Security deposit in France: amount, refund deadlines and what a landlord can deduct

By Maître Léa Scemama, French property lawyer. Published 7 November 2026. Reading time: ~8 min.

Whether you rent a flat in France or let one from abroad, the security deposit is the sum the tenant pays when the lease is signed to cover what they may owe the landlord. French law caps it, requires the landlord to refund it within one or two months, and only allows deductions the landlord can justify. Late refund triggers a penalty of 10% of the rent for each month of delay. This guide sets out the rules for tenants and landlords alike. The firm handles residential lease disputes throughout France as part of its real estate law practice, and Maître Léa Scemama can deal with your file in English and remotely, wherever you live.

How much can the deposit be?

A security deposit is optional: there is one only if the lease provides for it. If it does, the law caps the amount.

Maximum security deposit by type of lease

The tenant, or someone paying on the tenant's behalf, pays the deposit to the landlord when the lease is signed. It earns no interest for the tenant and cannot be changed during the lease, even when the lease is renewed. No deposit may be asked for where the rent is paid in advance for more than two months (article 22).

A deposit is not the same as a guarantor. A guarantor is a person who agrees to pay in the tenant's place if the tenant fails to pay. The rules on guarantors are set out in our guide to the French residential lease.

Refund deadlines

The deadline starts when the tenant returns the keys to the landlord or the letting agent, in person or by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. When handing back the keys, the tenant gives their new address.

Maximum refund deadline

In an apartment building, the landlord draws up provisional accounts and, where justified, may keep back up to 20% of the deposit until the building's annual accounts are closed. Landlord and tenant may also agree to settle everything in one go (article 22).

If the property was sold during the lease, the new landlord must refund the deposit. Any agreement to the contrary between seller and buyer has no effect on the tenant (article 22).

Permitted deductions

The landlord refunds the deposit minus any sums the tenant still owes and any sums the landlord may have to pay in the tenant's place, provided each one is properly justified (article 22). In practice, the landlord may deduct:

• rent and service charges still unpaid on the day the tenant leaves;
• the cost of minor repairs that are the tenant's responsibility, and of damage shown by comparing the move-in and move-out inventories, backed by quotes or invoices;
• sums the landlord would have to pay in the tenant's place, such as an outstanding service charge balance.

Normal wear and tear, however, is not the tenant's responsibility. Repairs caused by age and wear, poor workmanship, construction defects, unforeseeable events or force majeure stay with the landlord (article 7, d, of the Act of 6 July 1989). The tenant is, however, liable for damage that occurs during the lease, unless they prove force majeure, the landlord's fault or the act of a third party they did not let into the property (article 7, c).

The inventory of condition: the key document

Almost every deposit dispute comes down to comparing the two inventories of condition, the written records of the state of the property when the tenant moves in and moves out. Landlord and tenant draw them up together. If they cannot, a judicial officer, the court officer who serves documents and draws up official reports, does it, and the cost is split equally (article 3-2). The tenant may ask for the move-in inventory to be completed within ten days of it being drawn up.

Without an inventory, the tenant is normally presumed to have received the property in good repair, as far as tenant repairs are concerned, under article 1731 of the Civil Code. But a party who prevented the inventory from being drawn up cannot rely on that presumption (article 3-2). A precise, dated inventory with photographs protects both sides.

Late refund: the 10% penalty

If the deposit is not refunded on time, the sum still owed to the tenant goes up by 10% of the monthly rent, excluding service charges, for each month or part of a month of delay. The penalty does not apply if the delay is caused by the tenant failing to give their new address (article 22).

Example: with a rent of €1,000 excluding service charges, each month of delay that has started adds €100 to the sum owed to the tenant, whatever the size of the deposit.

Penalty owed by length of delay

Security deposit in a flat share

The Act of 6 July 1989 has no special rule on deposits in flat shares. Everything depends on how the flat share is set up: either one lease signed by all the tenants, or a separate lease between each tenant and the landlord (article 8-1 of the Act of 6 July 1989).

• A single lease. The deposit covers the obligations of all the tenants. The law makes no provision for a partial refund when one of them leaves: the article 22 deadline only starts when the keys are returned to the landlord. In practice, the departing tenant gets their share back from the person who replaces them or from the remaining tenants, and it is best to agree this in writing.
• One lease per tenant. Each tenant pays their own deposit, capped according to their lease, and gets it back when they leave under the ordinary rules of article 22.

Where the lease makes the tenants jointly and severally liable, so that each can be asked to pay the whole rent, the liability of a tenant who gives notice, and of their guarantor, ends on the date the notice takes effect if a new tenant is named in the lease, and at the latest six months after that date (article 8-1).

If there is a dispute: your options

• A formal notice. The tenant writes to the landlord by registered letter asking for the deposit back, with the 10% penalty if the deadline has passed, or for proof of the deductions.
• The departmental conciliation committee. This local body, made up of landlord and tenant representatives, deals with disputes over inventories and deposits for unfurnished lettings. It gives its opinion within two months of being contacted (article 20 of the Act of 6 July 1989).
• The court. If no agreement is reached, the dispute goes to the consumer protection judge of the Civil Court.

Court action must be started within three years from the day the person entitled to claim knew, or should have known, the facts that allow them to do so (article 7-1 of the Act of 6 July 1989).

Template formal notice asking for the deposit back

Frequently asked questions

Can the landlord keep the whole deposit?

Only up to the sums the landlord can justify: unpaid rent and service charges, and the cost of tenant repairs and damage shown by comparing the inventories. Any deduction that is not justified must be refunded.

Does the deposit earn interest?

No. It earns no interest for the tenant (article 22).

Can the landlord increase the deposit during the lease?

No. It cannot be changed during the lease, even when the lease is renewed.

What is the deadline if the move-out inventory matches the move-in inventory?

One month from the day the keys are returned, minus any sums still owed and justified.

What if the property was sold during the tenancy?

Claim the deposit from the new owner, who must refund it even if the seller never passed it on.

Legal references

• Article 22 of Act no. 89-462 of 6 July 1989 (amount, refund, deductions, 10% surcharge, sale of the property).
• Act no. 89-462 of 6 July 1989, articles 3-2 (inventory of condition), 7 (tenant's obligations, wear and tear), 7-1 (limitation period), 8-1 (flat shares), 20 (departmental conciliation committee), 25-6 (furnished lettings) and 25-17 (mobility lease).
• Article 1731 of the Civil Code (presumption of good condition).