Each of these is a refusal this regime lets a counterparty attempt, paired with the answer to it. Reading them before you write is worth more than any amount of polish on the letter itself.
"We are waiting for the service charges (régularisation des charges)"
high likelihoodThe landlord holds the entire deposit indefinitely pending the annual copropriété accounts.
What answers it
Article 22 permits a provision of at most 20% of the deposit to be retained until the annual accounts are settled. It does not permit the other 80% to be held, and it does not suspend the one- or two-month deadline for that 80%. The 10% per-month majoration runs on the amount that should have been returned.
Loi n° 89-462 du 6 juillet 1989, art. 22 — art. 22 (dépôt de garantie — montant, restitution, majoration de retard)
"We are waiting for a quote from the builder"
high likelihoodThe landlord keeps the deposit because repair costs are not yet known.
What answers it
The two-month period exists precisely so that the landlord can obtain quotes and evidence. It does not extend because they left it late. After the deadline the majoration accrues whether or not the quote has arrived, and a deduction that is still unquantified when the deadline passes is a deduction the landlord has not justified.
Loi n° 89-462 du 6 juillet 1989, art. 22 — art. 22 (dépôt de garantie — montant, restitution, majoration de retard)
"The property needed cleaning and redecorating"
high likelihoodThe landlord charges for cleaning, carpet wear, scuffed paint or tired fittings and treats the deposit as a refurbishment fund.
What answers it
Fair wear and tear from ordinary use is not a recoverable loss in any of the regimes this product covers — a deduction must reflect damage or a breach beyond ordinary use, must be evidenced, and must be reduced for the age and remaining life of the item. Ask for the invoice, the check-in and check-out evidence, and the calculation.
"Prove you did not cause it"
high likelihoodThe landlord asserts damage and expects the tenant to disprove it, often without a check-in inventory.
What answers it
It is the party seeking to keep the money who must justify keeping it. Where there is no dated check-in record to compare against, an adjudicator has nothing to measure the alleged damage from, and the deduction generally fails on that ground alone.
"You never gave us a forwarding address"
medium likelihoodThe landlord relies on the statutory exception to defeat the late-return penalty.
What answers it
This is a real exception — the majoration is not due where the tenant failed to give their new address. But it defeats only the majoration, never the deposit itself, and the landlord must show that no address was given. If you gave it in your notice, in the exit inventory, or in any email, produce that document and the exception falls away.
Loi n° 89-462 du 6 juillet 1989, art. 22 — art. 22 (dépôt de garantie — montant, restitution, majoration de retard)