France's winter eviction ban: dates and exceptions

Dates and scope of the ban

Article L412-6, in the version in force since 29 July 2023, provides for the stay from 1 November each year to 31 March of the following year, notwithstanding any eviction decision that has become res judicata and despite the expiry of the time limits granted by the judge (Légifrance). Service-public.gouv.fr specifies that 31 March is included.

If the time given to the tenant to leave the property ends during the ban, the eviction is postponed until after 31 March. Where the tenant has a suitable rehousing solution, with a number of rooms matching the number of occupants, the eviction can take place all year round (service-public.gouv.fr). In the overseas départements, a trêve cyclonique (cyclone-season ban) may apply.

The exceptions

Source: code des procédures civiles d’exécution (Légifrance).

The eviction procedure, step by step

For a residential lease with arrears, the procedure follows these steps (service-public.gouv.fr; loi (Act) of 6 July 1989, art. 24):

1. Commandement de payer (formal demand for payment) served by a commissaire de justice (judicial officer): the tenant has 6 weeks to pay the debt. The commissaire de justice reports it to the Ccapex, the eviction prevention committee.
2. Assignation (summons) before the juge des contentieux de la protection (judge for consumer and tenancy disputes). The commissaire de justice must notify it to the State’s representative in the département at least 6 weeks before the hearing, failing which the claim is inadmissible (1989 Act, art. 24); on the tenant’s side, the hearing takes place at least 6 weeks after they received the summons (service-public.gouv.fr). A social and financial assessment informs the judge.
3. Judgment: the judge can grant a payment schedule of 3 years at most and suspend the termination clause, or record the termination of the lease and order eviction.
4. Commandement de quitter les lieux (order to vacate): the tenant in principle has 2 months to leave (art. L412-1). The juge de l’exécution (enforcement judge) can grant extensions of one month to one year (art. L412-4).
5. Eviction by a commissaire de justice, on a working day, between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., outside the winter ban if the tenant has no rehousing.

The details of arrears and time limits are in the guide impayés de loyer : la procédure (unpaid rent: the procedure).

Prohibited for the landlord. Only a commissaire de justice can evict: a landlord who changes the locks, enters the property or removes the furniture themselves faces 3 years’ imprisonment and a €30,000 fine (service-public.gouv.fr). The code pénal (Criminal Code) sets these penalties for forcing a third party to leave the place where they live, without State assistance, through manoeuvres, threats, assault or coercion (code pénal, art. 226-4-2).

On the occupant’s side. An occupant who stays in the property after the end of the time granted, outside the winter ban and other than in social housing, faces a fine of €7,500 (service-public.gouv.fr; code pénal (Criminal Code), art. 315-2).

The préfet’s role

The State’s representative, the préfet, steps in at several points (service-public.gouv.fr; CPCE, art. L412-5):

• they receive the summons and are informed of the order to vacate;
• when the matter is referred to them by the commissaire de justice, they inform the Ccapex and have the household notified that it can apply for rehousing under the droit au logement opposable (enforceable right to housing) (Dalo); if the commissaire de justice has not referred the matter to them, the period before the expiry of which the eviction cannot take place is suspended (art. L412-5);
• if the tenant refuses to leave or is absent, the commissaire de justice draws up a report of attempted eviction and asks the préfet for the assistance of the police or gendarmerie.

The préfet can refuse this assistance; the refusal must state reasons, and silence for 2 months counts as refusal. The landlord can then ask the State for compensation by recorded-delivery letter to the préfet, with supporting documents: rent and service charges lost, commissaire de justice fees, cost of making good. If the refusal occurs while the occupant is protected by the winter ban, compensation covers only the period that follows. A compensation offer or refusal can be challenged before the tribunal administratif (administrative court) within 2 months (service-public.gouv.fr).

Which professional to consult

The agent immobilier (estate agent) in charge of rental management follows up arrears, calls on the guarantor or the insurance and passes the file to the commissaire de justice, taking the winter ban calendar into account. If the landlord is considering selling an occupied property, the notaire (notary) informs them of the consequences of an eviction procedure in progress for the sale.