You run your company from London, New York, Dubai or Singapore, and your French SAS (soci\u00e9t\u00e9 par actions simplifi\u00e9e, the flexible limited company most foreign founders choose) needs a real address: an office in Paris, a shop in Lyon, a warehouse near Roissy. The landlord sends you a twelve-page lease in French, asks for two years of rent as a guarantee, a personal guarantee (garantie \u00e0 premi\u00e8re demande) from you in your home country, and tells you that in France commercial leases last nine years and you cannot leave. You sign from abroad, wire the money, and only later discover that you have accepted a 3-6-9 lease (bail commercial) with an automatic nine-year commitment, no cap on the deposit you paid, and a waiver of the eviction compensation that French law otherwise guarantees. This article explains, in plain English, how a foreign-owned company can sign a French commercial lease without travelling, what the famous 3-6-9 really means, how much the landlord can lawfully demand, and how you leave, renew or fight an eviction from abroad. Every French acronym is explained, every decisive rule is quoted from the statute or the courts, and every step can be done remotely with a power of attorney.<\/p>\n
French law starts from a very simple definition. Article 1709 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that “Le louage des choses est un contrat par lequel l’une des parties s’oblige \u00e0 faire jouir l’autre d’une chose pendant un certain temps, et moyennant un certain prix que celle-ci s’oblige de lui payer.” A lease is therefore the temporary enjoyment of premises for a price. But when the premises house a business, a second, far more protective regime applies: the statut des baux commerciaux, the commercial-lease statute codified in the Commercial Code. Article L. 145-1 of the Commercial Code<\/a> states that “Les dispositions du pr\u00e9sent chapitre s’appliquent aux baux des immeubles ou locaux dans lesquels un fonds est exploit\u00e9”, meaning any premises in which a business (fonds de commerce, the going concern: clientele, lease right, equipment and stock) is operated. If your French SAS or SARL (soci\u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e0 responsabilit\u00e9 limit\u00e9e, the quota-based limited company) is registered and operates a shop, restaurant, workshop or even offices in the premises, the lease is normally a bail commercial, and the protective statute applies automatically. Offices used purely as administrative premises without any commercial activity open to clients can fall outside the statute, which is why landlords sometimes push foreign tenants toward a bail professionnel (professional lease, six years, for liberal professions) or a convention d’occupation pr\u00e9caire (short precarious-occupation agreement); refuse those substitutes unless your activity genuinely fits them, because only the bail commercial gives you the three-year exit right and the eviction compensation described below.<\/p>\n Two conditions decide whether your company enjoys the full protection. First, the tenant company must be registered: for a trader or industrial company, registration with the registre du commerce et des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s, the trade and companies register kept by the greffe (the court clerk’s office of the commercial court), now filed through the guichet unique (the single online filing portal run by the INPI, the French industrial-property office) at formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr<\/a>; for an artisan, registration with the registre national des entreprises (the national business register). Second, the company must actually exploit the fonds in the premises. A foreign founder who signs the lease before the company is registered is not yet protected, but protection attaches as soon as registration and real operation follow, and courts apply the statute broadly once both exist. Practical consequence: never accept a clause in which you waive the commercial-lease statute permanently. A waiver signed at entry is valid only inside a short derogatory lease (bail d\u00e9rogatoire, explained below) and dies with it. Any general waiver inside a 3-6-9 lease is void, and a landlord who tells you that foreign companies are excluded from the statute is simply wrong: nationality and residence of the shareholder or director change nothing.<\/p>\n The most dangerous trap for a founder arriving from abroad is the bail d\u00e9rogatoire, the short lease that lets both sides set the statute aside at entry, but only within a total duration of three years for the initial lease and any successive leases. Article L. 145-5 of the Commercial Code<\/a> provides exactly that: “Les parties peuvent, lors de l’entr\u00e9e dans les lieux du preneur, d\u00e9roger aux dispositions du pr\u00e9sent chapitre \u00e0 la condition que la dur\u00e9e totale du bail ou des baux successifs ne soit pas sup\u00e9rieure \u00e0 trois ans.” Landlords love this format for testing a foreign tenant: twelve or twenty-four months, renewable once, presented as flexible and low-risk. The flexibility is real, but the ceiling is absolute. The Cour de cassation (the supreme court for civil and criminal matters), Third Civil Chamber, 22 October 2020, appeal no. 19-20.443, published in the Bulletin<\/a>, holds that “les parties ne peuvent pas conclure un nouveau bail d\u00e9rogatoire pour exploiter le m\u00eame fonds dans les m\u00eames locaux \u00e0 l’expiration d’une dur\u00e9e totale de trois ans que ne peuvent exc\u00e9der les baux d\u00e9rogatoires successifs et qui court d\u00e8s la prise d’effet du premier bail d\u00e9rogatoire, m\u00eame si le preneur a renonc\u00e9, \u00e0 l’issue de chaque bail d\u00e9rogatoire, \u00e0 l’application du statut des baux commerciaux.” In plain terms: successive short leases for the same business in the same premises cannot exceed three years counted from the first one, even if you signed a waiver each time, and a new short lease signed after that ceiling is an attempt to dodge the statute. What happens at the ceiling matters enormously, because the same article adds: “Si, \u00e0 l’expiration de cette dur\u00e9e, et au plus tard \u00e0 l’issue d’un d\u00e9lai d’un mois \u00e0 compter de l’\u00e9ch\u00e9ance le preneur reste et est laiss\u00e9 en possession, il s’op\u00e8re un nouveau bail dont l’effet est r\u00e9gl\u00e9 par les dispositions du pr\u00e9sent chapitre.” If you stay on with the landlord’s tolerance for one month past expiry, a full 3-6-9 lease arises by operation of law. For a foreign tenant this cuts both ways: do not chain short leases beyond three years thinking you stay flexible, and if you want the protection, simply remain in the premises; if you want to leave, vacate and return the keys before the deadline instead of lingering.<\/p>\n Two formalities protect you at entry and cost almost nothing. Since the Pinel Act of 18 June 2014 (loi Pinel, the statute that reformed commercial leases), an inventory of condition (\u00e9tat des lieux) is compulsory. Article L. 145-40-1 of the Commercial Code<\/a> requires that “Lors de la prise de possession des locaux par le locataire en cas de conclusion d’un bail […] et lors de la restitution des locaux, un \u00e9tat des lieux est \u00e9tabli contradictoirement et amiablement par le bailleur et le locataire ou par un tiers mandat\u00e9 par eux.” Insist on a detailed, photographed, jointly signed inventory at entry; without it, the landlord cannot rely on the presumption that you received the premises in good condition, but with a sloppy one you will pay for pre-existing damage at exit. Second, check the diagnostics file (lead, asbestos, energy performance, natural and technological risks) and the exact destination clause (clause de destination, the permitted activities): a restaurant needs extraction and hospitality use, a warehouse needs storage use (and the lease must match local planning rules). Changing activity later without the landlord’s authorisation can justify a refusal to renew without compensation, so have the clause drafted wide enough on day one, for example wording covering all commercial activities where the landlord accepts it, or at least your current activity plus foreseeable extensions.<\/p>\n Yes, the whole operation can be done remotely, and thousands of foreign founders do it every year. The lease itself is a private deed (acte sous seing priv\u00e9): no notary is required, signatures can be electronic under the eIDAS regulation, and a director living abroad can sign by giving a power of attorney (procuration) to a lawyer, an agent or a co-founder in France. What the landlord will always ask for is proof that the signatory can bind the company: the Kbis (the official company identity extract issued by the greffe, equivalent to a certificate of incorporation plus good standing), the articles of association (statuts), and the identity and authority of the director (pr\u00e9sident of a SAS, g\u00e9rant of a SARL). The practical sequence is therefore: incorporate first, sign second. File the company on the guichet unique, obtain the Siren number (the nine-digit company identifier) and then the Kbis, open the file with the bank for the capital deposit if that is still pending, and only then countersign the lease in the company’s name, represented by its director. If the landlord pressures you to sign in your personal name first with a transfer to the company later, refuse: a lease signed personally does not automatically become the company’s lease, and the transfer (cession de bail) usually requires the landlord’s prior consent, which gives him a second negotiation and a second fee.<\/p>\n Domiciliation (providing the company with a registered address) deserves a separate warning because it is often confused with a lease. A domiciliation contract with an authorised centre gives you an address for the Kbis and mail, and it is cheap and fast, but it gives no right to occupy, no clientele attached to premises, and no commercial-lease protection. Some founders domiciliate first to get the Kbis quickly, then sign the real lease: that sequence is fine and standard. What is not fine is running a shop or receiving the public in premises covered only by a domiciliation agreement; in a dispute, you would be an occupant without title and could be expelled without eviction compensation. If your activity needs premises from day one, sign the bail commercial (or a short bail d\u00e9rogatoire while you test the location) and use it as the registered office (si\u00e8ge social). The greffe accepts the lease as proof of address (justificatif de jouissance des locaux), alongside the director’s identity, the articles and the beneficial-owner declaration (registre des b\u00e9n\u00e9ficiaires effectifs). The BODACC (Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales, the official gazette where company creations and judgments are published) will then carry the creation notice, and suppliers, banks and insurers will treat the company as established.<\/p>\n From abroad, organise the signing as a small closing. Ask the landlord for the draft at least two weeks before the target date and have it reviewed line by line: duration and renewal, destination clause, rent and indexation formula, charges and property tax (taxe fonci\u00e8re) allocation, works and compliance (mise aux normes) allocation, assignment and subletting clause, guarantee package, and termination provisions. abolish any clause that makes you pay for the landlord’s structural works: since the Pinel reform, Article L. 145-40-2 of the Commercial Code forbids passing to the tenant the cost of major structural repairs under Article 606 of the Civil Code (grosses r\u00e9parations: walls, roofs, structural beams) and the cost of bringing the building up to standard for a new regulation; a clause that does so is deemed unwritten (r\u00e9put\u00e9e non \u00e9crite). Then sign remotely: either all parties sign electronically, or your attorney in France signs under a special power of attorney (pouvoir sp\u00e9cial) that describes the premises, the rent, the duration and the maximum guarantee you authorise, so the landlord cannot claim you agreed to more. Pay the deposit and first rent by wire to the sequestered account or the agency, collect the countersigned original, and file a copy with the company’s records. Registration of the lease with the tax office (enregistrement) is optional for most commercial leases and mainly matters for very long leases or specific duties; your lawyer will confirm whether your lease needs it. Finally, insure the premises from day one (assurance multirisque professionnelle): French leases make comprehensive business insurance an essential obligation, and missing it can support a termination for breach.<\/p>\n The 3-6-9 is not three leases; it is one lease of at least nine years with an exit every three years for the tenant. Article L. 145-4 of the Commercial Code<\/a> lays down the rule in one sentence: “La dur\u00e9e du contrat de location ne peut \u00eatre inf\u00e9rieure \u00e0 neuf ans.” It then gives the tenant the famous triennial exit: “Toutefois, le preneur a la facult\u00e9 de donner cong\u00e9 \u00e0 l’expiration d’une p\u00e9riode triennale, au moins six mois \u00e0 l’avance, par lettre recommand\u00e9e avec demande d’avis de r\u00e9ception ou par acte extrajudiciaire.” Offices-only premises and a few specific categories (single-use buildings, storage premises under Article 231 ter of the Tax Code) may lawfully contain contrary stipulations such as a firm six- or nine-year term without triennial exit, so check whether your premises fall into one of those exceptions before assuming you can leave at year three. For ordinary shops, restaurants and workshops, the triennial exit is a matter of public policy (ordre public): a clause that removes it is void. Foreign tenants sometimes agree, unknowingly, to a nine-years-firm clause for ordinary retail premises; that clause cannot be enforced against you, but expect a fight and legal fees to have it set aside, which is why the review before signing matters more than the dispute after.<\/p>\n The initial rent is negotiated without any statutory ceiling: there is no legal cap on the initial rent of a commercial lease, unlike residential leases in tense areas. The shock for foreign founders is not the first rent but the revision mechanics. During the lease, rent can be revised every three years (r\u00e9vision triennale) to the rental value (valeur locative), and at renewal the new rent is, by statute, the rental value. Article L. 145-33 of the Commercial Code<\/a> provides that “Le montant des loyers des baux renouvel\u00e9s ou r\u00e9vis\u00e9s doit correspondre \u00e0 la valeur locative.” Rental value is assessed on the characteristics of the premises, their permitted destination, the parties’ respective obligations, local commerciality factors and prices commonly charged nearby. Indexation between revisions usually follows the ILC (indice des loyers commerciaux, the commercial-rent index for retail and artisanal tenants) or the ILAT (indice des loyers des activit\u00e9s tertiaires, the tertiary-activities index for offices and warehouses); since the Pinel reform, the old ICC (construction-cost index) can no longer be imposed, and annual indexation is typically capped in practice by the agreed tunnel or by the judge at renewal. Negotiate three points that foreigners often overlook: a cap (plafonnement or tunnel) on annual indexation, for example plus or minus two or three points around the index; a step rent (loyer progressif or franchise) for the first year while you fit out and build clientele; and a clear allocation of the taxe fonci\u00e8re (property tax), the office tax in \u00cele-de-France (taxe annuelle sur les bureaux) where relevant, charges, and insurance, because an innocent-looking clause putting all charges and taxes on the tenant can add fifteen to thirty percent to the headline rent. Ask for the last three years of charges and tax bills before signing; a landlord who refuses to produce them is telling you something.<\/p>\n The deposit (d\u00e9p\u00f4t de garantie) surprises foreign tenants the most, because unlike residential leases, no statute caps it for commercial leases. One quarter of annual rent per quarter payable in advance is the market standard in Paris (one quarter’s rent as deposit for quarterly payments, i.e. three months), and demands of six months to one year appear for tenants without French accounts. Anything beyond one year’s rent should be treated as a red flag and negotiated down, for example by offering a larger first-rent advance, a bank guarantee (garantie bancaire) from a French bank once the account is open, or a graduated deposit that decreases after two years without any incident. The deposit is refundable at exit, offset against proven damage and arrears, and it does not bear interest unless the lease says so; make the lease state the refund deadline (commonly one to two months after handover of keys and the exit inventory) to avoid the classic six-month chase from abroad. Because you live outside France, the landlord will almost certainly demand a personal guarantee. The strongest form is the garantie autonome or garantie \u00e0 premi\u00e8re demande (first-demand guarantee): the guarantor pays on simple demand without discussing the underlying debt. Never sign a first-demand guarantee as an individual founder without a cap in amount and time, for example a cap of twelve months of rent, for the first three years only, decreasing thereafter, and prefer a caution simple (simple suretyship, where the creditor must first pursue the company and where you can raise the company’s defences) over a caution solidaire (joint suretyship). If the landlord insists on a parent-company guarantee from your foreign holding, have it governed by French law, capped, and limited to rent arrears excluding penalties, and check with your home-country counsel how it will be enforced locally. A guarantee signed by e-mail without a handwritten or qualified electronic mention of the amount can be challenged, but do not rely on that technicality: negotiate the cap instead.<\/p>\n Fit-out (travaux d’am\u00e9nagement) is the hidden half of the budget. Clarify in the lease who pays for what: the landlord delivers premises compliant with the destination (electrics, ventilation, disabled access where applicable), you pay for your own fit-out, and at exit you must in principle restore the premises unless the lease says improvements remain the landlord’s property without compensation (clause d’accession). Photograph everything, keep invoices, and file the administrative authorisations yourself: change of use, illuminated signs (enseigne), terrace (autorisation d’occupation du domaine public) and food-hygiene approvals each have their own authority and timeline, and none of them is the landlord’s job. Finally, remember that rent, deposit and guarantee are negotiable even in Paris. A foreign company with audited accounts, a credible business plan and a lawyer who answers in French negotiates better than an unknown offshore e-mail address offering to overpay; landlords fear vacancy and unpaid rent more than they fear foreigners, and a clean, capped guarantee package often beats a desperate overbid.<\/p>\n Leaving at each three-year mark is a right, not a favour, but it is fenced with formalities that kill careless tenants. You must give notice (cong\u00e9) at least six months before the end of the triennial period, by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt or by bailiff’s writ (acte extrajudiciaire, now acte de commissaire de justice). A plain e-mail, a phone call to the agency, or returning the keys without notice does not terminate the lease: you remain liable for rent until a valid notice takes effect. The notice should identify the lease, the premises, the triennial expiry date and your unequivocal will to leave, and it should be sent early enough that the six-month period is complete; from abroad, instruct the bailiff at least eight weeks before the deadline, because finding the landlord’s correct address for service and translating instructions takes time. At the end of the nine years, the regime changes: the lease does not end by itself. Article L. 145-9 of the Commercial Code<\/a> provides that “Par d\u00e9rogation aux articles 1736 et 1737 du code civil, les baux de locaux soumis au pr\u00e9sent chapitre ne cessent que par l’effet d’un cong\u00e9 donn\u00e9 six mois \u00e0 l’avance ou d’une demande de renouvellement.” Without a cong\u00e9 or a renewal request, a written lease continues tacitly (tacite prolongation) beyond its term, and during that extension notice must be given at least six months ahead for the last day of a calendar quarter. Diary the dates on day one: triennial expiries, the nine-year term, and the six-month notice windows, with reminders at nine and seven months.<\/p>\n Renewal (renouvellement) is the tenant’s crown jewel: at expiry, you have the right to a new nine-year lease unless the landlord pays you off. If neither side acts, tacit prolongation continues indefinitely; if you ask for renewal, the landlord must either accept (and negotiate the new rent at rental value) or refuse. A refusal in principle triggers compensation: Article L. 145-14 of the Commercial Code<\/a> states that “Le bailleur peut refuser le renouvellement du bail.” The same article continues: the landlord who refuses must, outside the statutory exceptions, “payer au locataire \u00e9vinc\u00e9 une indemnit\u00e9 dite d’\u00e9viction \u00e9gale au pr\u00e9judice caus\u00e9 par le d\u00e9faut de renouvellement.” The same article defines the measure: “Cette indemnit\u00e9 comprend notamment la valeur marchande du fonds de commerce, d\u00e9termin\u00e9e suivant les usages de la profession, augment\u00e9e \u00e9ventuellement des frais normaux de d\u00e9m\u00e9nagement et de r\u00e9installation, ainsi que des frais et droits de mutation \u00e0 payer pour un fonds de m\u00eame valeur, sauf dans le cas o\u00f9 le propri\u00e9taire fait la preuve que le pr\u00e9judice est moindre.” For a thriving shop or restaurant, the eviction indemnity often equals the market value of the business itself, which is why landlords of prime premises negotiate renewals seriously and why tenants should never surrender the renewal right lightly. The Paris Court of Appeal applies exactly this logic: in its judgment of 19 April 2023, RG no. 21\/01082, available on the Cour de cassation portal<\/a>, the court recalls that “Selon l’article L 145-14 du code de commerce, le refus de renouvellement signifi\u00e9 par le bailleur met fin au bail mais ouvre droit au profit du locataire \u00e0 une indemnit\u00e9 d’\u00e9viction.” The landlord ends the lease, but he pays for it.<\/p>\n The landlord escapes compensation only in narrow cases, and each has its own tripwire. Article L. 145-17 of the Commercial Code<\/a> allows refusal without compensation where “Le bailleur peut refuser le renouvellement du bail sans \u00eatre tenu au paiement d’aucune indemnit\u00e9”, first “S’il justifie d’un motif grave et l\u00e9gitime \u00e0 l’encontre du locataire sortant.” A serious and legitimate ground means, in practice, persistent unpaid rent, unauthorised change of activity, serious nuisance or abandonment of the premises, and even then the breach must generally have continued more than one month after a formal demand served by bailiff’s writ that reproduces the statutory warning; a landlord who never served that mise en demeure (formal demand) usually cannot invoke the ground. Other exceptions include demolition of an unsafe building ordered by the authorities, and the landlord’s personal repossession to live in or rebuild, each with strict conditions and, for rebuilding, a tenant’s priority right in the rebuilt property. Separately, the landlord’s cong\u00e9 itself must be formally perfect: it must be served by bailiff’s writ and, on pain of nullity, state its grounds and warn the tenant of the two-year deadline. Under Article L. 145-9 of the Commercial Code<\/a>: “Il doit, \u00e0 peine de nullit\u00e9, pr\u00e9ciser les motifs pour lesquels il est donn\u00e9 et indiquer que le locataire qui entend, soit contester le cong\u00e9, soit demander le paiement d’une indemnit\u00e9 d’\u00e9viction, doit saisir le tribunal avant l’expiration d’un d\u00e9lai de deux ans \u00e0 compter de la date pour laquelle le cong\u00e9 a \u00e9t\u00e9 donn\u00e9.” From abroad, that two-year window (d\u00e9lai de forclusion) is the most important date in your file: miss it and even a void cong\u00e9 becomes unchallengeable. On receipt of any cong\u00e9 or refusal, forward it to counsel within days, not months.<\/p>\n Disputes follow a predictable path that a non-resident can manage remotely. Start with a bailiff-recorded inventory and photographs at entry and exit, pay rent by wire with clear references even while disputing (unpaid rent destroys your negotiating position and can justify termination), and answer every mise en demeure within the month through counsel. Most rent and renewal disputes go first to negotiation or mediation, then to the tribunal judiciaire (the ordinary civil court) of the premises’ location, with expert valuation (expertise judiciaire) of the rental value or the eviction indemnity where the parties disagree. Termination for breach (clause r\u00e9solutoire) cannot be invoked overnight: the landlord must serve a demand giving at least one month to cure, then seek a court order, and the judge may grant delays. If you must litigate from abroad, a French lawyer represents you under a power of attorney; your personal attendance is rarely required before the expert or the court, though a well-prepared director’s statement and certified accounts help the expert value your fonds. And if the business fails entirely, remember the exit ladder: triennial cong\u00e9, negotiated early surrender (r\u00e9siliation amiable) against a negotiated indemnity, assignment of the lease with the business (cession du fonds, which the landlord cannot forbid when you sell the whole business), and only as a last resort collective proceedings, where the administrator can terminate or assign the lease under court supervision. Each rung costs less than the next, so act at the first sign of trouble rather than after six months of unpaid rent.<\/p>\n A French commercial lease is a nine-year relationship with exits every three years, a renewal right that is worth the value of your business, and formalities that punish improvisation. For a founder living abroad, the winning method is simple: incorporate and get the Kbis first, test uncertain locations with a short bail d\u00e9rogatoire capped at three years all-in, sign the 3-6-9 only after a line-by-line review of the destination, rent mechanics, charges, works and guarantee package, cap every personal or parent guarantee in amount and time, diary the six-month notice windows and the two-year challenge deadline, and keep paying rent while any dispute runs. Do that, and distance stops being a handicap: your attorney and your bailiff are your hands in France, the statutes quoted above are your shield, and the eviction indemnity is your leverage. The landlord knows these rules; now you do too.<\/p>\n Telephone consultation: 80 EUR including VAT, with an attorney of the firm within 48 hours. Call +33 6 46 60 58 22<\/a> (Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen), or send your draft lease, cong\u00e9 or renewal offer through our contact page<\/a> for a fixed-fee review before you sign, give notice or go to court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Foreign founder living abroad? How your French SAS or SARL signs a 3-6-9 commercial lease remotely, what deposit and guarantee the landlord can demand, and how to leave every three years or claim eviction compensation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251031309,"featured_media":16395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kj_source_type":"","_kj_official_id":"","_kj_official_url":"","_kj_judilibre_id":"","_kj_jur":"","_kj_lieu":"","_kj_chambre":"","_kj_rg":"","_kj_date":"","activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":""},"categories":[80314,80313],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2130472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-decryptage","category-doing-business-in-france"],"yoast_head":"\nB. How do you sign, register the company and get the Kbis when the director lives abroad?<\/h3>\n
II. What Will the 3-6-9 Lease Really Cost You, and How Do You Leave or Get Evicted?<\/h2>\n
A. How much rent, deposit and guarantee can the landlord demand from a foreign tenant?<\/h3>\n
B. How do you terminate every three years, renew the lease, or fight an eviction and claim compensation from abroad?<\/h3>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
Need a quick opinion on your case<\/h2>\n