You do not chase a good payer by mistake
Rent notices go out ahead of time and absorb good-faith oversights. The reminder is therefore only triggered by genuine silence, after a due date and a notice.
The rent
Three reminders, in order. Switched off by default, on purpose.
A reminder goes out in the landlord’s name, not the software’s. That is why Pilot detects late payments on its own but sends nothing before you have decided — and why, once you arm it, the levels cannot overlap or skip.
- 21automatic daily or monthly processesrealestate/settings.py — CELERY_BEAT_SCHEDULE entries for pilot.tasks
- 30pre-filled legal letters, including the formal demandpilot/templates/juridiques/courrier_*.{html,html.j2}
With unpaid rent, it is the deadlines you do not know about that cost you dearly.
Unpaid rent is handled on a timetable that is anything but intuitive. Rent guarantee insurance, where it exists, requires the claim to be reported within a short contractual deadline — after that deadline, cover lapses, and it is the most common reason for a claim being refused. At the same time, court proceedings do not start when the landlord loses patience but when a specific act has been served, and they then run for months. In between, the time during which an amicable agreement remains possible is counted in weeks. So a graduated reminder is not there to apply pressure: it is there so that each step is documented on its date, so that the next one remains open.
- Daily detection of late payments and arrears, with no intervention
- Three strictly sequential levels: none is skipped, none is doubled
- Automatic sending OFF by default — it is up to you to switch it on
- Every reminder is archived in the tenancy file, on its date
In practice.
Late payment is detected every day
A daily run goes through all tenancies and moves unsettled instalments to late, then to unpaid. This detection does not depend on any bank connection: it relies on the payment schedule and on your confirmations of receipt.
You decide whether reminders go out on their own
By default, no. Pilot flags arrears to you and leaves the action to you. The day you arm automatic sending, you also choose the interval between two levels — fifteen days by default.
Level 1: the friendly reminder
A neutral letter that notes the late payment, restates the amount due and the period concerned, and invites the tenant to settle. At this stage, the vast majority of cases are resolved — which is also why you should not start any higher.
Level 2, then level 3: stepping up the formality
The following levels harden the tone and spell out the consequences, up to the formal demand. The order is strict: level 2 never goes out unless level 1 has gone, and never twice. A reminder that duplicates or skips a step weakens the whole timeline.
The timeline remains, even if you take back control
Every letter generated is dated and archived in the tenancy file. If you move on to a repayment plan or to proceedings, the history of reminders already exists and does not have to be rebuilt from memory.
What it changes
The order is guaranteed by the code, not by your follow-up
This is what spreadsheets cannot keep track of: knowing, across thirty units, which reminder went to whom and when. Here the sequence is a property of the system.
The tone stays yours from the start
Automation is an explicit choice, not a factory default. Many landlords want detection without sending — which is exactly the default state.
The law, and the pitfalls
A commandement de payer invoking a termination clause must be served by a judicial officer, and the tenant has six weeks to pay before the clause takes effect.
art. 24 of Law No. 89-462 of 6 July 1989
No reminder, even by registered post, replaces this commandement de payer. A landlord who has sent three letters and believes they have “done what was needed” has not started the period running: the procedure only begins with the bailiff’s writ, and the months lost before cannot be made up.
A landlord insured against unpaid rent must declare the claim within the period set in the contract, on pain of losing cover.
art. L. 113-2 of the French Insurance Code; general terms and conditions of the policy
This period is contractual, often short, and it runs from the first unpaid rent — not from the moment the landlord gives up hope. It is the most frequent reason for a claim being refused, and it is entirely avoidable: it is a date to meet, not a negotiation.
A landlord who issues a summons for termination on grounds of unpaid rent must notify the summons to the commission for the coordination of eviction prevention actions (CCAPEX).
art. 24 III of Law No. 89-462disputed point
Failure to notify is penalised, and it cannot be remedied during proceedings without cost. This obligation surprises private landlords, who discover it after incurring costs.
What Pilot refuses to do
We do not arm the reminders for you
A reminder is a letter sent in your name, with your address, on a matter that calls someone to account. An automatic process switched on by default would have sent letters that landlords had never read.
We do not send two reminders of the same level
Nor do we skip a level. A timeline where level 2 comes before level 1, or twice, is a timeline a tenant acting in good faith will contest — and rightly so.
We do not report your claim to your insurer
We have no access to your guarantee contracts, and the reporting deadline is contractual. We remind you that this deadline exists and runs from the first unpaid instalment; sending the report remains up to you.
Availability
Included from the Essentiel tier.
- 7-day trial at launch, card required
- No commitment
Frequently asked questions
Do reminders go out automatically?
Not by default. Detecting late payments, yes, every day; sending, no. It is a choice: a reminder is a letter sent in your name, and many landlords want to see before writing. You arm it when you decide to.
Is a reminder sent by registered post enough to start the procedure?
No. The termination clause only applies after a commandement de payer (formal order to pay) served by a commissaire de justice (bailiff), and the tenant then has six weeks to pay. Reminders build the amicable timeline; they start no court deadline.
And if I have rent guarantee insurance?
The deadline for declaring a claim is set by your contract, it is often short, and it runs from the first unpaid rent. It is the first thing to do, before waiting to see. We cannot declare it for you — we have no access to your contracts.
What interval between two reminders?
Fifteen days by default, adjustable. The order, however, is not adjustable: level 2 never goes out without level 1, and never twice.
Does late-payment detection depend on my bank?
No. It relies on the payment schedule and on your confirmations of receipt, with a daily check. Bank detection of transfers will come on top; it will not replace this monitoring.
Right next to it.
The rent
The rent call goes out before the date, not after.
Sent automatically before the date, at the notice you set.
The rent
Your rent receipts go out on their own. Never for rent not received.
Issued as soon as payment is recorded, sent to the tenant by email. Never issued for rent not received.
Tenancy agreements and documents
Thirty letters, pre-filled from the file.
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.
The rent
Rent detection: written, exercised, and deliberately closed.
Matching of transfers received with the expected instalments.
Content reviewed on 2026-08-06.
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