Changing the locks on a tenant who doesn't pay

No, you cannot change the locks on a tenant who doesn't pay, nor cut off their water, nor remove their furniture. In France, forcing someone out of the place they live in without the State's assistance, through deception, threats, assault or coercion, is punished by three years' imprisonment and a €30,000 fine (article 226-4-2 of the criminal code). Even with a judgment, only a commissaire de justice (court enforcement officer, formerly huissier) can have the home vacated.

This guide is part of our series Unpaid rent in France: what to do, step by step.

What the law forbids#

Landlord's action	Risk	Text
Forcing the occupant out (lock changed, threats, pressure) without the State's assistance	three years' imprisonment and a €30,000 fine	Criminal code, art. 226-4-2
Entering the home by deception, threats, assault or coercion	three years and €45,000	Criminal code, art. 226-4
Cutting electricity, gas or water during the winter truce	forbidden; the tenant can file a complaint	ANIL

The rented home is the tenant's domicile (home in the legal sense), even when they stop paying. The criminal code states that any dwelling containing a person's furniture is their home, whether or not they live there (article 226-4). A flat the tenant seems to have left, but where their belongings remain, is still protected.

Service-Public, the French government's information site, is explicit on the landlord's side: do not enter the home before the commissaire de justice steps in, do not change the lock and do not touch the furniture, or you may be prosecuted for violation de domicile (unlawful entry into a home); carrying out the eviction yourself exposes you to three years' imprisonment and a €30,000 fine (Service-Public).

Cutting the water or electricity#

During the trêve hivernale (winter truce), from 1 November to 31 March of the following year, ANIL, the national housing information agency, states that the law forbids landlords to suspend electricity, gas or water in their lettings, and that the tenant can file a complaint.

For the rest of the year no text targets the cut-off as such. As we read it, cutting the water or power to push the tenant out is one of the "coercions" article 226-4-2 punishes: the offence turns on the purpose, making the occupant leave without going through the State, not on the tool.

Example: what the shortcut costs#

A tenant owes three months' rent. Exasperated, the landlord has the lock changed one Saturday while the tenant is out. The tenant files a complaint: the landlord now risks three years' imprisonment and a €30,000 fine. The debt is still owed, and the lawful procedure has not moved forward by a single day.

The lawful path, in four steps#

1. Reminder, then a mise en demeure (formal notice) by registered letter: it dates the start of the dispute.
2. Commandement de payer (formal demand to pay) served by a commissaire de justice: the tenant has six weeks to pay, or the delay in their clause for a lease in force on 29 July 2023 (The commandement de payer: delay, cost, content).
3. The judge confirms the termination clause has taken effect, or grants payment delays (The lease termination clause: when does it apply?).
4. Commandement de quitter les lieux (order to vacate), then eviction by the commissaire de justice, never during the winter truce (Evicting a tenant in France: steps and real delays).

What if the home looks abandoned?#

French law provides a specific procedure to take back a home abandoned by its tenant (article 14-1 of the law of 6 July 1989). It goes through a commissaire de justice and the judge: an apparently empty flat is not taken back by changing the lock.

Sources#

• Article 226-4-2 of the criminal code (Légifrance, in French)
• Article 226-4 of the criminal code, unlawful entry into a home (Légifrance, in French)
• Article L411-1 of the civil enforcement code (Légifrance, in French)
• Unpaid rent and eviction of the tenant, Service-Public (in French)
• What is the winter truce?, ANIL (in French)

Last checked on 9 November 2026