Security deposit (dépôt de garantie) for French rentals: landlord rules, deductions, return deadlines and disputes

The deposit is capped by law, and any clause charging more is void for the excess.

• Unfurnished (bail vide): maximum 1 month's rent excluding charges (loyer en principal), under art. 22 of loi n°89-462.
• Furnished (bail meublé): maximum 2 months' rent excluding charges, under art. 25-6 of the same law.
• Bail mobilité (1–10 months, furnished): no deposit is allowed (art. 25-17).

Two practical points landlords miss:

1. The cap is calculated on rent excluding charges — not the all-in figure you invoice.
2. The deposit amount is frozen for the life of the lease: you cannot ask for a top-up when the rent is revised each year. It is only re-set on a genuinely new tenancy.

Almost every deposit dispute is really an argument about the état des lieux. A deduction is only defensible if you can show, side by side, that the property came back worse than it went out — beyond normal ageing.

• A detailed entry inventory (état des lieux d'entrée) and a matching exit inventory (état des lieux de sortie) are the paired documents that justify — or sink — any retention. No entry inventory generally means the property is presumed returned in good order.
• The décret n°2016-382 du 30 mars 2016 sets the content of the inventory and defines vétusté — the wear "resulting from time or normal use" — which cannot be charged to the tenant.
• Only abnormal degradation or a failure to maintain attributable to the tenant may be withheld.
• A grille de vétusté (agreed at signing) applies annual abatement coefficients to items like paint or flooring, so a five-year-old carpet is never billed as new. It heads off most arguments.

The clock starts when the tenant hands back the keys (in person or by registered post), not when they move out. The deadline depends entirely on the inventory comparison.

Best practice is to schedule the exit inventory on the day keys are returned, so both clocks start together. If you intend to deduct, send the tenant an itemised statement with supporting documents inside the two-month window — silence is what triggers penalties.

Under art. 22, you may retain "sums still owed" and "sums for which the landlord could be liable in the tenant's place", provided they are duly justified. In practice, three categories hold up:

1. Unpaid rent and any arrears outstanding at the end of the lease.
2. Unpaid rental charges (charges locatives), including the balance owed after annual régularisation.
3. Repairs for tenant-caused damage — holes, broken fittings, unauthorised alterations, missing cleaning — beyond vétusté.

As ANIL stresses, repairs "must be justified by the exit inventory and/or by quotes and invoices". An estimate (devis) is enough to withhold; keep the final invoice.

When the property sits in a copropriété (co-owned building), the tenant's share of collective charges is often not yet known when they leave, because the building's annual accounts haven't been approved. Art. 22 gives landlords a specific tool:

• You may draw up a provisional statement of account and retain a provision of up to 20% of the deposit until the building's annual accounts are settled.
• Once those accounts are definitively approved by the general meeting, you must carry out the final régularisation and return the balance within one month.
• The 20% is a ceiling and must itself be justified — you cannot hold it reflexively; it should reflect a plausible charge exposure.

Note the two figures people confuse: 20% is the copropriété holdback; 10% is the late-return penalty (next section). They are unrelated.

This is the rule that turns a slow refund into an expensive one. Under art. 22:

Where the deposit is not returned within the deadline, the sum still owed is increased by an amount equal to 10% of the monthly rent (excluding charges) for each monthly period started late.

• The penalty accrues per month started — even one day into a new month counts as a full 10%.
• Worked example: rent €800 excluding charges, deposit returned two months and a few days late → penalty = 3 × €80 = €240 added to whatever deposit balance you owe.
• The one exception: no penalty is due if the delay results from the tenant failing to give you their new address. Keep proof that you asked.

The lesson is simple: even a contested, partial refund should go out on time. Pay the undisputed balance within the deadline and pursue any extra claim separately.

A deduction that isn't written up properly is a deduction a judge will strike out. Build the file every time:

1. Compare inventories line by line and flag each disputed item.
2. Attach evidence: dated photos, the devis or invoice, the charge régularisation statement, and any mise en demeure for unpaid rent (if arrears are the real issue, see the unpaid-rent escalation path).
3. Send an itemised restitution letter by registered post (LRAR) showing the deposit, each deduction with its amount and justification, and the net balance returned.
4. Meet the deadline (one or two months) and keep proof of postage.

Landlords managing this by hand tend to miss either the deadline or a supporting document — the two things that cost them the penalty. If you'd rather generate a compliant exit inventory and a defensible restitution statement in one flow, AdminLanding's Rent tool does exactly that. Clean paperwork is what makes a deduction stick.

Expect pushback on retentions, and know the ladder before it starts.

• Amicable stage: the tenant sends a mise en demeure (LRAR) asking for the balance. Reply with your itemised statement and evidence.
• Free conciliation: either party can refer the matter to the commission départementale de conciliation or a conciliateur de justice at no cost. A prior attempt at amicable resolution is generally required before going to court for small claims.
• Court: the juge des contentieux de la protection (at the tribunal judiciaire) rules on rental deposit disputes.
• Time limit: the tenant's action to recover the deposit is barred after 3 years (art. 7-1 of loi 89-462).

The landlord who arrives with a signed entry and exit inventory, invoices and a timely LRAR almost always prevails. The one relying on memory almost always loses — and pays the 10% penalty on top.