Are you going to sign a rental contract with your future tenant? You have the right to ask him for a deposit. It may be a member of his family who will vouch for him if he is no longer able to pay you the rent, rental charges and any costs of repairing the accommodation.
To do so, the guarantor then drafts a surety bond backed by the lease. There are two forms of surety, the simple surety and the joint surety. They do not have the same impact for you in the event of a dispute.
The simple deposit: the possibility of activating it if the tenant is insolvent
If you opt for the simple deposit, you must first contact your tenant. Because you can only call on his surety if he is not able to pay his rental debts.
“The surety is only required to pay if the debtor is insolvent or if the proceedings against him fail,” said the National Agency for Information on Housing (Anil).
Thus, the owner must send his tenant an order to pay, drawn up by a bailiff. A copy must be sent to the surety.
If the tenant cannot pay his debts, then the owner sends the guarantor a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt.
Joint surety: the lessor more protected
Have you chosen to include a solidarity clause in the surety bond? By opting for the joint surety, you can contact your tenant or request the surety directly from the first unpaid rent, without informing your tenant.
It is not necessary to know if he is able to pay. This turns out to be more risky for the person who stands surety, but more protective for the lessor.
It is recommended to send the surety a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt. “The surety can be sued for all the debt owed by the tenant, but within the limit of the sums for which it is committed,” notes Anil.
Soon news about the surety bond
From January 1, 2022, the person who stands surety for a tenant will no longer have to recopy word for word an established text.
In the surety bond, it will itself affix the mention that it undertakes as surety to pay the owner-lessor what the tenant owes him in the event of default by the latter, within the limit of one amount expressed in words and figures.
It will now only be required that the mention designate with sufficient precision the nature and scope of his engagement. In addition, the bond can be concluded electronically.