Perhaps you have already passed in front of the door of a house on which a wax seal and a string were attached, signs of its placement under seal by justice. This is what happened to Mrs. K, the landlord of an apartment, reports a judgment of the Court of Cassation of July 3, 2025 noted by the law firm Neu-Janicki. On March 14, 2017, she signed a lease with two roommates. A few days later, the accommodation was placed under seal “as part of a judicial investigation”soberly indicates the Court of Cassation. “One of the two roommates was prosecuted for attempted murder on his roommate companion. The accommodation was immediately placed under seal as part of the criminal investigation.specifies the law firm.
A fortnight later, on April 3, 2017, the two roommates gave their notice to the owner, with three months’ notice, running until July 3, 2017. On December 12, 2017, the seals were lifted, which allowed the roommate who was the victim of the attempted murder to recover her personal effects, which remained in the accommodation. In the process, the owner takes the two roommates to court in order toobtain payment of rent due from placement under seal until lifting thereof.
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Even incarceration does not affect the obligation to pay rent
A first judge ruled in favor of the owner but the victim roommate appealed his decision, considering that she did not have to pay the rent for an apartment placed under seal, which by definition she could not occupy. The Lyon Court of Appeal also ruled in favor of the owner. The roommate therefore appeals to the Court of Cassation. In vain, again: “The Court of Appeal rightly deduced that the unavailability of the rented property was not not constitute a failure to fulfill the obligation to deliver (housing) by the lessor and that (the roommates) could not invoke this exception to justify the non-payment of rent”considers the Court of Cassation.
“The tenant victim could not invoke force majeure or the exception of non-performance, the lessor being not responsible for the unavailability of the property”explains the Neu-Janicki firm. And to add that “case law regularly confirms that sealing the accommodation does not exempt the tenant from paying rent, unless the lessor is at fault“. Even “the incarceration of the tenant does not affect the obligation to pay rentthe accommodation remaining at its legal disposal”underlines the law firm.
