You pay your rent regularly but the landlord does not issue you with a receipt: this is a problem that many tenants face. Is the rent receipt compulsory for rental?
Charlie Cailloux: Yes, it is mandatory if the tenant requests it: it allows him to have proof that he is up to date with the payment of his rent. If the tenant does not request it, the landlord is not obligated to provide it. In general, the tenant asks for a discharge to claim aid. Two important points: when the tenant requests it, the receipt must be provided free of charge; neither the owner nor his manager can invoice this service. Second thing: if the tenant agrees, the owner can send this receipt in dematerialized format, by email for example.
If the owner refuses to provide me with a receipt each month after I have requested it, what can I do?
There is no easy way to put pressure on the landlord: you obviously cannot stop paying the rent for such a reason (on the contrary, you risk having your lease broken by the landlord). The only way to get a recalcitrant owner to bow would be to sue him in court, but hey, it’s completely disproportionate, nobody ever does. So it is better to discuss, explain why this receipt is essential to you, remember that it is a right that the law organizes for you. It is better to convince than to coerce.
Without a rent receipt, how can you prove that you have paid your rent and be sure that the owner will not claim it later?
The proof of the payment of the rent can be done by any means and there is not only the receipt. Today, most tenants pay their rent by transfer, which leaves traces in the account statements: we have the sender account, the recipient account, the sum, the date of the transfer, it is traceable. If you are paying in cash or by check, yes, it is more essential to ask for a receipt.
When you want to change location, have receipts from your old accommodation, does that also reassure the new owner?
Yes, absolutely! The tenant is advised to put in his file his last three receipts from the previous accommodation. Know that the receipt is not necessarily month by month, you can at the very end of the rental ask the owner of you for a single receipt for the entire period you stayed, it works in the same way and it reassures the new owner.