Unpaid service charges in France: recovery, safeguards

What the syndic can claim

Each co-owner contributes to the charges according to their share. The syndic may claim in particular (F2603):

• the instalments of the budget prévisionnel (annual budget);
• the contributions to the fonds de travaux (works fund);
• the instalments for conservation, maintenance or improvement works and for technical studies;
• the advances provided for in the schedule of the adopted plan pluriannuel de travaux (multi-year works plan);
• the advances voted to make up a cash shortfall;
• the sums due under a collective loan.

For details of these charges, see our guide on charges de copropriété (service charges).

Step 1: reminder, then formal notice

The syndic first sends a simple reminder, by letter or email. If this fails, it sends a formal notice, which officially demands payment within a given period before any legal action (F2603).

• Form: it is sent electronically (electronic registered letter or equivalent secure process), unless the co-owner has asked to receive it by post, which they can do at any time and by any means; it is then sent by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt (1965 Act, art. 42-1; décret (decree) of 17 March 1967, art. 64 and 64-1; F2603).
• Content: identity and address of the debtor, address of the co-ownership, amount owed, deadline for payment and the penalty incurred (F2603).
• Interest and costs: late-payment interest runs at the statutory rate from the formal notice (F2603). The necessary costs incurred by the syndicat, such as those of the formal notice, reminders and registering a mortgage, are chargeable to the co-owner concerned alone from the formal notice (art. 10-1).

All instalments due after 30 days

The syndic may opt for a stronger procedure. If the formal notice remains unanswered for thirty days, the other instalments of the annual budget not yet due, together with sums still owed for previous financial years after approval of the accounts, become immediately payable. The rule also applies to contributions to the works fund (art. 19-2). The formal notice must then state the nature and amount of the sums, the 30-day period, the content of article 19-2 and the penalty incurred (F2603).

Recovery then continues before the president of the tribunal judiciaire (civil court) ruling under the procédure accélérée au fond (expedited procedure on the merits) (art. 19-2), who orders the debtor to pay the arrears and the instalments that have become payable.

Step 2: out-of-court settlement, then the judge

Debts of €5,000 or less. Before going to court, an attempt at settlement is compulsory: a conciliateur de justice (court conciliator, free), a mediator (paid) or a procédure participative (collaborative procedure) with a lawyer. A simplified procedure for recovering small debts, conducted by a commissaire de justice (judicial officer), can also produce an enforceable order if the parties agree (F2603).

Before the tribunal judiciaire for the place where the building is located, the syndic chooses between (F2603):

• the injonction de payer (payment order);
• the standard procedure, for all charges due on the day of the summons or hearing;
• the expedited procedure on the merits, which includes the future instalments of the financial year.

The co-owner may also be ordered to pay damages if their late payment causes the syndicat separate harm, for example the inability to carry out necessary works (F2603).

Limitation period: the co-ownership has 5 years from the date the sums became payable to take action (F2603).

The syndicat’s safeguards: mortgage, lien, seizure

The statutory mortgage. Claims of every kind held by the syndicat against a co-owner are secured by a statutory mortgage on their lot (art. 19). Since 1 January 2022, article 19-1 links this security to the statutory mortgage of article 2402 of the code civil (Civil Code). The syndic may have it registered without authorisation from the general meeting, as soon as a formal notice relating to a payable debt has gone unanswered. No registration is possible for debts that have been payable for more than five years. The debtor may ask the president of the tribunal judiciaire for total or partial release if they offer sufficient security (art. 19). If the lot is sold by private sale or by court-ordered sale, the syndicat is paid as a priority (F2603).

The lien on furniture. The same claims benefit from a lien over the furniture in the premises belonging to the co-owner and over the sums owed by their tenant (art. 19).

Seizure. The syndic may carry out a saisie conservatoire (protective seizure) of the debtor’s furniture or take judicial security without prior authorisation from the judge (F2603).

When the lot is sold: the objection on the price

On a sale, the seller presents a certificate from the syndic less than one month old stating that they are free of any obligation towards the syndicat. Failing that, the notaire (notary) sends the syndic an avis de mutation (notice of transfer) within 15 days of the transfer of ownership (art. 20; F2604).

Before 15 days have passed from receipt of this notice, the syndic may lodge, by extrajudicial deed, an objection to the release of the funds. The deed states in particular the amount and the grounds of the debt, failing which it is void (art. 20; F2590). The sums are held by the notary. If no agreement is reached, three months after a valid objection, the notary pays them to the syndicat, unless one of the parties challenges it in court (art. 20).

The buyer already in debt. If the buyer, their spouse or partner, or the partner or company officer of the buying company is already a co-owner and has received a formal notice that has gone unanswered for more than 45 days, the notary notifies the parties that the sale cannot be completed. Without settlement within 30 days, the preliminary contract is deemed null and void (art. 20, II). See also our guides acheter en copropriété (buying in a co-ownership) and mainlevée d’hypothèque (mortgage release).

Which professional to consult

The notaire (notary) handling the sale requests the syndic’s certificate, sends the notice of transfer and holds the funds in the event of an objection. The agent immobilier (estate agent) preparing the sale of a lot gathers the statement of the co-ownership’s unpaid charges to be given to the buyer. Once the debt has been paid, the syndic may grant release of the registered mortgage and have it struck off (art. 19): a point to check with the notary before any sale.