Check the indexation of commercial rent

Your lease probably includes an indexation clause/a sliding scale clause or a contractual revision clause (which should not be confused with the clause recalling the conditions of the legal revision).

You can obtain reimbursement of the illegal rent increases made by the lessor and keep the initial rent of the commercial lease for the future.

Indeed, these clauses are illegal if they stipulate that the rent cannot be indexed to an amount lower than the previous rent or if they only increase.

These clauses are still deemed unwritten if they organize a distortion between the index variation interval and the time elapsing between two indexings .

If the clause inserted in your lease is unlawful or deemed unwritten, we may refer the matter to the judge for:

obtain the annulment of the clause on the basis of Article L 145-39 of the Commercial Code
see declared unwritten the clause on the basis of Article L 112-1 paragraph 1 of the Monetary and Financial Code, it being specified that this action is not subject to any limitation period.

The effects of the nullity or sanction of the “deemed unwritten” are as follows:

You may request the reimbursement of sums unduly paid to the lessor under this clause within the limit of five years;
The rent will be reduced to its original price and the lessor will no longer be able to index the rent for the duration of the lease and its renewals.

You want to know if you can get some money back and reduce your rent.