As a tenant, you must respect some rules and conditions to continue to live in your home. Paying your rent is one of them, and surely the most important one. But how can you prove to your landlord that you have fulfilled this obligation? That’s when the rent receipt is coming! You’ve never heard of it? No worries, this time has come. The rent receipt is a document that attests to your seriousness towards the landlord. In concrete terms, it certifies that you have paid the rent you owe to your landlord. As a tenant, the rent receipt serves as proof of residence and can be useful for certain administrative procedures. It should not be confused with the rent certificate. This document filled in by your landlord is to be sent to the CAF when you are applying for housing assistance.
Your landlord must give you this document when you have paid your rent. Even if many rental agencies systematically deliver it, it is not mandatory for your landlord to give you this. On the other hand, the law of July 6, 1989, stipulates in the article 21 of the law n°89-462 that “the owner is in the obligation to provide a receipt of rent if the tenant asks for it“. Of course, this is free because you are within your rights. The landlord should not charge the tenant an extra for sending it. These receipts can be sent to him at the post office or in a dematerialized way (under the form of a pdf sent by email, but not in a word format). In a shared apartment, the rent receipts take the same form as in a classic rental. However, some subtleties can be brought according to the model of lease as indicated below.
The rent receipt according to your lease agreement
As you probably know, there are different lease models. The emitted model depends on what your landlord prefers. Your landlord may choose to issue a single lease common to all of the roommates, or he may choose to issue several-individual leases.
A single-lease common to all of the roommates
This type of contract is the simplest for the owner to produce because all the co-tenants are registered on the same lease. A solidarity clause is oftentimes included in this type of lease. This one is financial. It allows the owner to ask for the full rent, even if one of the tenants leaves its room, as so, the apartment. You will have understood that this solidarity is also found in the rent receipt. A single-rent receipt is issued for the entire apartment share., with the names of all the co-tenants. The owner / landlord can choose to indicate the total amount of rent on the receipt. He can also choose to indicate the details of the rent per roommate. Nothing is required by the law. By choosing to write a single lease, the owner shares the responsibilities in case of damages, etc. among the number of roommates present.
In a single-lease for all roommates, the rent receipt must include the following information :
- The address of the home you are sharing
- The identities (first and last names) of all roommates
- The date and place where the receipt was sent
- The amount paid and due by all the roommates (indicate separately the amount of the rent and the amount of the charges)
- The period of time (month and year) concerned by these payments
- The signature of the landlord or his/her representative
Several-individual leases per roommate
This contract resembles a classic rental one, as if each roommate was the tenant of his/her own space. In this sense, this type of lease obliges the owner/lessor to clearly indicate on the rent receipt, the size of the space occupied by the tenant in question.
Within the framework of an individual lease, the rent receipt must obligatorily mention the following information:
- The exact address of the shared accommodation
- The identity of the roommate in question (first and last name)
- The date and place where the receipt was sent
- The amount paid by the roommate (separately indicate the amount of the rent and the amount of the utilities)
- The month(s) and year(s) for which payments were made
- The signature of the landlord or his/her representative or representatives
As a reminder, rent receipts can only be issued if the tenant pays the full amount of his rent and utilities. If (s)he does not pay the full amount of the rent and utilities, no rent receipt can be issued. Even worse, money may be withheld. This is known as “security bond” or “holdback”.
Security deposit : what is it ?
When you move into an accommodation with roommates, your landlord or lessor may ask you to pay a security deposit. This deposit is made to cover possible negligence committed by you and your roommates.
For this to be legal, the security deposit must be expressly stated in your lease. The amount due and given must not exceed the amount of your monthly rent without utilities, for empty accommodation shared. In the case of a furnished apartment share, the deposit can represent up to 2 months of rent, also without utilities. The owner, or lessor, is not allowed to increase this amount during the rental period. Nor can (s)he do so if the lease is renewed. Concerning the payment of this deposit, several possibilities are available to you. You can directly pay it to your landlord/owner or to the real estate agency through which you have rented your home. As a tenant, you can also use an intermediary such as Action Logement. The deposit can be paid by bank transfer, check or cash. In this last case, no tracing is possible. You can therefore ask your landlord to give you a receipt attesting that the amount paid corresponds to the security deposit.
How long does it take to get your deposit back?
The recovery of your security deposit depends on the signed lease and the date of entry in the accommodation.
Depending on the date of signature of the lease :
If the lease was signed before March 27, 2014, and the implementation of the ALUR law (Accès au Logement et un Urbanisme Rénové), then the lessor must respect the period agreed upon in the lease. A period of one month, two months or even more can be defined. On the other hand, if the lease was signed after this date, the lessor must return the deposit within 30 days of the keys’ remittance. If damages have been noticed, the lessor could observe a delay of 2 months before the restitution of a part of the deposit.
Depending on the type of lease :
If the lease is common to all roommates, the landlord is not forced to return the outgoing roommate’s part of the deposit. Indeed, (s)he will have to wait for the other roommates also living in and present on the lease to leave. However, the outgoing tenant can make arrangements with the others to get his part money back from his/hers co-tenants own money.
If the lease is individual, then the operation is the same as in a traditional rental. The landlord will then have 1 month to return the deposit.
What are the conditions for the security bond?
As we told you earlier, there may be a holdback. This only applies if you or one of your roommates has failed to comply with your duty as a tenant:
- Damage to your apartment
- Failure to carry out rental work (floor maintenance, cleaning of the premises, maintenance of pipes, etc.)
- Unpaid rent, utilities, or both, by one or more roommates
If there is a deposit holdback, the landlord must be able to justify it with evidence. This is why the incoming and outgoing inventory of fixtures at the beginning are very important. They attest to the truthfulness of the information given and the holdback of the deposit. In order to amplify his/her statements, the landlord can add additional elements to the file: estimations of work, letters of complaint addressed to the tenants, unpaid bills, etc.
Unfortunately, not things are not always looking so good when sharing an apartment. For example, it is possible that the agreement between the roommates is not set fair for various reasons. If one or more of the roommates do not pay their share of the rent and/or utilities, they may be summoned by the departmental conciliation board. This body is here to help the tenant(s) in need and the landlord to settle out of court. If this is not enough, the landlord can then put the tenant(s) on notice. In the worst case, a procedure at the district court could also be initiated.
If you want to avoid finding yourself in this situation, discover all our advices for a good understanding with your roommates 😉
Our rent receipt template
Several models of rent receipts exist. You can download them for free on the internet. Download our rent receipt template in PDF right here. And it’s free!
How does the coliving rent receipt work?
You like accommodation sharing but having a solidarity clause with your roommates scares you, especially in case of feuds? We have the solution for you: coliving. A kind of improved life in community, coliving offers you all the advantages of apartment sharing (community life, mutual help, living in large spaces for a moderate rent, etc.) without the disadvantages.
At Colivys, we offer rooms in beautiful and large apartments. Located in the city-center, they are close to all amenities and public transportation. The advantage of our coliving offer? Keeping your independence. As in a classic rental, you will have your own lease and therefore your own rent receipt. You will not be financially dependent on your roommates. This is an advantage if you or one of them should leave.
