Referral to the housing conciliation commission (France)
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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 or landlord in France in dispute over rent, a rent supplement, the inventory of condition, the deposit, service charges, repairs, decency or a notice. The French letter asks the commission départementale de conciliation, free and made up of landlords' and tenants' representatives, to bring the parties together (art. 20 of the French law of 6 July 1989), sets out the dispute and the request and lists the documents. By registered letter with proof of receipt to the address the préfecture publishes.
- Made for use in France
- Last updated October 13, 2026
When to use this document
- You and your landlord or tenant in France disagree over the deposit or the service charges.
- Your landlord refuses to carry out repairs or the flat is not in a decent condition.
- You dispute a rent increase or a rent supplement asked for by the other side.
- You want the free housing conciliation commission to bring both sides together before going to court.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Applicant
- Applicant's address
- Departmental conciliation commission (with the département)
- Commission's address, as the préfecture publishes it
- City
- Date
- Address of the property
- The other party is your landlord or your tenant
- Other party (name or company name)
- Other party's address
- Date of the lease
- What the dispute is about
- The dispute, and the steps already taken to settle it
- Your request (what you want from the other party)
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- Which disputes does the French housing conciliation commission hear?
- Disputes between landlord and tenant of a home: the rent, the reassessment of an underestimated rent, a rent supplement in a commune with rent control, the inventory of condition, the deposit, service charges, repairs, decency and notices (art. 20 of the French law of 6 July 1989). It brings both parties before representatives of landlords and tenants and seeks an agreement; it does not give judgment.
- What does a referral to the commission cost, and how does the hearing go?
- It is free. The commission is seized by registered letter with proof of receipt or electronically, at the address published by the département's préfecture. Both parties are summoned and may be accompanied or represented. If they agree, the commission records the agreement in writing; otherwise it gives an opinion, within two months for a rent dispute, and the court may then be seized.
- Must the commission be used before going to court?
- For reassessing a clearly underestimated rent when the lease is renewed, and for disputing a rent supplement in a commune with rent control, the commission comes before the court. In other disputes it is optional, but it often settles the disagreement without a lawsuit. The competent court is then the juge des contentieux de la protection of the tribunal judiciaire where the home is.
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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