France Security Deposit (Dépôt de Garantie): Limits, Deadlines and the 10% Late Penalty

Getting a French dépôt de garantie back is usually a question of two dates and one calculation. The first date is the day the keys changed hands, because that is what starts the return clock, not the day the lease formally ended. The second is the day the money actually landed, because every monthly period that has begun between the deadline and that day carries a statutory increase.

That increase is where most summaries of French tenancy law lose accuracy. The rule is not 10% for each full month that passes. It is 10% of one month of rent hors charges for each monthly period of delay commencée, so a delay of two months and one day counts as three. This page sets out the ceilings, the deadlines, the deductions a landlord may lawfully make, and how that late return figure is built, as general information about the law rather than commentary on any particular tenancy.

Information last verified on 21 July 2026. This page presents general legal information, not legal advice.

How much a landlord may require

Article 22 of loi n° 89-462 du 6 juillet 1989 states that where a lease provides for a deposit to secure the tenant's obligations, it may not exceed one month of rent en principal. Rent en principal means rent hors charges, so the provisions for charges are excluded from the calculation.

That ceiling has not always been one month. Article 10 of loi n° 2008-111 du 8 février 2008 pour le pouvoir d'achat replaced the word "deux" with the word "un" in article 22, cutting the maximum from two months to one for leases concluded from the publication of that law. Older material still circulating online quotes the pre 2008 figure, which is one reason tenants sometimes accept a demand for two months on an unfurnished flat.

Furnished lettings are the genuine exception. Article 25-6 of the same law provides that, by way of derogation from article 22, the deposit for a furnished main residence is limited to two months of rent en principal. A bail mobilité is different again: no deposit may be required at all.

Two further limits often go unnoticed. Where the lease provides for rent payable in advance for a period longer than two months, quarterly for example, no deposit may be required. A two-monthly advance still permits one. And the deposit cannot be revised during the tenancy or at renewal, nor does it bear interest for the tenant.

The return deadline: one month or two

The deadline runs from the handover of the keys, either in person or by lettre recommandée avec avis de réception, and not from the date the lease ends. A tenant who leaves early but keeps the keys has not started the clock.

If the exit état des lieux conforms to the entry état des lieux, the landlord has a maximum of one month to return the deposit. If it does not conform, the maximum is two months. That single distinction decides which deadline applies, which is why the exit inspection matters far beyond the question of who pays for a scuffed wall.

Where the dwelling sits in a copropriété, the landlord may draw up a provisional statement of charges and retain a provision until the annual building accounts are approved. That provision must be justified by documents and is capped at 20% of the deposit. The final regularisation must follow within the month after the accounts are definitively approved.

Service-public.gouv.fr adds a point that cuts the other way, but only in a defined case: where the landlord does not attend the appointment set by the commissaire de justice and no exit état des lieux is made, the tenant is treated as having returned the dwelling in good condition. A tenant who is the one obstructing the inspection cannot rely on that.

The late return penalty, and why a part month counts in full

Article 22 provides that where the deposit is not returned within the applicable deadline, the sum still due to the tenant is increased by an amount equal to 10% of the monthly rent en principal for each monthly period commencée en retard.

Two phrases carry the whole rule. "Loyer mensuel en principal" fixes the base at one month of rent hors charges, not a percentage of the deposit, so the figure is identical whether the deposit was one month or two. "Période mensuelle commencée" means a period counts as soon as it starts. A delay of six weeks is two periods, not one and a half.

Consider a worked illustration. A tenant pays 900 euros of rent hors charges and a deposit of 900 euros. The keys are handed back on 5 March and the exit état des lieux conforms, so the one month deadline expires on 5 April. The landlord transfers the money on 20 June.

The first monthly period of delay runs from 6 April, the second from 6 May, and a third began on 6 June and was still running on 20 June. Three periods have commencé, so the increase is three times 90 euros, that is 270 euros, and the total due is 1,170 euros. A summary that counted only completed months would have produced 180 euros, understating the figure by 90 euros.

The statute also builds in a limit that works in the landlord's favour. The increase is not owed where the failure to return on time stems from the tenant not having given the landlord a new address when the keys were handed over. Leaving forwarding details at the handover is therefore not a courtesy but a condition of the penalty.

What a landlord may lawfully deduct

The deposit exists to cover the tenant's failures to meet lease obligations: unpaid rent or charges, repairs that fall on the tenant, and damage beyond ordinary wear. A landlord who withholds part of the money must be able to justify the amount.

Service-public.gouv.fr lists the supporting documents the administration expects: the entry and exit états des lieux, photographs, a report drawn up by a commissaire de justice, invoices or quotations for the work, or a letter claiming unpaid rent that went unanswered. Vétusté, the ordinary ageing of materials and equipment, is not damage, and a deduction for it is contestable.

The two états des lieux operate as the comparison point for all of this. Without an entry inventory the landlord loses the baseline that makes a deduction provable, which is why the entry inspection is worth as much attention as the exit one.

The general route when the deposit does not come back

The steps described by the administration begin with a mise en demeure, a formal demand sent by lettre recommandée avec avis de réception, claiming both the deposit and the statutory increase.

If that produces nothing, the commission départementale de conciliation set up under article 20 of loi n° 89-462 exists in every département. It is free, either party may seize it, and it issues an opinion within two months. Disputes over the deposit and over the état des lieux fall within its remit.

Court proceedings go before the juge des contentieux de la protection of the tribunal covering the dwelling. For claims under 5,000 euros an attempt at amicable resolution is normally required before the court is seized. Time is limited: article 7-1 of loi n° 89-462 prescribes actions arising from a lease three years from the day the claimant knew or should have known the facts.

None of this is a route map for any individual dispute. Which step fits a given situation, and whether it is worth taking, is something an ADIL adviser or a French avocat can assess on the actual facts.

Do not offset the deposit against the last rent

The temptation is obvious and the administration is blunt about it: deducting the deposit from the final month of rent is unlawful. Service-public.gouv.fr sets out the consequences. The landlord need not issue a rent receipt, which matters because that receipt is required for housing aid. The landlord may also seek a saisie conservatoire on the tenant's account without going to a judge first, and may ask the juge des contentieux de la protection to order payment of the unpaid rent along with damages.

Where rent arrears have already built up, the landlord's remedy is not the deposit but the eviction procedure, and that procedure has its own calendar. Execution is suspended each winter under the rules explained in our guide to the French winter eviction ban, although the arrears themselves keep running. Our France legal guides hub collects the rest of the French material.

Disclaimer

This page provides general information about the French dépôt de garantie for educational purposes. It is not legal advice and it is not an assessment of any reader's own tenancy or dispute. Deadlines, ceilings and the treatment of deductions can turn on the wording of the lease and on the facts of the individual case. Verify current figures against service-public.gouv.fr or Légifrance, or consult an ADIL adviser or a qualified French avocat, before acting on anything set out here.