Unpaid rent
Unpaid rent: arrears, the resolutory clause, and what eviction actually requires
Rent moves from due to overdue on a single date the lease already sets. What happens after that date is the most legislated part of a French tenancy, and also the most rumoured. This page follows the real sequence.
Nothing is switched on until you say so.
How long it takes, at the least
5 to 7 months
The waits the law itself sets between an unpaid commandement and an eviction. Court listing times, a judge’s grace and the winter truce all come on top.
- 1To pay after the commandement6 weeks
- 2From notifying the préfet to the hearingAt least 6 weeks
- 3To leave after the judgment2 months
- 4For the préfet to answerUp to 2 months
Vocabulary that changes the date
Due in advance, or due after: two different dates for the same word
French leases use two opposite conventions for when rent falls due, and a payment can only be late against the one the lease actually chose.
Terme à échoir
Rent due at the start of the period it covers, on the day the lease names: what almost every residential lease uses.
Terme échu
Rent due once the period it covers is over: rarer in a home, more common in a short let or a commercial lease.
Arriérés
Whichever convention the lease uses, rent not paid in full by its due date is an arrear from the next day. A partial payment leaves an arrear for what is missing.
Terme à échoir
Terme échu
From missed rent to eviction
Seven steps, four hands, and a wait the law sets between them
Each step is taken by the person the law names, in this order, and none can be skipped. The tenant can stop the road at two points, marked below.
- 1
Rent goes unpaid
YouRemind the tenant, then send a mise en demeure by registered post. Neither is compulsory, but the written trail helps every step after it, and legal interest runs from the formal demand.
- 2
Commandement de payer
Commissaire de justiceServed by a commissaire de justice (formerly huissier), setting out the debt month by month. It must reach the guarantor within 15 days, and the commissaire alerts the departmental CCAPEX once the debt passes the thresholds it sets.
The tenant can stop it here. Paying the whole sum inside the window stops the clause.
Then wait6 weeksTwo months for a lease signed before 29 July 2023. - 3
Summons to court
Commissaire de justiceBefore the juge des contentieux de la protection at the tribunal judiciaire. The summons is sent to the préfet at least six weeks before the hearing. A landlord company, other than a family SCI, must also have referred the tenant to the CCAPEX two months before summoning them.
Then waitAt least 6 weeks - 4
Hearing and judgment
JudgeThe judge confirms the lease has ended and orders the departure. If the tenant has resumed paying the full current rent before the hearing and can clear the debt, the judge may instead grant up to three years to pay, and the clause is suspended while that plan is kept.
The tenant can stop it here. A plan kept to the end means the lease never ended.
- 5
Commandement de quitter les lieux
Commissaire de justiceServed once the judgment has been. The occupant has two months to leave, and a judge may add between one month and one year on top.
Then wait2 months - 6
The préfet is asked for the police
PréfetOnly the préfet can send the police. Silence for two months counts as a refusal, and a refusal lets you claim compensation from the state for the months that follow.
Then waitUp to 2 months - 7
Eviction
Commissaire de justiceCarried out by the commissaire de justice, with the police where needed. Never between 1 November and 31 March.
The law of 27 July 2023
What the 2023 reform changed, and for which leases
The law known as Kasbarian-Bergé shortened most of the waits and narrowed the grace a judge can give. When the lease was signed decides which column you read.
| Rule | Before | Since the reform |
|---|---|---|
| Resolutory clause in a residential lease | BeforeOptional | Since the reformCompulsory |
| Time to pay after the commandement | Before2 months | Since the reform6 weeks, for leases signed from 29 July 2023 |
| Notice to the préfet before the hearing | Before2 months | Since the reform6 weeks |
| Time to pay a judge can grant | BeforeUp to 3 years | Since the reformUp to 3 years, only once the current rent is paid again |
| Extra time a judge can grant to leave | Before3 months to 3 years | Since the reform1 month to 1 year |
Eviction
Eviction without rehousing: what is and is not required
Two separate questions get conflated here, and the law answers them differently.
A court order either way
Even with a resolutory clause and months of arrears, only a court order carried out by a commissaire de justice can put somebody out. Changing the locks, cutting the utilities or removing belongings yourself is punishable by up to three years in prison and a 30 000 € fine.
No rehousing duty on the landlord
An ordinary private eviction carries no obligation for the landlord to rehouse the tenant. Where one exists at all, it falls on the state, for a household recognised as a priority case, never on the person letting the property.
The winter truce
Enforcement pauses from 1 November to 31 March. The narrow exceptions: squatters, a household offered rehousing that fits its needs, an occupant ordered out for domestic violence, or a building declared dangerous.
Running alongside
Five things to get right while the arrears build
The guarantor
The commandement de payer has to reach the guarantor within 15 days of the tenant. Miss that and the guarantor owes no late interest or penalties, only the debt itself.
The CAF or MSA
If the tenant receives housing benefit, an arrear becomes reportable once it reaches twice the monthly rent, and you then have two months to report it.
Your cover
A rent guarantee policy (GLI) or a Visale guarantee sets its own deadline for declaring an arrear. Declare late and the claim can be refused.
No fees, no penalties
A residential lease cannot charge reminder fees or a penalty for paying late. What the law allows is interest at the legal rate, from the formal demand.
Three years to claim
Unpaid rent can be recovered for three years from its due date. After that it is time-barred, whatever the lease says.
Where Dardaris fits
The date a payment goes missing is the date that matters. Dardaris catches it that day.
Every transfer is read against the lease it is meant to settle. A shortfall opens a case the next day rather than at whichever point somebody happens to notice.
- 1
A case opens the next day
The day after the due date passes with nothing, or not enough, received.
- 2
Reminders escalate on your schedule
A free, polite reminder first, on the cadence you set, before anything formal is even drafted.
- 3
No fee, only legal interest
In France no charge is added to a reminder. Interest at the legal rate is shown in full and waits for you before it touches the debt.
- 4
You approve the formal notice
Nothing that carries legal weight, like a mise en demeure, leaves the account without your say.
Arrears case
Apartment 2B, this month’s rent
- Day 0Rent due, nothing matched on the bank feed
- Day 1Case openedAutomatic
- Day 3First reminder, free and politeAutomatic
- LaterFirmer reminder with legal interestWaits for you
- LaterMise en demeure by registered postWaits for you
- LaterDemand on the guarantorWaits for you
Questions about unpaid rent and eviction
When does rent legally become an arrear?
From the day after the due date the lease sets, whether that date falls at the start of the period (terme à échoir) or its end (terme échu), and whether nothing was paid or only part of it.
What is the difference between loyer à échoir and loyer à terme échu?
Loyer à échoir is paid at the start of the period it covers, which is what almost every residential lease uses. Loyer à terme échu is paid once the period is over, more common in a furnished short let or a commercial lease. The lease states which one applies; nothing else decides it.
What is a clause résolutoire in a lease?
A clause that ends the lease on a missed payment once a commissaire de justice has served a commandement de payer and the tenant has not paid in full within six weeks, or two months for a lease signed before 29 July 2023. Since the law of 27 July 2023 it must appear in every residential lease, and a judge still has to confirm the termination.
How long does it take to evict a tenant for unpaid rent in France?
The waits the law sets add up to about five to seven months: six weeks to pay after the commandement, at least six weeks between notifying the préfet and the hearing, two months to leave after the judgment, and up to two months for the préfet to answer. Court listing times, any grace a judge grants and the winter truce all come on top.
Can I charge a tenant late fees?
Not in a residential lease: reminder fees and penalty clauses are prohibited by article 4 of the law of 6 July 1989. You may claim interest at the legal rate from the date of a formal demand, and a court may order the tenant to bear the costs of the proceedings.
When can I turn to the guarantor?
A guarantor who signed a caution solidaire can be asked as soon as the rent is unpaid; a caution simple only once recovery from the tenant has been tried. Either way, the commandement de payer must be served on the guarantor within 15 days of the tenant, or the guarantor cannot be made to pay late interest or penalties.
Can a landlord evict a tenant without rehousing them?
Yes, in the ordinary case: rehousing a tenant is not a landlord’s obligation. It exists only for households the state recognises as a priority case, and that duty falls on the state, not on the person who owns the property.
Can a tenant be evicted during the winter truce?
Not in the ordinary case. Enforcement pauses from 1 November to 31 March, with narrow, named exceptions: squatters, a household already offered rehousing that fits its needs, an occupant ordered out for domestic violence, or a building declared dangerous.
How does Dardaris catch unpaid rent early?
It reads your bank account and matches every transfer to the lease it settles. A shortfall opens a case the day after the due date, reminders escalate on the schedule you set, and any formal notice still waits for you to send it.
See a shortfall caught the day it happens, not the day it is noticed.
Hand over one building and watch the first missed payment open a case on its own.
14 days before the first charge · Nothing is switched on until you say so