What to do when squatters occupy a home?

Verified 12 December 2025 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Squatter is the act of breaking into a place (after forcing a lock, breaking a window...), deception, threat or violence, to occupy it without the permission of its owner. If your primary residence or secondary (furnished) residence is squatted, you must not force the squatters to vacate the dwelling by yourself. You must take steps to obtain their expulsion or forced evacuation. We explain how to do it.

Please note

One tenant who stays in the dwelling after the end of the lease and without the owner's consent he's not a squatter. The same applies to a person who refuses to leave the dwelling after having been accommodated by the person living there or after the end of the tourist rental contract or after the end of the sub-rental contract not authorized by the owner of the dwelling.

Squatting a principal residence or a furnished secondary residence is punishable:

  • For entering the dwelling, 3 years imprisonment and €45,000 of fine
  • And for occupying this dwelling, three years in prison and €45,000 of a fine.

In the case of squatters, winter truce does not apply. Their eviction or forced evacuation can take place at any time of the year.

Reminder

In the case of an uninhabitable dwelling (garage, room that is not for residential use, land), the steps to be taken are different. These approaches are not presented on this page.

Two types of procedure are possible: accelerated procedure or before the judge.

Expedited procedure

The person whose home is squatted (tenant or owner-occupier) or a person acting on his behalf or the owner of the squatted dwelling may apply forced evacuation squatters.

For this, the applicant must first :

  • File a complaint for trespassing at the police station or gendarmerie
  • Prove that housing is his home or its property, for example using invoices, tax documents, a certificate provided by a neighbor
  • Make it known by a judicial police officer or by the mayor or by a commissioner of justice (formerly judicial officer), that the accommodation is squatted.

Before starting the procedure:

FYI  

If the owner cannot prove his right to property because he no longer has access to his dwelling, the prefect of department, within 72 hours, asks the tax administration to tell him to whom the squatted dwelling belongs.

Who shall I contact

Then, the applicant shall address the prefect of department so that it formal notice squatters to leave the accommodation. The applicant may instruct a lawyer to draft the application to the prefect of the department.

The prefect of the department makes his decision taking into account the personal and family situation of the squatter. It must make its decision within 48 hours of receipt of the request.

FYI  

In case of refusal, the prefect of department must indicate the reason for this refusal.

The formal notice indicates the period within which squatters are obliged to leave the dwelling. In the case of a squatted home, the period is at least 24 hours, but in other cases, the period is at least 7 days.

The formal notice is:

  • notified squatters,
  • displayed in the town hall and on the building concerned,
  • notified to the applicant (optional).

If the squatters do not vacate the premises within the prescribed period, the prefect of the department must have the accommodation evacuated without delay by the police, unless the applicant has objected.

Reminder

In the case of squatters, winter truce does not apply. Their forced evacuation can take place throughout the year.

In front of the judge

The owner may request the expulsion of squatters.

For this, he must first :

  • File a complaint for trespassing at the police station or gendarmerie
  • Take a lawyer who will refer the matter to the judge (i.e. ask the judge to authorize the expulsion of the squatters and order them to pay compensation for occupancy of the premises)
  • Prove than housing belongs to him (title deed, tax documents, invoices...).
  • Prove that the accommodation is squatted. For this, it is recommended to load a commissioner of justice to go to the site to draw up a report and identify if possible at least 1 of the squatters (by questioning them, by raising their name on the mailbox...).

The lawyer must seize for interim measures the protection litigation judge on which the squatted housing depends.

FYI  

If no squatter is known (very rare situation), the lawyer can refer the case to the judge by query.

The owner must then instruct a commissioner of justice to send the squatters a summons to the hearing (assignment).

Please note

At the hearing, the landlord has the right to obtain the eviction of squatters, without entering into a discussion about the right to respect for their private and family life, or their right to occupy decent housing.

The owner must appoint a commissioner of justice to signify to the squatters the judgment rendered.

If the squatters do not leave the dwelling within one month of service, the owner must appoint a commissioner of justice to deliver to the squatters a command to leave the premises.

As soon as the Commissioner of Justice has issued command to leave the premisesHowever, squatters must leave the accommodation, they cannot benefit from any delay.

In the event that the squatters still remain in the dwelling, the commissioner of justice must ask the prefect of the department for the assistance of the public force to evict them from the dwelling.

Reminder

In the case of squatters, winter truce does not apply. Their deportation can take place throughout the year.

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