Terminating a Tenant's Lease

May 3, 2022 5-minute read
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If you own a rental apartment that you wish to put up for sale, take back to live in yourself or to house a relative, or if you have identified a serious and legitimate reason to give your tenant notice to vacate, we will explain the formalities you need to follow.

How to give notice to your tenant,
Notice Periods and Formalities: What You Need to Know

Our Real Estate Agency CENTURY 21 Paris 16 Auteuil Immobilier is here to listen to your needs, support you, and provide you with advice and expertise to ensure that your real estate project proceeds smoothly, especially in cases that can sometimes involve a degree of complexity.

There is one for a landlord Three reasons for giving a tenant notice to vacate—here’s what you need to know about each of these cases in detail:

1. In the event of a sale

Renting a property is a binding commitment governed by the lease agreement.
If you decide to give your tenant notice to vacate so you can put your property up for sale, you must provide advance notice and inform the tenant at least 6 months before the lease expiration date for an unfurnished rental and 3 months for a furnished rental. Please note that, in the case of an unfurnished rental, your tenant will have the first right to purchase the property (right of first refusal upon purchase), he then has 2 months to make a decision. If he chooses to buy, the tenant then has another 2 months to sign the preliminary sales agreement, which is extended to 4 months if he wishes to take out a bank loan.

2. If the owner reclaims the apartment

If you wish to live in the rental property yourself as your primary residence, or if you intend to have a family member live there, you will not be able to reclaim the property overnight or under just any circumstances.

A “close relative” is defined as a partner (whether married, in a civil partnership, or cohabiting), a lineal ascendant or descendant of the beneficiary, or a lineal ascendant or descendant of the partner. The beneficiary of the transfer must live in the dwelling and make it their primary residence.
The procedure for requesting termination of the lease is the same as when the property is put up for sale; you must notify your tenant by certified letter with acknowledgment of receipt or through a bailiff. The notice period begins on the date the certified letter is received or the date of service by the bailiff.

3. In the event of a serious and legitimate reason

A serious and legitimate reason may also be invoked: failure to pay rent or repeated late payments, unauthorized subletting, damage to the property, or disturbances affecting neighbors…
These grounds also allow you to terminate your tenant’s lease. If the tenant disputes the decision, it is up to you to justify the grounds you have cited.

Here is the content of the termination letter to be sent to
Registered mail with return receipt requested:

  • The reason for the leave
    In the event of a takeover, the letter must specify the names and addresses of the parties taking over the lease and their relationship to the lessor, if the takeover is not carried out by the lessor himself.
  • A detailed description of the property and any attachments
    in the event of a sale, the sale price and the terms of the sale, as well as the first five paragraphs of Section II of Article 15 of the Act of July 6, 1989, which set forth the terms of the offer to sell to the tenant; a letter accompanied by an information sheet regarding the landlord’s obligations and the tenant’s remedies and compensation options.
  • Mailing
    The notice must be sent to everyone leaseholders, so in practice, if you're sharing an apartment with two other people, you need to send three registered letters to the same address.

Important details to know about the specified notice periods:

Unfurnished rental, The tenant must receive the notice of termination at least 6 months before the lease expiration date, on the last day of the month. Holidays and weekends are included in the calculation. If the notice period ends on a Sunday, it ends on that day.

Furnished rental, the notice period for terminating a lease is three months.

Once your tenant receives the notice to vacate, they may leave the premises at any time without notice. Rent will be due for the period during which they occupied the premises.

Please note that the notice period begins upon receipt of the termination letter..
You must therefore send your notice of termination by certified mail with return receipt requested; however, if the tenant does not pick up the letter or refuses to sign for the certified mail, you will need to have the notice of termination served by a bailiff.

Therefore, we recommend that you allow plenty of time when sending the notice of termination to your tenant, to avoid missing the notice period deadline.

Special Protections for Tenants

  • Tenants over the age of 65

For tenants over the age of 65 with limited resources, or for tenants who have such individuals in their care, the law provides protections; you can view the relevant decree on the public service website (under “Protected Tenants”).

However, this tenant protection provision does not apply if, on the date of the notice of termination, the landlord is over 65 years of age or has income below the thresholds established to define a protected tenant, or if the landlord offers the tenant an alternative housing arrangement.

  • Purchase of an Occupied Home

The purchaser of an occupied property, unfurnished rental, who takes over the current lease must comply with specific requirements established by the ALUR Act regarding the notice they may give to the current tenant: if the new buyer wishes to take possession of the property while the lease is set to expire in less than two years, they must give notice within the standard timeframes, but this notice will not take effect until at least two years after the date of purchase; or if the new owner wishes to sell the property with a lease expiring in less than three years, they may do so only upon the expiration of the lease, provided it has been renewed at least once.

Do you have questions about rental management or your agency? CENTURY 21 Auteuil Immobilier is here to help. Please feel free to contact us or stop by to meet us!

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