“For the last month, just take it out of the deposit”: the sentence every French landlord eventually hears, resting on a stubborn misunderstanding. A security deposit can indeed cover unpaid rent, but the landlord applies it at move-out, against receipts, rather than the tenant deciding in advance. Between the statutory cap, the return deadlines, the 10 percent penalty and the 20 percent holdback in condominium buildings, Article 22 of France’s 1989 tenancy law already sets careful limits on both sides. Which leaves a few myths to dismantle along the way, starting with the supposed “registry of defaulting tenants” that does not exist in France and whose very creation would be a criminal offense.
The first contact filters out 90% of problematic profiles, but the remaining 10% require observation during the showing. Punctuality without courtesy, the questions asked (or not asked), systematic playing-the-victim about past tenancies, and early negotiation with no supporting documents all reveal behavioral patterns that will persist throughout the lease. Watching how a candidate behaves in a space that isn’t yet theirs (whether they respect boundaries, take ownership of the space, or ask permission) predicts their future behavior. These observations aren’t a matter of arbitrary judgment but of empirical correlation seen across hundreds of rentals. The showing is your last chance to observe before you hand over the keys: use it methodically.
After hundreds of furnished rentals, I’ve come to understand that the problem tenant gives themselves away from the very first contact. Anyone who won’t spend three minutes introducing themselves properly (full name, professional situation, a concrete question about the property) won’t respect anything once they have the keys. I never reply to texts, to private messages on the platforms, or to prefab generic inquiries: it’s up to the candidate to initiate quality contact. The courts settle nothing in under a year, insurance doesn’t cover unpaid rent, and the CAF never reimburses damage. Faced with a system that protects landlords poorly, the only effective line of defense is screening up front, through a methodical reading of behavioral signals.