Challenge to the yearly service-charge statement (France)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in French
The PDF you download is in French — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
For a tenant in France who receives a high or poorly explained service-charge balance. The French letter asks to see the supporting documents — invoices, contracts, the apportionment key — which the landlord must keep available for six months (art. 23 of the French law of 6 July 1989), disputes items that are not recoverable charges and, if the statement is late, asks to pay the balance in twelve instalments. By registered letter with proof of receipt.
- Made for use in France
- Last updated October 13, 2026
When to use this document
- Your landlord in France has sent a large service-charge bill at the end of the year with no explanation.
- The yearly charges statement includes costs you think the landlord should pay, such as building repairs.
- You want to see the invoices behind the charges before paying the balance.
- The statement arrived very late and you want to pay the balance in instalments.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Tenant
- Tenant's address
- Landlord
- Landlord's postal address (street, then postcode and town on the next line)
- City
- Date
- Date of the lease
- Date of the service-charge statement
- Billing period of the statement
- Address of the property
- Balance claimed in the statement, in euros
- Items disputed, and why
- Statement made on time, or late (payment in twelfths)
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- Which charges may a French landlord pass on to the tenant?
- Only those on the list of décret n° 87-713 of 26 August 1987: for example water, shared heating, electricity and cleaning of common areas, the lift, and the household-waste collection tax. Not recoverable, among others, are major repairs, the managing agent's fees, the owner's insurance and the property tax (taxe foncière). An item missing from the list can be disputed, even if it appears in the building manager's statement.
- How long does the landlord have to settle or claim service charges?
- The settlement is yearly, but the landlord may claim charges owed for up to three years. If it is done after the end of the calendar year following the one in which the charges fell due, the tenant may ask to pay the balance in twelfths, that is twelve monthly instalments (art. 23 of the French law of 6 July 1989). Conversely, a tenant who paid too much may claim it back within the same three years.
- How can the supporting documents for service charges be inspected?
- A month before the settlement, the landlord sends the statement by type of charge and, in a block of flats, the apportionment key. The invoices and contracts then remain available to you for six months, at the landlord's or the managing agent's office, and you may ask for the summary by post or electronically (art. 23 of the French law of 6 July 1989). For a furnished home let with a flat-rate charge, there is no settlement to dispute.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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