The behavior of the owner of a property, in front of an occupant originally without title, may be sufficient to recognize the existence of a lease, considered the Court of Cassation.
The conciliatory behavior of this owner makes it possible to conclude that there has been an innovation in the relationship, considered the Court of Cassation, that is to say that a new legal relationship has been substituted for an old situation.
An apartment owner had taken legal action for obtain the eviction of an occupant without title. It was formerly an employee who had been provided with official accommodation, but he had retired a long time ago without leaving the premises and therefore no longer had any right to remain in place since no agreement, no lease, had t-sign.
The occupant has no title, observed the Court of Cassation, but the tolerant attitude of the owner for years leads to the conclusion that he accepted an innovationin this case the transformation of the old occupancy agreement into a residential lease.
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In principle, the innovation is not presumed, it can only be the result of a new duly signed contract. But this landlord having for years provided rent receipts, obtained regularization of charges and rent increases, he proved that he had accepted without any doubt the modification of the legal situation and the existence of a verbal lease.
Cas. Civ 3, 15.2.2023, N 22-19.419
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