One of the more paradoxical provisions of French Law relating to commercial leases is that if the Landlord intends to offer a renewal of the lease at modified rental terms he must give the tenant notice and set out the proposed new rental in the documents served by way of notice to quit.

- if the tenant is not willing to accept the new rental amount or to continue the lease then pursuant to the service of the notice, he would normally quit the premises at the end of the nine year term without compensation

- if the tenant accepts the renewal of the new rental amount, then the renewed lease would be pursued for a further period of nine years on the same conditions as the old lease

- if the tenant accepts the renewal but disputes the new rental amount, he is authorised to remain in the premises at the old rent but the most diligent of the parties must then seize the Higher District Court (Tribunal de Grande Instance) with a view to obtaining a judicial decision as to the renewed rental amount (N.B. the figure set by the Court is retroactive to the effective date of the lease renewal)