The Unfurnished Residential Lease

Download the full legal note (PDF, in French)

Unfurnished residential lease procedure

Download the full procedure (PDF, in French)

1. Property management mandate (if you don’t hold a carte G)

If you don’t hold the carte G (the French property management license), the law doesn’t allow you to sign a lease on an owner’s behalf.

Steps to follow:

  1. Fill in the Unlocker property management mandate form with all the details about the owner and the property.
  2. The Unlocker team checks the form and the supporting documents you submitted.
  3. The mandate is then sent for e-signature to:
    • Unlocker Real Estate (the carte G holder)
    • The owner
  4. Important: the lease can’t be signed until both parties have signed the mandate.

2. Management fees

The management fee charged by Unlocker is 3% excl. VAT of the rent collected, as set out in the terms and conditions.

3. Signing the lease through the Yousign form

Once the mandate is signed, the unfurnished residential lease is prepared and signed through our secure Yousign form.

Steps to follow:

  1. Fill in the Yousign form (use the “Yousign form” link above).
  2. The Unlocker team reviews the file.
  3. If it’s approved, it’s sent out for e-signature.

Signatories:

  • Unlocker Real Estate (as landlord or as the owner’s agent)
  • The tenant
  • Your agency or concierge company (technical signature only, so the mandatory documents can be added to the file; it has no contractual value)

4. Documents to provide

4.1. Documents to attach when the lease is signed

These documents must be submitted with the Yousign file before it is sent out for signature.

The following documents must be attached to the Yousign form at the time of signing:

  • Technical diagnostics file (dossier de diagnostic technique, DDT), including:
    • Energy performance certificate (DPE, France’s mandatory energy performance certificate)
    • Natural and technological risk statement (ERP)
    • Lead exposure risk assessment (CREP), if applicable
    • Gas and/or electrical diagnostics if the installations are more than 15 years old
  • Condominium rules (if applicable)

4.2. Documents to attach after the lease is signed

Some documents can only be collected after the lease is signed, typically at move-in:

  • Move-in inspection report
  • Home insurance certificate covering tenant liability risks

Unlocker rule:

Keys can’t be handed over until the home insurance certificate and the move-in inspection report have been collected.

As soon as you’ve collected them, you must:

a. Upload these documents to the Unlocker platform right away:

Tenants menu → Edit → Documents → Add documents

b. Let us know on WhatsApp so our team can check and approve them.

If you have any questions, our Unlocker experts are here to help.

Unfurnished residential lease form

Download the checklist (PDF, in French)