Exceptional

lease

The lease concluded by a trader for the purposes of his activity is subject to a special status, known as the status of commercial leases, resulting from the provisions of Decree No.53-960 of 30 September 1953, codified in Articles L.145-1 et seq. of the Commercial Code.

The status of the commercial lease has considerable advantages for the lessee. In particular, he has the right to obtain the renewal of the lease or, failing that, an eviction indemnity intended to compensate for either the loss of value of the land or the cost of its relocation if the existence of his business is not threatened. This status represents a limit to the lessor’s right of ownership, qualified as commercial property of the lessee.

The owner of a commercial premises and his commercial tenant may decide to derogate from the status of commercial leases. Article L.145-5 of the Commercial Code states that “the parties may, upon entering the premises of the lessee, derogate from the provisions of the status of commercial leases provided that the total duration of the lease or successive leases is not more than three years. At the end of this period, the parties may no longer enter into a new lease derogating from the provisions of the Commercial Leases Statute to operate the same land in the same premises.

If, at the end of this period, and at the latest at the end of a period of one month from the due date, the lessee remains and is left in possession, a new lease will be made, the effect of which is governed by the provisions of the statute of commercial leases.

The same applies, at the end of this period, in the event of express renewal of the lease or conclusion, between the same parties, of a new lease for the same premises.

The provisions of the two preceding paragraphs shall not apply in the case of a seasonal rental “.

It is only possible to sign a derogatory lease when entering the tenant’s premises or when renewing a derogatory lease to the same tenant, but never following a 9-year commercial lease.

The contract must be in writing and expressly specify that it falls outside the scope of the status of commercial leases, defined in Articles L. 145-1 et seq. of the Commercial Code.

The tenant must vacate the premises on the due date. He has no right to the renewal of the contract, nor to the payment of an eviction indemnity. However, if the initial term of the lease was less than three years, a new derogatory lease may be signed by the parties, without the total term of the successive leases exceeding  three years.