Residential lease lawyer in Paris: secure the lease, rent and exit.

Article 4 of the Law of 6 July 1989 lists clauses that are deemed unwritten. Prohibited clauses include in particular those requiring the tenant to sign a deed of surety in favour of an agent, to take out insurance with an insurer imposed by the landlord, to pay fees other than those set by decree, to allow visits to the premises on public holidays or non-working days, or to accept termination by operation of law for a reason other than non-payment, failure to insure or failure to enjoy the premises peacefully. The sanction is not nullity of the whole lease but the "deemed unwritten" status of the unlawful clause alone. A tenant who spots a disputed clause may either have the court declare it unenforceable, or refuse to perform the obligation in question without fear of termination.

The landlord has a freedom of choice, but it is limited by Article 1 of the 1989 Law and by the Law of 27 May 2008 on discrimination. The landlord may reject a candidate for objective reasons linked to solvency or to the coherence of the rental plan, but not on grounds of origin, family situation, sexual orientation, nationality, pregnancy, disability or any other protected personal characteristic. The decree of 5 November 2015 sets the exhaustive list of documents the landlord may request: proof of identity, proof of address, proof of income, employer's certificate. Requesting documents that are not listed exposes the landlord to penalties. A joint guarantor may be required but cannot be combined with unpaid-rent insurance. A tenant who feels discriminated against may bring a civil liability action and refer the matter to the Defender of Rights (Défenseur des droits).

The tenant's notice period is one month in Paris, which is classed as a tight-market area by the decree of 10 May 2013. The notice period is also reduced to one month outside tight-market areas in several cases listed in Article 15 I of the 1989 Law: obtaining a first job, a job transfer, loss of employment or new employment following a loss of employment, a state of health justifying a change of address, allocation of social housing, or entitlement to the RSA (active solidarity income) or the disabled adult allowance. Outside these cases, the standard notice period is three months. The notice period runs from the landlord's receipt of the notice, not from its dispatch. Notification must be by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, court bailiff's deed (commissaire de justice) or hand delivery against a receipt. An email is not enough.

Yes. Article 3-3 of the 1989 Law and Article L. 271-4 of the Construction and Housing Code (Code de la construction et de l'habitation) require the landlord to attach a technical diagnostic file to the lease. This file includes: the energy performance certificate in force, the lead exposure risk report for dwellings built before 1949, the statement of natural, mining, technological and soil pollution risks, and the asbestos report for dwellings built before 1997. The electricity and gas reports are also mandatory for installations more than 15 years old. Failure to hand over the reports exposes the landlord to penalties and may justify a claim for damages by the tenant if loss is shown. For dwellings in Paris, the prefectural rent-control order and the statement of the increased reference rent complete these obligations.

Rent control in Paris is governed, on an experimental basis, by Article 140 of the ELAN Law of 23 November 2018. The applicable prefectural order sets each year, by district and by category of dwelling, a reference rent, a reduced reference rent and an increased reference rent. The base rent may not exceed the increased reference rent, except for a rent supplement justified by exceptional features. These features must be objective and exceptional: a terrace, a panoramic view, exceptional ceiling height, very high-end fittings. The lease must state the reference rent and the increased reference rent. If the statement is missing, the tenant has one month to serve formal notice on the landlord to correct it. If there is no reply, the tenant may apply to the court for a rent reduction.

In theory yes, but it is strongly discouraged. Article 3 of the Law of 6 July 1989 provides that the lease must be drawn up in writing, which makes a written lease mandatory in practice. A verbal lease is valid but raises countless evidential problems: amount of rent, duration, identity of the parties, recoverable charges, date of entry. A tenant who occupies a dwelling without a written lease keeps the protection of the 1989 Law, and may at any time require the landlord to regularise the position in writing. The landlord, for their part, cannot rely on the absence of a written lease to escape their legal obligations. In a dispute, it is almost always the landlord who bears the burden of proof, which makes a verbal lease very unfavourable to the landlord's position.

There are several options depending on the nature of the works and the urgency. For works falling under the obligation to provide a decent dwelling, the tenant must first serve formal notice on the landlord by registered letter. The Court of Cassation held on 16 May 2024 that only force majeure can release the landlord from the obligation to provide a decent dwelling. If the formal notice has no effect, the tenant may apply to the protection litigation judge by urgent application (référé) for an order to carry out works subject to a daily penalty, or on the merits for a rent reduction and damages. For urgent works threatening safety, the hour-to-hour urgent procedure allows a decision within a few days. Paying the rent into escrow is another route, which requires prior court authorisation.

Yes for ordinary decorative work, no for work that transforms the premises. Article 7 of the Law of 6 July 1989 allows the tenant to fit out the dwelling and carry out improvement works at their own expense, provided the structure or layout of the premises is not altered. Painting, wallpaper, removable floor coverings, curtains and shelves fixed without structural work fall into this category. By contrast, knocking down a partition, altering a kitchen or bathroom, or moving an electrical socket requires the landlord's prior written consent. Without consent, the landlord may, at move-out, require restoration at the tenant's expense or keep the improvements without compensation. A prudent tenant asks for written consent before any work that might be classed as a transformation.

The landlord may give notice to quit only at the end of the lease, with six months' notice for an unfurnished lease and three months for a furnished lease. The notice must state a ground: repossession of the dwelling to live in it, sale, or a legitimate and serious ground, in particular the tenant's failure to perform their obligations. A notice for repossession requires a genuine and serious intention to move into the dwelling, either for the landlord, their spouse, or a close relative on an exhaustive list. A notice to quit for sale amounts to an offer of sale to the tenant and must state the price and the conditions of the sale. The legitimate and serious ground must be documented: repeated unpaid rent, disturbance of quiet enjoyment, prohibited subletting. The tenant may challenge the notice before the protection litigation judge before the notice period expires. If the notice is annulled, the lease continues for a new term.

Yes, strict ones. Article 15 II of the 1989 Law sets the rules. A notice to quit for sale amounts to an offer of sale to the tenant during the first two months of the notice period. The notice must, on pain of nullity, state the price and the conditions of the planned sale. The Court of Cassation held on 12 March 2020 that the notice must describe the whole of the property sold consistently with the lease, failing which it is null. The Court of Cassation clarified on 18 February 2009 that the first six paragraphs of Article 15 II may be reproduced in an annex that is expressly announced. If the tenant accepts the offer, the sale is concluded. If the tenant declines, they may leave at the end of the notice period. If the landlord then sells to a third party at a lower price or on more favourable terms, the landlord must notify those terms to the tenant, who then has a new right of pre-emption.

A residential lease is renewed by tacit renewal at the end of the initial lease. No step is needed. An unfurnished lease is renewed for three years, a furnished lease for one year. As part of the renewal, the landlord may propose a rent revision if the rent is manifestly undervalued. The proposal must be notified to the tenant at least six months before the end of the lease and must be justified by rents for comparable dwellings. If the tenant accepts, the lease is renewed at the new rent. If the tenant refuses, the parties may refer the matter to the departmental conciliation commission and, failing agreement, to the protection litigation judge. In Paris, rent control caps the maximum increase at the applicable increased reference rent. A landlord who wishes to end the renewal has only one route, a notice to quit stating a ground, with six months' notice for an unfurnished lease.

Yes, provided the lease contains an indexation clause and that clause is valid. The annual revision is made according to the rent reference index (IRL) published each quarter by INSEE (the French national statistics institute). The clause must state the frequency, the base index and the applicable index. If there is no clause, the landlord cannot revise the rent. If the clause is defective, for example because it excludes any fall in the index, it may be declared unwritten. The revision is not automatic: the landlord must expressly request it, by registered letter or by a note on the rent receipt. The revision takes effect from the date of the request, without retroactive effect. If it has not been requested within one year of the revision date, the landlord is deemed to have waived it for the past year, under Article 17-1 of the 1989 Law. The tenant may challenge an excessive revision by applying to the conciliation commission and then to the judge.

The decree of 26 August 1987 sets the exhaustive list of recoverable charges. Recoverable items are the cost of routine maintenance of common parts, cold water, collective hot water, collective heating, household waste, lift maintenance, cleaning of common parts, minor repairs, and caretaker costs up to 75% of the salary where the caretaker performs both the cleaning and refuse-removal duties. Not recoverable are major works, the managing agent's fees, the building's insurance premiums and the association's legal costs. The Court of Cassation recalled on 21 December 2017 that the landlord must be able to keep the supporting documents available for the tenant, failing which the reconciliation may be challenged. The reconciliation is annual. After three years, the reconciliation is time-barred and advance payments made without justification may be returned.

Yes. Since the Law of 26 July 2005, the rent reference index (IRL) is the only index that can be used for the annual revision of a residential rent. Any indexation clause providing for another index, for example the construction cost index, has no effect for residential leases. The IRL is published each quarter by INSEE and is calculated on the twelve-month average of the change in consumer prices excluding tobacco and rents. The revision takes place on the anniversary date of the lease. The formula is: new rent = old rent × (IRL of the lease's reference quarter / IRL of the same quarter the previous year). If the lease does not specify the reference quarter, the last IRL published before signing applies. A landlord who does not express the wish to revise the rent within one year of the revision date is deemed to have waived it for the past year; if the landlord requests it within that period, the revision takes effect from the date of the request, under Article 17-1.

The protection litigation judge at the Paris judicial court has exclusive jurisdiction over disputes relating to residential leases, under Article L. 213-4-3 of the Judicial Organisation Code (Code de l'organisation judiciaire). Its jurisdiction covers unpaid rent, disputes over charges, disturbance of quiet enjoyment, challenges to notices to quit, actions for return of the security deposit, requests for time to pay and requests for performance of the obligation to provide the dwelling. The case is brought by writ of summons for claims on the merits and by petition for certain specific applications. Representation by a lawyer is not mandatory but is strongly advised. An appeal is available for disputes above €5,000 and lies to the Paris court of appeal. For commercial and professional leases, the president of the judicial court has jurisdiction in urgent proceedings and the civil chamber on the merits, which is a different subject.