When the lessor does not wish to renew the commercial lease, it must send a leave to its tenant by act of commissioner of justice (former act of bailiff) at the latest 6 months before the expiry of the lease.

He must propose the payment of a eviction allowance. It is a financial compensation paid by the lessor to his tenant who must leave the premises. It is assessed on the basis of the damage suffered. It must cover all the damage caused to the lessee by the non-renewal of the lease.

The lessor shall not be obliged to give reasons for its refusal to renew the contract from the moment it proposes financial compensation.

For more information on the eviction allowance, please see the dedicated card.

Once the tenant has received the leave, they have 3 options:

Case 1: Accept the proposed eviction allowance

The tenant agrees with the proposed amount of the compensation.

It may then:

• or leave the premises at the end of the lease. It will then be necessary to carry out an inventory of the exit sites and officially hand over the keys to the lessor.
• or stay in the premises until the eviction allowance is paid. Where the tenant continues to occupy the premises at the end of the lease term pending payment of the eviction allowance, the tenant must pay a occupancy allowance (which replaces the rent) to the landlord.

2nd case: Amicable negotiation of the amount of the eviction allowance

Where the tenant considers that the amount of the eviction allowance proposed by the lessor is too low, he has the possibility to enter into negotiations with the lessor.

Case 3: Bring the matter before the court

In the event of a disagreement, the tenant may apply to the court for the judge to fix the amount of the eviction allowance. He shall have a period of two years from the date for which the leave was granted.

It's in principle the court of law who is competent to decide.

The lessor has the option to take over the commercial premises in some cases. He can then refuse the renewal of the commercial lease by sending a leave of absence to his tenant. In some cases, there is no eviction pay.

Case of takeover of the premises by the lessor

Rework to demolish an unsanitary or antiquated building

The lessor refuses to renew the commercial lease without paying eviction compensation in the following 2 situations:

• The building must be totally or partially demolished because it is in unsanitary condition. An order for the treatment of unsanitary conditions must be issued by the prefect.
• The building can no longer be safely occupied because of its condition. The dangerous nature is proven by an expert report or a security order from the mayor or police commissioner for Paris.

If the lessor rebuild a new building including commercial premises, the tenant has a right of priority to rent these premises. To do this, the tenant must inform the landlord, by act of commissioner of justice or by registered letter with AR, of his intention to benefit from this priority when he leaves the premises or at the latest within three months of his departure. He must also inform the lessor of his new domicile.

Resumption to build or rebuild with offer of a replacement premises

Where the lessor refuses to renew the lease to construct or reconstruct the existing building, the lessor must in principle pay a eviction allowance.

If the lessor offers the lessee a replacement space for the lessee that corresponds to his needs and possibilities, he has no eviction allowance to pay. The replacement space must be located in an equivalent location (for example, a space in the immediate vicinity of the current store in the same shopping arcade).

However, the lessor must pay a small amount of compensation (called limited allowance(b) in compensation for temporary withdrawal of the fund and removal and resettlement costs.

Resume to inhabit the accessory dwelling room to the commercial room

When the lessor wishes to resume the dwelling space ancillary to the rented commercial spaceHowever, it may do so only on the part concerning accommodation. In this case, he does not have to pay an eviction allowance to the tenant who keeps the commercial part of the premises.

The lessor (tradesman, craftsman or liberal professional) may use the right of return if he has owned the premises for at least 6 years on the date of the leave.

The lessor may take over the dwelling-place ancillary to the commercial-place if 2 following conditions the following shall be combined:

• He must live in the dwelling-place himself or have it occupied by a member of his family (his spouse, his ascendants or descendants or those of his spouse).
• The beneficiary of the take-back must not have a dwelling corresponding to his normal needs (e.g. cold and humid room)

The right to take back the living quarters is possible provided that the following 2 conditions can be met:

• The living quarters must be capable of being separate of the commercial premises
• Deprivation of the living quarters must not give rise to serious disturbance to the tenant's operation: the recovery of a room of 13m2 located on the second floor of the building does not affect the step of a bakery-patisserie. In fact, tenants continue to have the ground floor and, on the first floor, a housing unit of five main rooms.

However, it is not possible to take over the accommodation in the following cases:

• The premises are used for hotel, teaching, hospital or furnished rentals.
• The taking over of the dwelling room prevents the exploitation of the business by the tenant.
• The commercial and residential premises form an indivisible whole. In other words, it is impossible to separate the two categories of premises.

Leave for resumption of the premises

The landlord who wishes to take over the premises (to demolish an unsanitary or dilapidated building, to rebuild or to inhabit the premises) must issue a leave by act of commissioner of justice (formerly a bailiff).

This leave must be addressed at the latest 6 months before the expiry of the lease.

It must give the tenant the opportunity to challenge the refusal of the renewal of the lease within 2 years before the court.

The lessor may refuse to renew the lease without paying an eviction fee if there are reasons serious and legitimate blamed on the tenant. The landlord then sends the tenant a leave of absence. This leave is sometimes preceded by a formal notice.

Notion of serious and legitimate grounds against the tenant

The lessor may refuse the renewal of the lease without having to pay an eviction allowance to the lessee when he can justify serious and legitimate grounds.

Examples include:

• Delay or non-payment of rent and charges by the tenant
• Non-execution of commercial lease conditions: for example, concealment of a sublease, change of destination of premises without the authorization of the lessor, damage to common areas, employment in rented premises of undeclared foreigner employees, etc.
• Violent attitude of the tenant towards the landlord, insults or words defamatory
• Termination of the operation of the land by the lessee without reason.

Leave for serious and legitimate reasons

Legitimate and compelling leave from the lessor is in most cases preceded by a formal notice .

Such formal notice is necessary in the following cases:

• Non-performance of a lease obligation by the lessee : non-payment of rent and charges, delay in payment of rent, non-compliance with lease obligations
• Termination without serious and legitimate reason of the exploitation of the goodwill : the lessee has an obligation to effectively exploit the goodwill which corresponds to a real, regular commercial exploitation in accordance with the terms of the lease.

The letter of formal notice is sent by the act of the Commissioner of Justice (formerly the act of a bailiff).

It must include the mention in paragraph 1 of I of Article L. 145-17 of the Commercial Code:

“The lessor may refuse the renewal of the lease without being required to pay any compensation: 1° If he has a serious and legitimate reason against the outgoing tenant. However, where the breach is either the non-performance of an obligation or the cessation without serious and legitimate reason of the exploitation of the fund, taking into account the provisions of Article L. 145-8, the infringement committed by the lessee may be invoked only if it has continued or renewed more than one month after the lessor has served notice to cease the operation.'

The tenant then has a 1-month period from the date of the formal notice to terminate or remedy the breach. If the lessor does not execute the request, the lessor can then to send a leave without having to pay her an eviction fee.

This leave must be addressed at the latest 6 months before the expiry of the lease by act of Commissioner of Justice (formerly act of bailiff). This leave must indicate:

• Grave and legitimate ground for which that ground is specifically alleged
• Information of the possibility to challenge the refusal of the renewal of the lease within 2 years before the court.

The tenant has right to remain in the premises as long as it is awaiting payment ofeviction allowance by the lessor. It says “right to be kept in the premises”.

During this period, the lessor must continue to ensure the peaceful enjoyment of the tenant. In particular, it must fulfill its maintenance and repair obligations laid down in the lease contract, even if it is a question of major repairs.

For its part, tenant must continue to comply with the terms of the expired lease agreement. Thus, the lessee must continue to be registered at SCR: titleContent and the RNE: titleContent. However, he is not obliged to pay rent but he becomes a debtor of a occupancy allowance.

From the payment of the eviction allowance, the tenant has 3 months to free up the premises.

The lessor has the opportunity to reconsider its decision to refuse renewal and thus agree to renew the lease: right to repent.

In practice, the lessor retracts when it considers that the eviction allowance set by the judge is too high. Therefore, by withdrawing, he will not have to pay that compensation to the tenant.

The lessor has a 15-day period from the date of the decision fixing the amount of the eviction allowance in order to exercise his right to repent.

In order for withdrawal to be possible, the following conditions must be met:

• The tenant is still in the premises: if he has left without waiving his right to compensation, the landlord can no longer reconsider his refusal to renew.
• The tenant has not previously rented or purchased another building for resettlement

In practice, the landlord informs his tenant of his decision to use the right to repent by registered letter with request for notice of receipt or by act of commissioner of justice.

The lease is then renewed from the date of notification of acceptance of the lease to the lessee. The lessor will no longer be able to change his or her mind again.