The rental guarantee can only be returned at the end of the tenancy and after the last statement of account has been drawn up. The landlord will then give back the rental guarantee to the tenant if they have no claims. If the tenant has unpaid rent or charges, the landlord can deduct these from the amount of the guarantee.

When can the rental guarantee be released and how long does it take?

A rental guarantee can be released when:

• an inventory of fixtures has been drawn up and
• the tenant has returned the keys of the rented property, which is the moment when the lease contract ends.

Once these 2 conditions have been met, the tenant can request the return of the rental guarantee, unless he/she was liable for the payment of an advance on rental charges in addition to the monthly rent.

In this case, the tenant must wait for the annual statement of rental charges to be drawn up before obtaining the rental guarantee.

However, the law does not provide a time limit within which the landlord must provide the statement.