK, send it to the landlord’s contractual address, the property manager’s address, and any new address disclosed after the sale. Email the same PDF as a convenience, but do not rely on email alone where the address or receipt is uncertain. Keep the postal receipt, tracking history, signed acknowledgment, email headers and the exact PDF sent.

Your demand should be precise about the outcome. It may ask for the full balance, or for a specified sum after accepting an undisputed deduction. Include the bank account details in a format the recipient can use, and explain whether the account is in France or the UK. If the transfer is to a UK account, give the account holder name, sort code and account number where appropriate, while taking sensible care with personal data. Do not allow a dispute about an international transfer to become a second reason for delay.

A simple English structure is:

1. “I was the tenant under the attached lease and returned the keys on [date].”
2. “The deposit was [amount]. The landlord has retained [amount] for the following alleged damage.”
3. “For item [x], the entry report already records [condition], or the exit evidence does not show tenant-caused damage, or the amount is not supported by an invoice and depreciation calculation.”
4. “Please pay [amount] and the applicable late-payment increase within [short period] of receipt, or provide the missing documents by that date.”
5. “If the account is not corrected, I will use the available conciliation and court procedures and seek the recoverable costs of the claim.”

Attach the documents in a numbered bundle. Name files in a way that a French reader can understand, such as “01 Lease”, “02 Entry condition report”, “03 Exit condition report”, “04 Photos at key return”, “05 Deduction calculation”, and “06 Payment evidence”. If the bundle is large, send a short index and a secure download link, while retaining a local copy. The objective is to make the missing proof obvious. A landlord who receives a clear item-by-item challenge should not be able to say that the tenant raised only a general objection.

Do not sign a release or settlement without checking its effect. A document described as “solde de tout compte” or “quittance” may have a broader meaning than a simple receipt. If you are willing to settle one line but not another, state that the payment is accepted only for the identified item and that the remaining claim is reserved. A settlement can be sensible when the evidence is mixed, but it should record the amount, the date, the parties, and whether any further claim is waived.

One special problem is a landlord’s allegation that damage was discovered after the tenant left. Ask when it was first observed, who had access to the property, whether contractors entered, and whether a new tenant or owner took possession before the inspection. This does not automatically disprove the claim, but it may affect causation. The tenant’s responsibility under article 7 concerns damage during the tenancy and within the tenant’s legal sphere of control; it is not a presumption covering every event after the keys were returned.

B. What can be done if the landlord still refuses to pay?

For many deposit disputes, the first escalation is an amicable process. A conciliateur de justice is a court-appointed volunteer who may help the parties reach an agreement without a full trial. Mediation is another option, usually involving a mediator chosen or appointed under an agreed framework. Check the landlord’s insurance, the lease’s dispute clause and the local court information, but do not let a vague invitation to “discuss later” suspend the statutory calculation indefinitely.

French civil procedure includes a mandatory pre-action step for some small claims. Article 750-1 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides, subject to its exceptions, that a claim must be preceded by an attempt at conciliation, mediation or a participatory procedure. The text warns that the application may be inadmissible if this step is omitted. The provision applies in particular to claims within the statutory €5,000 threshold and to certain other categories. Before filing, check the current conditions and exceptions against the amount and nature of the claim. A prior formal demand is useful evidence, but it is not always the same thing as a documented conciliation attempt.

If a court claim is needed, a residential lease dispute will generally be directed to the competent French judicial court, with territorial rules that may depend on the property and the parties. A British tenant living in the UK should not assume that a UK small-claims process can determine a French residential deposit governed by French law. The French lease, the location of the property, and the landlord’s identity should be reviewed before choosing the court and method of service. A lawyer can also check whether the amount, evidence and procedural route justify representation.

Remote participation may be possible in some stages, but it should not be assumed. Keep a French postal address for service if you have one, monitor email and registered post, and tell the court or conciliator that you live in the UK. A UK address does not remove the claim, but it makes service and hearing arrangements more important. If a document is served in French, obtain a reliable translation and note the response deadline in both French and British date format. Confusing 04/09 with 9 April or 4 September is an avoidable risk.

Use the case law as an organising tool rather than as a collection of slogans. Cass. 3e civ., 8 December 2009, no. 08-20.340 helps frame the relationship between the return deadline and justification. Cass. 3e civ., 9 April 2013, no. 12-13.226 helps keep deposit deductions and proven rent arrears separate. Cass. 3e civ., 8 September 2016, no. 15-19.169 identifies the new landlord after a sale. Cass. 3e civ., 1 February 2018, no. 16-27.204 and Cass. 3e civ., 24 January 2019, no. 17-31.286 reinforce the need to analyse evidence and invoices. Cass. 3e civ., 11 May 2022, no. 20-19.985 is relevant when a landlord’s claim includes ordinary wear or an unexplained replacement cost. A decision is useful only if its facts and legal issue actually match yours.

Consider the possibility that the landlord’s claim exceeds the deposit. The landlord may assert a separate claim for a proven loss beyond the money already retained. The fact that the deposit was returned does not necessarily prevent that claim, and the fact that it was retained does not prove the additional loss. If you receive a demand for a larger sum, do not ignore it. Ask for the same evidence: condition reports, causation, invoices, age of the item, depreciation, payment records, and the contractual or legal basis. A separate claim can also trigger its own limitation and procedural issues.

Interest and damages should be pleaded carefully. Article 1231-1 of the Civil Code concerns damages for non-performance or delay, subject to the statutory conditions and force-majeure rules. A tenant should first calculate the deposit balance and the specific late-payment increase under article 22. Additional compensation may depend on proof of a distinct loss, bad faith, or procedural conduct. Do not inflate a modest deposit claim with unsupported figures; a transparent calculation is more credible.

The official Service-Public.fr model letter for recovering a deposit can help with the basic presentation, but a damage dispute needs more than a standard reminder. Add the entry-versus-exit comparison, the evidence of ordinary wear, the missing invoice or depreciation calculation, and the cross-border payment details. For a British tenant, it is also useful to attach a short glossary: dépôt de garantie (security deposit), état des lieux (condition report), vétusté (ordinary wear and tear), bailleur (landlord), mise en demeure (formal demand), and commissaire de justice (judicial officer).

Do not assume that an English-language website or a UK-facing agency changes the governing law. The British government’s Living in France guidance directs British nationals to French rules and appropriate professional help for matters concerning life in France. A British reader can use the guidance for consular and practical orientation, but the deposit calculation, condition reports, repair responsibility and French court process remain questions of French law when the rental property is in France.

Before starting proceedings, test the strength of the file against five questions. Can you prove the date the keys were returned? Can the landlord identify a physical difference between entry and exit? Can the landlord show that the difference is damage rather than vétusté? Can the landlord connect the amount to a reasonable repair rather than an improvement? Can you show that the correct owner, agency or successor has received the demand? If one answer is missing, obtain that evidence or explain the gap. If all five answers support you, state them in the order a third party can verify.

The most common avoidable mistakes are sending only a short angry email, failing to give a forwarding address, mixing a rent dispute with a damage dispute, accepting an invoice without checking the entry report, and waiting until a court deadline has passed. Another mistake is assuming that photographs alone prove everything. A photo shows a condition at a particular time; it may not prove when the mark appeared, who caused it, or the reasonable cost of repair. Combine photographs with the condition reports, messages, dates and payment records.

A British tenant who has already returned to the UK can still act methodically. Create a secure digital bundle, send the formal demand to every relevant address, request a remote amicable process where available, and obtain advice before filing if the amount or evidence is significant. If the landlord offers a partial refund, compare it with the undisputed amount and the statutory late-payment increase. If the landlord produces a genuine invoice but no depreciation analysis, negotiate from the evidence rather than accepting a full new-for-old charge.

Conclusion

A French landlord may retain a rental deposit for tenant-caused damage, but the retention must fit the lease, the condition reports, the tenant’s legal responsibility and a properly justified amount. Ordinary wear and tear is not the same as damage. The one-month or two-month return deadline, the 10% monthly late-payment increase, the identity of the landlord after a sale, and the procedural requirement for a pre-action amicable attempt can all affect the result.

For a British tenant, the strongest approach is an evidence-led one: preserve the French documents, explain each French term, compare entry and exit condition reports line by line, challenge unsupported invoices and new-for-old replacements, and send a formal demand with proof of delivery. If the landlord does not correct the account, conciliation and the French judicial process remain available. The fact that you now live in the UK is a practical complication, not a reason to surrender an unjustified deduction.

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