The residential lease: what a non-resident landlord must do

Letting a property in France spells out what a non-resident landlord must do, whether you live in Lyon or Montreal: delivering a decent home, annexing the diagnostic reports to the lease, handling the repairs that are not the tenant’s, returning the security deposit by the rules. Distance lifts none of this base: it adds a practical requirement, being present, or represented, at every step that matters, inventories, viewings, interventions. All of these obligations can nonetheless be delegated within a written framework. This overview gathers what the law expects of a non-resident landlord and, for each obligation, how to have it carried on your behalf. It complements the overall guide to letting your property from abroad.

What must you guarantee before the lease is even signed?

The first obligation comes down to one word: decency. A let home, furnished or unfurnished, must present no obvious risk to the occupants’ safety or health, and must include the elements that make it fit to live in: drinking-water supply and drainage, heating, cooking facilities, electrical installation free of visible danger. The law is also tightening, step by step, the energy-performance requirement: the least efficient homes are gradually leaving the rental market. Before letting, have a full survey of the property carried out and deal with the sensitive points upfront, rather than discovering them at the tenant’s first request.

Next comes the set of diagnostic reports to annex to the lease: energy performance, exposure to lead depending on the building’s age, asbestos for the constructions concerned, condition of the gas or electricity installations depending on their age, information on natural and technological risks. These documents have a limited validity, and a report expired on signing day remains one of the most frequent complaints levelled at absent landlords. Record each renewal date in the property file, as a survey to schedule, not as a side document.

The check-in inventory then sets the benchmark for the whole tenancy. Drawn up jointly, dated, signed and backed by photographs, it will serve as the comparison point on moving-out day. It is also the moment to read the meters and list the keys handed over, two pieces of information you will be glad to have from another time zone.

Which lease should you choose, and what must it contain?

Two families frame residential letting: the lease of an unfurnished home runs three years, renewable; the lease of a furnished home runs one year. The first assumes a home fitted with the essentials, the second a fully equipped home, verifiable through an inventory annexed to the lease. If your project leans towards short-term furnished letting to travellers, the framework changes again: prior declaration at the town hall and, in some large cities, authorisation to change the use of the premises. The short-term letting management page in the catalogue details this regime.

The content of the lease follows a legal template: names of the parties, description of the home, rent amount, allocation of service charges, revision rules, security deposit within the statutory limit. Some clauses are deemed unwritten, such as those forbidding the tenant to host a relative. Another point of vigilance: the costs of marketing the let remain yours and cannot be passed on to the tenant.

Insurance closes this chapter. The tenant must be insured against rental risks, and you may request the certificate every year. On your side, non-occupying owner insurance covers the property itself, and a co-ownership insures its common parts in addition: three layers that do not replace one another.

Which obligations weigh on you throughout the tenancy?

Once the keys are handed over, your main obligation covers the repairs other than day-to-day tenant repairs: normal wear and tear, upkeep of the equipment and structural work are yours. A boiler at the end of its life, a tile carried away by the wind, a facade to be redone: these works are yours. Wear from age is never attributable to the tenant, and a decent home must remain so for the whole lease.

Responsiveness is part of the obligation, even without a legal stopwatch: a water leak or a heating breakdown in mid-winter cannot wait for your next visit. This is precisely where distance becomes a legal risk, not just an inconvenience: a nuisance handled late can sour into a dispute, then into compensation payable by you.

Behavioural obligations add up, often forgotten: respect the tenant’s peace and visit only with their agreement for repairs, issue a rent receipt on simple request, change the rent only under the revision conditions set in the lease. These rules cost nothing to respect, but breaching them costs dearly in litigation.

How do you meet the obligations of presence from abroad?

Inventories, viewings with applicants, welcoming a tradesman, handing over a set of keys: so many moments that require a physical presence, precisely those when you are furthest away. The answer lies in a written mandate: you appoint a person to represent you, with a defined scope, receive a diagnostic report, attend an inventory, open the door to a plumber, and report back after each assignment.

For everyday needs, the presence, delivery and intervention service answers exactly that: welcome a technician, attend an intervention, carry out a visit after an incident. You keep control of the decisions, someone is on site.

As for letting management proper, collecting rent, receipts, reminders, monitoring renewals, it is a regulated activity. French Realty frames your project and points you to a partner property manager, who carries these missions under a management mandate. The lease is concluded between the owner and the tenant: the relationship remains yours, day-to-day execution is secured on site.

Who can carry what on your behalf?

The table below sums up, obligation by obligation, what the law requires and who can act for you:

Obligation	What the law requires	Who can carry it on your behalf
Decent home	No obvious risk, essential amenities, energy requirements	A partner tradesman, on a property survey carried out before signing
Annexed diagnostics	Complete, up-to-date set on signing day	A partner diagnostic surveyor, with a renewal calendar
Drafting the lease	Compliant content, inventory if furnished, deposit within the statutory limit	The partner property manager or a legal adviser, depending on your set-up
Non-tenant repairs	Upkeep and replacement at your expense, excluding tenant damage	A partner tradesman, on a quote you approve
Inventories	Joint documents, dated, signed, with photographs	Your proxy, holding a written mandate
Monitoring the lease	Receipts, annual insurance certificate, responses to the tenant	The partner property manager, under a management mandate

This table leads to one observation: nothing in this base disappears because you live abroad, but everything can be delegated, provided a written trail is kept. A clear mandate, a report per assignment, an up-to-date property file: these three documents are your memory and your evidence.

What becomes of this base when the lease ends?

When the tenant moves out, the obligations return as a mirror image: check-out inventory, comparison with the check-in, return of the deposit within the legal deadline, regularisation of service charges. The distance method stays the same: representation, documentation, calendar. This is the subject of the neighbouring article, end of lease, inventories and deposit handled from abroad, which details the moving-out timeline and the evidence to keep. For all letting topics, also browse the Letting & returns category of the journal.

Your landlord obligations deserve to be laid down once and for all, with a calendar and relays identified on site. The personal study offered by French Realty allows this full review with your dedicated contact, whether you are preparing a first letting or taking back control of a tenancy already running.