Reminder and formal demand for unpaid rent (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 landlord in France whose tenant owes rent or charges. The French letter lists the months owed and the total, sets a payment date, offers a payment plan and the free help available (ADIL, CAF, the housing solidarity fund), then states the next step: a formal demand for payment served by a commissaire de justice, then the lease's termination clause, six weeks after an unanswered demand, or two months where a lease signed before July 2023 says so. A first friendly reminder or a formal demand, as you choose. A copy can go to the guarantor.
- Made for use in France
- Last updated October 13, 2026
When to use this document
- Your tenant in France has stopped paying the rent and you want to remind them in writing.
- Your tenant pays only part of the rent or leaves the charges unpaid.
- Several months of rent are owed and you want to propose a payment plan before taking further steps.
- You want to send a formal demand for unpaid rent, with a copy to the guarantor.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Landlord
- Landlord's address
- Tenant
- Postal address of the rented home (street, then postcode and town on the next line)
- City
- Date
- Stage: friendly reminder or formal demand
- Date of the lease
- Address of the property
- Months in arrears and the amount owed for each
- Total arrears to date, in euros
- Payment deadline
- IBAN
- Tenant's guarantor (name), if any
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- What can a French landlord do when rent is not paid?
- First, remind the tenant in writing and offer a payment plan; then send a formal demand by registered letter. If nothing changes, a commissaire de justice serves a formal demand for payment: the lease's termination clause applies six weeks after an unanswered demand, or two months where a lease signed before the law of 27 July 2023 says so, and the court records the termination. A landlord who receives the housing aid directly must also report the arrears to the body that pays it.
- May the landlord change the locks on a tenant who does not pay?
- No. Forcing the tenant out without a court decision, by threats, force or pressure — changing the locks, cutting off water or electricity — is a criminal offence (art. 226-4-2 of the French Criminal Code). A tenant can be evicted only under a court decision, carried out by a commissaire de justice, and in principle not during the winter truce. The letter therefore keeps to what the law allows: claiming, offering a plan and announcing the formal demand for payment.
- Should the guarantor be told about unpaid rent?
- It helps from the first reminder, and the letter provides for a copy to the guarantor. Above all, if a formal demand for payment is served on the tenant, it must be served on the guarantor within fifteen days; otherwise the guarantor cannot be held liable for penalties or late-payment interest (art. 24 of the French law of 6 July 1989). Keep proof of every mailing.
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
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