The application, the guarantor and Visale: what a landlord can really ask for

A closed list, set by decree since 2015

The governing text is Decree no. 2015-1437 of 5 November 2015. It appeared in the Journal officiel of 7 November 2015 and came into force on 8 November 2015. It sets the list of supporting documents that may be asked of a rental applicant and of their guarantor. That list is exhaustive, in other words closed.

Its scope is broad. The decree covers private-sector lettings, unfurnished or furnished, falling under the Act of 6 July 1989, house shares included. Excluded from it are social housing, the holiday let and hostel accommodation. A year-round residential tenancy in Sainte-Maxime therefore falls squarely within this framework.

One change is worth pointing out.

Since October 2019, the requirement for an identity document bearing a signature has been dropped, so that some foreign nationals are not shut out. The text is Decree no. 2019-1019 of 3 October 2019. The identity document simply has to be valid.

Two remarks make this table clearer. For employment and for income, the landlord may ask for one or more documents from the category. For identity and for address, a single document is enough. The rule applies to the applicant and to an individual guarantor alike.

What you can ask a guarantor for

An individual guarantor comes under the same four categories as the tenant. So they provide an identity document, proof of address, proof of employment and proof of income. For their address, the schedule to the decree accepts the latest rent receipt, a water, gas or electricity bill less than three months old, a home insurance certificate less than three months old, a property tax notice or a title deed. Nothing beyond that can be required.

A corporate guarantor follows a shorter regime. The landlord may ask for an original K bis extract less than three months old, together with the representative's identity document. The list stops there. It stays exhaustive in this case too.

The Action Logement case is the simplest of all.

Where the guarantor is Action Logement under the Visale guarantee, the landlord may only require the document evidencing that guarantee. Nothing else can be asked of them. It saves real time for both parties.

Banned documents, and the penalty

The principle follows directly from the list. Anything absent from the decree of 5 November 2015 cannot be required. The basis for that ban is Article 22-2 of Act no. 89-462 of 6 July 1989. So the reasoning is simple: a document missing from the list is a banned document.

We are not publishing a list of banned documents here. No official page consulted on 12 September 2026 reproduces the full list in Article 22-2, and we would rather say so than copy out unsourced examples. What is established and verified is the principle of the closed list. If you are unsure about a specific document, ANIL and the ADIL du Var answer free of charge.

One document is named as not requirable by the official page on discrimination: the bank statement. A landlord cannot ask for private papers of that kind. Another rule goes with it, and it matters: no money may be asked for before the tenancy agreement is signed. So there is no holding cheque, no down payment and no application fee.

The penalty takes the form of an administrative fine. It can reach €3,000 for an individual and €15,000 for a company. The prefect imposes it, within one year of the offence. That alone is reason enough to stick strictly to the list.

A document missing from the decree's list is a banned document. The rule fits in one sentence, and it is worth €3,000.

The deposit

The amount of the deposit depends on the type of letting. On an unfurnished tenancy, it comes to one month's rent excluding service charges at most. On a furnished tenancy, it rises to two months' rent excluding service charges. These caps apply where rent is paid monthly or every two months.

Two situations rule out any deposit. No deposit is possible where rent is payable quarterly. Nor is any deposit possible on a mobility lease, where the law expressly forbids it. In that last case, however, a guarantee is still allowed.

Return follows firm deadlines. The landlord has one month if the outgoing inventory of condition matches the incoming one, and two months where there are differences. Time runs from the handover of the keys, in person or by recorded delivery letter.

If it is not returned in time, it is increased by 10% of the monthly rent excluding service charges for each month of delay started.

Deductions are possible, but framed by law. They cover unpaid rent and service charges as well as the cost of repairs. The landlord must produce evidence: quotes, invoices, a judicial officer's report, or a formal demand left unanswered. Finally, the tenant is not entitled to use the deposit to pay the last month's rent.

Guarantor and rent guarantee insurance: you cannot have both

Here is a rule that is often missed. A private landlord who has taken out insurance against rental risks cannot also require a guarantor. The two guarantees do not stack. So you have to choose between the insurance and the guarantor.

There is an exception, and it is a useful one. An insured private landlord may still ask for a guarantor if the tenant is a student or an apprentice. A separate rule applies to a corporate landlord: it may not ask for a guarantor where the student holds a higher education grant. These two rules should not be confused.

The deed of guarantee follows a precise formality. It takes the form of a private deed or a notarised deed.

It states the amount of rent in words and in figures, how that rent is reviewed, and the guarantor's acknowledgement that they are aware of Article 22-1 of the 1989 Act and Article 2297 of the Civil Code. The guarantee may be simple or joint and several, as the landlord chooses.

The length of the commitment deserves an explanation. A guarantor can only end their commitment if the deed sets no fixed term, and only when the tenancy expires. In other words, a fixed-term commitment runs to its end. That is a point to read closely before signing.

The Visale guarantee in 2026: what changed on 6 January

Visale is a rent guarantee, free for the tenant, issued by Action Logement. Only the membership contract taken out by the landlord evidences the guarantee. The conditions have been amended, and the new version took effect on 6 January 2026. Several of its terms changed on that date.

There are now three rent caps, service charges included. They stand at €1,940 in Île-de-France, €1,575 in the large cities, in Corsica, in the overseas departments and regions and in Saint-Martin, and €1,365 in all other towns. The list of towns covered by the €1,575 cap could not be consulted. So we are not stating which cap applies to Sainte-Maxime, and this point should be checked on visale.fr before any application.

Eligibility depends on age and circumstances.

Tenants aged 30 or under are eligible whatever their working situation, students included, with no income condition. Tenants over 30 are eligible if they work in the private sector on a net income of no more than €1,710 a month, or if they are moving for work or between jobs. This income cap rose from €1,500 to €1,710 on 6 January 2026.

The length of cover has been narrowed. In the private rented sector, the guarantee now covers the first 36 months of the tenancy, whereas it used to cover the whole term of the contract. The tenant can apply again at the end of that period if they are still eligible. Cover reaches 36 monthly instalments of unpaid rent and service charges, plus a maximum of two months' rent for tenant damage.

A few more rules complete the scheme. In the social housing sector, cover runs to 9 monthly instalments of arrears, plus two months at most for damage. The tenancies covered are unfurnished lettings, furnished lettings, the mobility lease, seasonal lettings and house shares. Finally, tenant and landlord must not belong to the same family.

The affordability condition follows a general rule. Rent including service charges must not exceed half the tenant's income, that is a rent-to-income ratio of 50%. Specific thresholds exist for students and apprentices, but the figures found are given for Île-de-France. The equivalents elsewhere in France could not be verified, so we are not repeating them.

The procedure is simple and takes place online. The tenant applies on visale.fr before the tenancy agreement is signed, and receives a visa confirming eligibility. The landlord then validates a guarantee contract online. The tenancy agreement is signed only after that validation.

Visale and seasonal workers, a useful point here

Sainte-Maxime lives to a marked seasonal rhythm, so this point counts. Seasonal workers are eligible for Visale from the age of 18, with a seasonal contract in force. The criteria were simplified in 2026 to widen access, with a stated target of 9,000 beneficiaries across 2026 and 2027. The home can be temporary, or a main home over several seasons.

Cover for seasonal workers has a length of its own. It lasts from 1 to 9 months, in the private rented sector as in the social housing sector. Two other new features in 2026 deserve a mention: the guarantee has been extended to transferable leases in rental intermediation schemes, and a pilot has opened for solidarity-based intergenerational home sharing. The latter pairs a tenant under 30 or an apprentice with an owner over 60.

One last practical point is worth knowing. Visale can be combined with the Avance Loca-Pass, which funds the deposit. So an eligible applicant can come forward with a free guarantor and an advance on the deposit. It is a combination that moves a lot of applications forward.

Banned forms of discrimination

The law prohibits refusing an applicant on the basis of 27 protected grounds. They include origin, sex, family situation, pregnancy, physical appearance, disability and age. They also include sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, political opinions and the ability to express oneself in a given language. The list is broad, and it covers most illegitimate grounds.

What a landlord may legitimately weigh up is clearly defined. It is the applicant's financial situation, working situation and income. That assessment rests on the permitted documents, namely the identity document, the employment contract and the payslips. The rest is not for the landlord to judge.

Criminal penalties are heavy.

Discrimination in letting can cost up to three years' imprisonment and a €45,000 fine. Asking for unauthorised documents is punished separately by a €3,000 fine. So the two offences can add up.

A victim's remedies are clearly organised. They can refer the matter to the Défenseur des droits, a free service reachable on 3928, bring a criminal complaint within six years of the events, and start a civil claim for damages. The Défenseur des droits can run a mediation, propose penalties or refer the case to the public prosecutor. Proof can come from physical evidence, from witness statements or from situation testing.

How we do things at LOCAMAXIME

We have chosen to open an application with two documents only. The first is both sides of your identity card. The second is your latest tax assessment notice. Both upload straight from the form on this site.

There is a simple reason for that choice. These two documents are enough to place an application, so there is no point asking for more until the home is confirmed. The rest of the file comes afterwards, once the home is confirmed and the application moves forward. We then follow the decree's list, without adding anything to it.

This approach suits both sides. The applicant does not put together a full file for a home that may go in the meantime. The landlord, for his part, has the essentials straight away and can reply quickly.

That is how we have worked in Sainte-Maxime since 1971, direct and with no letting.

One final clarification is needed. This article explains the general rule as at 12 September 2026, and it is not legal advice on a particular case. For a personal situation, service-public.gouv.fr publishes the official guidance, ANIL offers national legal information, and the ADIL du Var answers free of charge across the department. All three sources are free and open to everyone.