How to calculate the period of notice in case of leave given by the tenant?

Verified 09 October 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

As a tenant, to permanently leave the home you live in, you must notify the social landlord or the landlord (or real estate agency). The deadline for doing so (notice period) and its method of calculation shall be determined by the regulations. They depend in particular on the residential lease (including mobility lease) that you have signed, lease of an empty dwelling or lease of a furnished dwelling. We'll explain.

Empty housing

If you want to permanently leave a empty housing, you must respect a notice period and inform the social landlord or the owner (or the real estate agency) by leave letter.

Before leaving your accommodation, you must give leave and respect a notice period 3 months, with exceptions.

Please note

You may leave the accommodation without notice, where the accommodation is endangered or unhealthy. But first, you must have notified the social lender or the private owner (or the real estate agency) of the disorders found and have made the steps to oblige him to do the work.

The period of notice depends on the municipality of your accommodation.

The housing municipality may or may not be located in stretched area.

To find out, you can use this simulator:

Whether a dwelling is located in a tense area (notice from the tenant and rent control)

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Housing in a stretched area

The notice is 1 month provided that you indicate in the letter of leave the address of the rented accommodation and the fact that you have period of notice reduced to one month, in accordance with law no. 89-462 (article 15) and the decree no. 2013-392 on the scope of application of the annual tax on vacant housing introduced by article 232 of the general tax code (1er table annexed to the decree).

If you do not do so, the notice period is 3 months.

Accommodation in another area

The rules depend on your situation.

General case

The notice period is 3 months.

You do not have to indicate the reason for your departure in the letter of leave.

In case you leave and return the keys before the end of the noticeHowever, the notice period may be reduced by the same amount if the landlord accepts a new tenant or if he undertakes major renovations.

You get social housing

The notice period is 1 month.

You must indicate this situation in the leave and provide proof of it.

If you do not do so, the notice period is 3 months.

You are on the RSA or AAH

The notice period is 1 month.

You must indicate in the leave that you are receiving the RSA: titleContent or theAAH: titleContent and you must provide proof of this.

If you do not do so, the notice period is 3 months.

FYI  

if your resources are equal to the amount of this aid but you do not receive it, the notice period is 3 months.

Your medical condition warrants a change of residence

The notice period is 1 month when the accommodation is no longer compatible with your health condition.

You must mention your medical condition in the leave and provide a justification (for example, a medical certificate).

If you do not do so, the notice period is 3 months.

Warning  

In case of simple physical or mental fatigue, even medically ascertained, the period of notice is 3 months.

You are a victim of violence in your relationship or the child who lives with you is abused

When the person with whom you live as a couple you abuse or abuse the child who usually lives with you, the notice period is 1 month.

To do so, you must give your leave by registered letter with notice of receipt. You must indicate your situation (victim of violence) and provide one of the following documents:

  • A copy of the protection order issued by the family court judge
  • A copy of the criminal conviction of the other member of your couple for acts of violence committed against you or a child who habitually resides with you. This sentence must be less than 6 months old.

If you do not, the notice period is 3 months.

FYI  

You and your guarantor are not liable for any outstanding payments made from the day following the presentation of your leave to the lessor.

If the violent person does not pay the rent from the day after the victim's leave is presented, the landlord has a legitimate and serious reason for to sell or take over the dwelling.

You get your first job

The notice period is 1 month.

You must indicate this situation in the leave and provide a justification. For example, a document with the date of social security membership may be used to certify that it is your 1er employment.

If you do not do so, the notice period is 3 months.

FYI  

If a CDD becomes a CDI, the CDI is not considered a 1er employment, unless protection litigation judge decides differently.

You're changing your workplace
Employee, civil servant

Notice period: 1 month

You must indicate this situation in the leave and provide a justification.

The date of transfer must be close to the date of dispatch of the leave (several months must not have elapsed).

The transfer may be at your own initiative or at your employer's initiative. It is not subject to any conditions of geographical remoteness.

Self-employed, professional

Advance notice of 3 months applies.

You are at the end of your unemployment insurance benefits

Advance notice of 3 months applies.

You're retiring

Advance notice of 3 months applies.

Self-employed or professional, you stop your activity

Advance notice of 3 months applies.

You resign (or leave)

Advance notice of 3 months applies.

You lose your job (or conventional break)

The notice period is 1 month.

You must indicate this situation in the leave and provide a justification.

If you do not do so, the notice period is 3 months.

FYI  

The loss of employment must precede the dispatch of your leave and be close to it. In case of dispute, the protection litigation judge determine on a case-by-case basis whether the leave is late or not following a loss of employment.

You get a new job as a result of a job loss

The notice period is 1 month where the loss of employment and the new employment occur during the same lease.

You must indicate this situation in the leave and provide a justification.

If you do not do so, the notice period is 3 months.

FYI  

Advance notice of 3 months applies in the case of a new job, if you were unemployed when you signed the lease for the housing you want to vacate.

The start of the notice depends on the method of sending your leave:

  • For a registered letter with notice of receipt, this is the day on which the registered letter is received, i.e. the day on which the addressee takes possession of it. Therefore, if the registered letter has not been delivered to its absent recipient and has been returned to you, the leave is not valid. Similarly, if the letter arrives late or is delivered late, the end of the notice period is delayed accordingly.
  • For a act of commissioner of justice, this is the day of significance (for example, the day the leave is deposited in the recipient's mailbox)
  • For a hand-delivery by signature or receipt, this is the day on which the leave is delivered by hand to the person to whom it is addressed, against a signed receipt or receipt.

Example :

For 1 month's notice

If the recipient received the leave on September 5, the notice period runs until midnight on October 5 (not October 30).

If the dates do not match, this is the last day of that month. For example, a notice that began on January 30 expires on February 28, or on February 29 in the case of a leap year.

Holidays and weekends are included in this calculation. For example, if the notice ends on a Sunday, it ends on that day, not the Friday before or the Monday after.

Example :

For 3 months notice

If the recipient received the leave on September 5, the notice period runs until midnight on December 5 (not December 31).

If the figures are not identical, this is the last day of that month. For example, a notice that began on November 30 expires on February 28 (or February 29 in the case of a leap year).

Holidays and weekends are included in this calculation. For example, if the notice ends on a Sunday, it ends on that day, not the Friday before or the Monday after.

You must pay rent and rental charges throughout the period of your notice, unless the landlord (or real estate agency) signs a new lease with another tenant and that he lives in the dwelling before the end of your notice.

If your notice ends during the month, the amount of rent and charges you owe for the last month is proportional to the number of days you disposed of the accommodation.

Example :

  • Where the last month of notice has 30 daysand the notice ends on the 5th, the amount due for the last month is 5/30e of the monthly amount.
  • Where the last month of notice has 31 daysand the notice ends on the 5th, the amount due for the last month is 5/31e of the monthly amount.
  • Where the last month of notice has 28 daysand the notice ends on the 5th, the amount due for the last month is 5/28e of the monthly amount.
  • Where the last month of notice has 29 daysand the notice ends on the 5th, the amount due for the last month is 5/29e of the monthly amount.

The expenses of the accommodation you leave are payable by provision, the final calculation of what you owe for your last rental year (even if incomplete), can only be done after the annual adjustment of charges.

You cannot deduct from your last rents the amount of the security deposit you paid.

The social landlord or the landlord (or the real estate agency) can claim for 3 years any outstanding charges or rents you owe him. For example, they can charge you until July 2027 a rent (or expense) debt from July 2024, even if you permanently left the accommodation in August 2024.

Furnished accommodation

If you want to permanently leave a furnished dwelling , you must respect a notice period and inform the social landlord or the owner (or the real estate agency) by leave letter.

You can terminate the lease at any time. But you must respect a 1-month notice period, including when the term of the lease is only 9 months (for example, when the accommodation is rented to a student).

You are not required to give reasons for leaving the accommodation or to provide any proof.

The start of the notice depends on the method of sending your leave:

  • For a registered letter with notice of receipt, this is the day on which the registered letter is received, i.e. the day on which the addressee takes possession of it. Therefore, if the registered letter has not been delivered to its absent recipient and has been returned to you, the leave is not valid. Similarly, if the letter arrives late or is delivered late, the end of the notice period is delayed accordingly.
  • For a act of commissioner of justice, this is the day of significance (for example, the day the leave is deposited in the recipient's mailbox)
  • For a hand-delivery by signature or receipt, this is the day on which the leave is delivered by hand to the person to whom it is addressed, against a signed receipt or receipt.

Example :

A leave of absence received by the recipient on September 5 gives notice until midnight on October 5 (not until October 30).

If the dates cannot be the same, this is the last day of that month. For example, a notice that began on January 30 expires on February 28 (or February 29 in the case of a leap year).

Holidays and weekends are included in this calculation. For example, if the notice ends on a Sunday, it ends on that day, not the Friday before or the Monday after.

You must pay rent and rental charges throughout the period of your notice, unless the landlord (or real estate agency) signs a new lease with another tenant and that he lives in the dwelling before the end of your notice.

If the notice ends in the middle of the month, the amount of rent and charges you owe for the last month is proportional to the number of days you disposed of the accommodation:

Example :

  • Where the last month of notice has 30 daysand the notice ends on the 5th, the amount due for the last month is 5/30e of the monthly amount.
  • Where the last month of notice has 31 daysand the notice ends on the 5th, the amount due for the last month is 5/31e of the monthly amount.
  • Where the last month of notice has 28 daysand the notice ends on the 5th, the amount due for the last month is 5/28e of the monthly amount.
  • Where the last month of notice has 29 daysand the notice ends on the 5th, the amount due for the last month is 5/29e of the monthly amount.

If the expenses of the accommodation you are leaving are to be paid by provision, the final calculation of what you owe to the real estate agency or lessor (private or social) for your last rental year (even if incomplete) can only be done after the annual adjustment of charges.

You cannot deduct from your last rents the amount of the security deposit you paid.

The real estate agency or lessor (private or social) can claim for 3 years any unpaid rent or charges you owe it. For example, they can charge you until July 2027 a rent (or expense) debt from July 2024, even if you permanently left the accommodation in August 2024.

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