Rent receipts
Rent receipts: what goes on one, and how to stop writing them by hand
A rent receipt (quittance de loyer) is the landlord’s written acknowledgement that the rent and charges for a period have been paid in full. It is the tenant’s proof of payment, so it is issued once the money has arrived, never before.
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Rent receipt
ExampleLandlord
C. Martin
Tenant
L. Moreau
Property
12 rue des Lilas, flat 2A, Lyon
Period
1 to 30 September
Received on 3 September, by bank transfer.
I acknowledge receipt of the sum above for the period stated, and give the tenant a receipt in full for it.
Issued on 4 September. Signed, C. Martin
The rules in thirty seconds
Four rules a landlord in France has to follow
Free
No fee for issuing a receipt may be charged to the tenant.
Owed on request
The landlord has to send one whenever the tenant asks, for any period paid.
Rent and charges apart
The receipt details what was paid, with the rent and the charges shown separately.
By email, if agreed
Sending it electronically needs the tenant’s express agreement.
Source: Article 21 of law no. 89-462 of 6 July 1989, for a home let in France.
Letting outside France? The rules differ from one country to the next, and in Belgium from one region to the next. Dardaris reads the law that applies from each building’s address. See the countries covered
The contents
What goes on a rent receipt
The law names one requirement: the rent and the charges shown apart. The rest is what lets a receipt prove something if the month is ever disputed. The numbers match the example above.
The landlord and the tenant
Named exactly as the lease names them.
RecommendedThe property
The full address, and the flat or lot when the building has several.
RecommendedThe period
The exact month, or dates, the payment settles.
RecommendedRent and charges, apart
Each amount on its own line, then the total received.
Required by lawWhen and how it was paid
The date the money arrived, and whether by transfer, cheque or cash.
RecommendedDate and signature
The day the receipt was issued, signed by the landlord or their agent.
Recommended
Full, partial or nothing
Which document you owe depends on what was paid
A rent receipt clears the month. Issuing one for money that has not arrived clears a debt that is still open.
A rent receipt
It states that the rent and charges for the period are settled.
A receipt for the sum paid
The law then calls for a receipt (reçu), not a rent receipt: it records the amount received and leaves the rest owed.
No document
A rent notice (avis d’échéance) asks for the rent before it is paid. It proves no payment, and a receipt dated before the money arrived proves none either.
Rent receipting, without retyping
The slow part is checking the money arrived. Dardaris does that part.
By hand, it is one receipt per lease per month: open the bank statement, find the transfer, find the lease, fill the template, send it. Dardaris already reads the bank and matches each transfer to the rent it settles, so the receipt is drafted from that.
- Step 1
The transfer arrives
Read from your bank account.
- Step 2
Dardaris matches it
To the lease and the rent notice it settles.
- Step 3
The receipt is drafted
On the tenant’s thread: amount, date, period paid, and what is still owed.
- Step 4
You send it
Nothing leaves your account on its own.
- A partial payment says soThe draft shows what is still owed, never a month paid in full that was not.
- Filed on the leaseNext to the notice and the payment, with an audit entry of who did what and when.
- Withdrawn with the paymentTake a payment off the lease and its draft receipt is discarded.
Questions landlords ask
What is a rent receipt (quittance de loyer)?
A rent receipt is the document in which the landlord acknowledges that the rent and charges for a given period have been paid in full. It is the tenant’s proof of payment for that period, distinct from the rent notice (avis d’échéance), which asks for the rent before it is paid.
What is the difference between a rent receipt and a receipt?
A receipt (reçu) records that a sum was received. A rent receipt goes further: it states that the rent for the period is settled in full. That is why French law calls for a receipt, not a rent receipt, when a tenant has paid only part of the rent.
Does a landlord have to issue a rent receipt?
Yes, when the tenant asks. In France, Article 21 of the law of 6 July 1989 requires the landlord to send a rent receipt free of charge to a tenant who requests one, with the rent and the charges detailed separately. No fee for issuing it may be charged to the tenant.
Can a rent receipt be sent by email?
Yes, with the tenant’s express agreement. Article 21 lets the landlord send the receipt electronically, for example as a PDF by email, once the tenant has agreed to it. Without that agreement, the tenant can ask for it on paper.
Can a rent receipt be issued for a partial payment?
No. If the tenant paid only part of the rent, the landlord must issue a receipt (reçu) for the amount paid, not a rent receipt. A rent receipt for the full month would state that a debt is settled when it is not.
How long should rent receipts be kept?
At least three years. Under Article 7-1 of the same law, claims arising from a lease are time-barred after three years, so keeping receipts that long covers the whole period in which unpaid rent can still be claimed.
How do you produce rent receipts automatically?
Dardaris reads your bank account, matches each transfer to the lease and the rent notice it settles, and drafts the receipt on the tenant’s thread: amount, date, period paid, and what is still owed. You review it and send it; nothing leaves your account on its own.
Stop retyping the same receipt every month.
Hand over one building, watch a month of rent matched and receipts drafted, and decide from there.
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