A service charge reconciliation is the only moment of the year when the tenant checks your accounts. It is easily disputed, and it is lost on details of form: a statement with no type of expense, a non-recoverable charge slipped into the total, a deadline allowed to pass.
The list of recoverable charges is set by decree, and it is exhaustive. Major works, the managing agent’s fees for running the building, façade renovation costs and provisions for future works are not on it — they are landlord’s expenses. A breakdown that includes them does not only expose the landlord to refunding the offending line: it weakens the whole, because it shows the calculation was not made according to the rule. And a tenant who obtains the cancellation of one reconciliation often also obtains that of earlier years still open to challenge. So the issue is not the sum, it is the method.
Not those written in the tenancy agreement. If a month was not paid, its advance payment was not received, and the reconciliation must take that into account. Reconciling on theoretical figures produces a balance that matches no actual flow — and it is indefensible as soon as anyone looks closely.
The expenses recorded over the period, classified by type: water, heating, upkeep of common areas, household waste collection tax, and the rest. Breaking them down by type is not a presentational nicety, it is a requirement.
Shares, building-share units (tantièmes), floor area, number of occupants as the case may be. The tenant must be able to redo the calculation: a statement that gives a result without giving the allocation key does not allow the verification they are entitled to.
A top-up owed by the tenant, or an overpayment to be refunded to them. The second case exists, and forgetting it is a quiet way of keeping what does not belong to you.
The breakdown is attached, and the supporting documents must be kept available to the tenant. It is that availability, more than the letter, that makes the reconciliation enforceable.
That is the difference that counts on a tenancy where a month was missed, or with a tenant who moved in mid-year. A reconciliation done on twelve theoretical advance payments when ten were received is wrong in both possible directions.
The ratio of charges to rent collected is tracked over twenty-four months, with a rolling average. Without this series, October’s property tax looks like a drift every year, and a real drift goes unnoticed.
By type of expense, with the allocation method. It is the formatting work that gets done badly when it is done once a year, in a spreadsheet, in December.
art. 23 of Law No. 89-462 of 6 July 1989; Decree No. 87-713 of 26 August 1987
Exhaustively: what is not in the decree is not recoverable, even if the expense is real and useful. The managing agent’s management fees, major works, façade renovation, replacement of equipment: these are landlord’s costs. Including them weakens the whole breakdown, not just the line.
art. 23 para. 4 of Law No. 89-462
Available, which does not mean they must be sent — but refusing to provide them deprives the reconciliation of its basis. A tenant who cannot check may legitimately refuse to pay the balance.
art. 7-1 of Law No. 89-462
Three years, and the time limit works both ways: a landlord who has never reconciled cannot catch up five years at once. Symmetrically, the tenant can claim three years of overpayments — as landlords who set generous advance payments “for peace of mind” find out.
The calculation starts from the flows actually received. A balance drawn up on theoretical figures matches no transaction, and falls apart at the first check.
The classification depends on the exact nature of the service, and the boundary is fine — maintaining a lift is not treated like replacing it. We provide the categories and the breakdown; the allocation remains a choice you must be able to defend.
Decree No. 87-713 of 26 August 1987
The balance is shown in both directions. A reconciliation that only displays top-ups owed is a tool working against its user, because the user is the one who will be pursued three years later.
Included from the Essentiel tier.
On the advance payments actually received, set against the actual expenses for the year. Not on the advance payments provided for in the tenancy agreement: if a month was not paid, its advance payment was not received, and the balance must take that into account.
Those in the decree of 26 August 1987, and those alone — the list is exhaustive. Major works, façade renovation, the managing agent’s fees for running the building and the replacement of equipment are landlord’s costs.
You must keep them available to the tenant for six months after sending the statement. It is not an obligation to send them, but refusing to provide them deprives the reconciliation of its basis.
Three years at most: claims for back charges are time-barred after three years. And the time limit works both ways — a tenant can claim three years of overpayments.
No. The classification depends on the exact nature of the service, and the line is fine. We provide the categories, the breakdown by type and the letter; the allocation remains your decision, because you are the one who will have to defend it.
Costs-to-rent ratio on rents actually received, a 24-month series and a rolling average — without which October’s property tax looks like a drift.
Issued as soon as payment is recorded, sent to the tenant by email. Never issued for rent not received.
Notices to quit, formal notice, repayment plan, reconciliation, deposit refund, works, insurance, guarantor, managing agent; guarantee deed, certificates, SCI general meetings. Amounts rebuilt instalment by instalment.
EPC, surveys, insurance, end of tenancy, tax deadlines, over a rolling twelve months.
Content reviewed on 2026-08-06.
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