Recent decisions of the Court of Cassation regularly remind us of this and require the owner to be ever more vigilant.
This study concerns unfurnished residential leases.
When and how ?
The lessor can only issue notice to his tenant upon expiry of the lease and at least 6 months before, by letter RAR or by bailiff’s deed.
The bailiff’s act is strongly recommended to ensure compliance with the mandatory information.
If several people are joint owners of the lease, then the notice must be notified to each of them.
In the absence of notice issued, the lease which has expired is tacitly renewed for a duration equivalent to that of the initial contract.
In addition to the notice, the owner must provide reasons for the leave, under penalty of nullity (article 15 of the law of July 6, 1989).
What are the legitimate reasons?
Leave for sale:
The notice must, under penalty of nullity, indicate the sale price, the conditions of the proposed sale as well as the description of the property which must correspond to that of the lease.
The notice must include information relating to the lessor’s obligations and remedies.
The purchaser of an occupied property may issue to the tenant a notice of sale for the term of the lease on the condition that this term occurs more than three years after the date of acquisition of the property..
Otherwise, if this term occurs less than three years after the date of acquisition of the property, the lessor will have to wait the first tacit renewal or the first renewal of the current rental contract.
The legal right of pre-emption for the benefit of the tenant is valid during the first two months of the notice period.
The tenant who accepts the offer has two months to complete the sale. If the tenant notifies his intention to use a loan, the deadline for completing the sale is extended to 4 months. If, at the end of this period, the sale has not been made, acceptance of the sale offer is automatically void.
It is important to specify that, if the owner intends to sell the property to a third party at a price lower than that referred to in the notice, he must notify his former tenant of a new right of pre-emption at the new price, even after the departure of the tenant. tenant of the premises.
Leave for recovery
The recovery concerns the lessor, his spouse, his PACS or well-known partner for at least one year on the date of leave, his ascendants, his descendants, or those of his spouse, his partner or his well-known cohabitant. In the event of joint ownership, any member of the joint ownership may be designated as a beneficiary of the leave.
If the lessor is a civil company formed between relatives up to the fourth degree inclusive, the beneficiary may be one of the partners of this company.
The purchaser of an occupied property can only grant notice of resumption if the term occurs more than two years after the acquisition. Otherwise, if the end of the current contract occurs less than two years after the acquisition, the leave for takeover given by the lessor at the end of the current rental contract does not take effect until the expiration of a duration of two years from the date of acquisition of the property.
In a recent decision of the Court of Cassation of October 12, 2023, the judges specify their power to control the reason for recovery
On the form of the leave: under penalty of nullity, the mentions, in addition to “the alleged reason”, of the names and address of the beneficiary of the recovery and the link existing between them, the lessor must also justify the real and serious nature of his decision recovery.
On the other hand, the judge relies on elements external to the leave to form his conviction of the seriousness, on the day of the leave, of the lessor’s intention to take back the premises to make it his main residence.
Leave for legitimate and serious reasons
The legitimate and serious reason essentially corresponds to the use that the lessor intends to make of his property, such as his wish to rebuild or expropriate the building.
The Judge sovereignly assesses these conditions.
It should be noted that in the event of failure to comply with essential obligations (e.g. failure to pay rent, prohibited subletting) the lessor may initiate a termination procedure, which is also subject to a very strict formalism: order to pay aimed at the termination clause, notification to the prefecture, deadlines, etc.)
At the end of the leave
If at the end of the lease, the tenant has not vacated the premises, he is automatically deprived of his occupancy title.
If the tenant remains in the premises, it will be necessary to contact the competent court and respect the formalities imposed in order to initiate a procedure for validation of leave and eviction against the tenant who has become an occupant without rights or title before the Disputes Judge of the protection of the Judicial Court of the location of the rented building, which has exclusive jurisdiction.