Commercial Leases/Business Goodwill

To be protected by the status of commercial leases, the lessee supposed to operate a business must have a clientele that is their own. The clientele and customer base, mentioned in Articles L. 141-5, para. 2, and L. 142-2, para. 1, of the Commercial Code, indeed constitute one of the essential elements of the business , without which it cannot exist . The clientele must be real and certain, that i …

Existence of own particuler clientele.

To be protected by the status of commercial leases, the lessee supposed to operate a business must have a clientele that is their own. The clientele and customer base, mentioned in Articles L. 141-5, para. 2, and L. 142-2, para. 1, of the Commercial Code, indeed constitute one of the essential elements of the business , without which it cannot exist . The clientele must be real and certain, that is to say, effective, for the operation of the business to continue : a future or potential clientele is not sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a business . Thus, a lessee who rents premises in which they never intended to operate a retail store and where no clientele has been received does not have their own clientele , nor does one engaged in the activity of impounding vehicles, which results only from administrative or judicial police operations ordered by the public authority . However, the temporary cessation of activity does not necessarily imply the disappearance of the clientele, which may persist .

For it to be proper, the clientele must be personal to the lessee. The question of clientele ownership arises mainly when the lessee operates within a larger entity, from which it is difficult to detach, or is closely dependent on a main ancillary activity. Thus, the mountain refuge keeper authorized to conduct a restaurant and beverage service and to provide food and meals to refuge users under a management mandate does not have a personal clientele , nor does the bar-restaurant located on municipal land , or the lessee of premises located at the center of land belonging to a tennis league, which, unable to benefit from any incidental traffic, is very dependent on the league's activity . Conversely, the operator of a bar-restaurant located within a golf club benefits from an external clientele as long as the establishment is easily accessible to people not attending the golf and is authorized to receive an external clientele .

Cass. 3e civ., 18 May 1978, LawLex202100006340JBJ, Bull. civ. III, No 205; D. 1978, IR, 488; RTD com. 1978, 559, No 5, obs. DERRUPPE; JCP G 1978, IV, 220; Rev. loyers 1978, 379, note J. V: “A business does not survive the disappearance of the clientele which constitutes its essential element.”

Cass. com., 31 May 1988, LawLex202100006341JBJ, Bull. civ. IV, No 180; RTD com. 1988, 609, note DERRUPPE; Gaz. Pal., Rec. 1988, panor. cass., 228; JCP E 1988, I, 17656; JCP G 1988, IV, 275; LPA 30 Nov. 1988, 76: “There is no business goodwill when there is no clientele or when there is no longer any clientele attached to it”; Cass. com., 21 March 1995, LawLex202100001334JBJ, Bull. civ. IV, No 91; Defrénois 1995, 950, note LE CANNU; D. 1995, IR, 101, which denies the status of owner of the business to the tenant-manager of a service station whose clientele is primarily attached to the brand.

Cass. 3e civ., 13 January 2015, LawLex202100001350JBJ, AJDI 2015, 204, concerning a bar-restaurant accessed via a private road open to public traffic, opposite the entrance to the golf course, with no sign indicating that access to the restaurant is reserved for club members only.

Cass. com., 9 July 2019, LawLex201900001031JBJ, RTD com. 2019, 865, note SAINTOURENS; RJDA 2019, No 625.

Cass. 3e civ., 18 May 1978, LawLex202100006340JBJ, Bull. civ. III, No 205; D. 1978, IR, 488; RTD com. 1978, 559, No 5, obs. DERRUPPE; JCP G 1978, IV, 220; Rev. loyers 1978, 379, note J. V, préc. cité, according to which the decision of a court of appeal must be quashed if, to dismiss a request for lease termination based on the disappearance of the business due to lack of operation, it holds that there was a “potential” clientele; Cass. 1re civ., 4 December 2013, LawLex202100001357JBJ, Bull. civ. I, No 238; Dalloz actualité, 20 Dec. 2013, obs. MESA; RTD civ. 2015, 937, obs. VAREILLE; RTD com. 2014, 306, obs. SAINTOURENS; JCP N 2013, No 50, act. 2020; JCP N 2014, No 8, 1099, note BARABE-BOUCHARD; JCP 2014, Doctr. 668, No 8, obs. SIMLER; Rev. Lamy dr. aff. Feb. 2014, No 4949, obs. FARACHE; Defrénois 2014, 1193, obs. CHAMPENOIS; Dr. fam. 2014, comm. 37, obs. BEIGNIER; AJ fam. 2014, 62, obs. HILT; BPAT 1/14 inf. 5: at the date of obtaining the prefectural authorization for the creation of a pharmacy, the clientele, an essential element of the business, only exists potentially, and only the opening to the public results in the creation of a real and certain clientele.

Cass. 3e civ., 16 June 2004, LawLex202100001348JBJ, Bull. civ. III, No 121; D. 2004, 2047, note ROUQUET; D. 2005, 1090, note ROZES; AJDI 2004, 885, note DUMONT; AJDI 2004, 853, BLATTER; RJDA 10/04, No 1092; Defrénois 2005, 242, note HUET; JCP E 2005, 826, No 14, note KENFACK; JCP G 2004, IV, 2671; JCP N 2004, 180; Loyers et copr 2004, Comm. 185, note BRAULT; Dr. et patr. 10/2004, 115, No 3547, note CHAUVEL; Rev. loyers 2004, 485, note QUEMENT; Administrer Oct. 2004, 61, note B. BOCCARA and D. LIPMAN-BOCCARA, regarding premises consisting of a warehouse and offices, for the storage of consumer goods.

CA Versailles, 5 January 2016, LawLex202100003539JBJ.

Cass. 3e civ., 15 September 2010, LawLex202100001342JBJ, Bull. civ. III, No 155; D. 2010, 2151; AJDI 2011, 287, obs. ROUQUET; AJDI 2011, 910, obs. BLATTER; D. 2011, Pan. 1788, obs. DUMONT-LEFRAND; RTD com. 2011, 311, obs. SAINTOURENS; JCP E 2011, 2065, note BRAULT; JCP N 2010, act.668; Gaz. Pal. 2010, 3562, obs. BARBIER; RJDA 2011, No 15; Loyers et copr. 2010, No 291, obs. BRAULT; Rev. loyers 2010, 413, note DE LACGER, regarding the temporary interruption of operations following the death of the operator, which did not affect the goodwill attached to the business due to the activity being almost entirely related to transient clientele, with the business's clientele not suffering from the interruption of operations and naturally reconstituting itself upon reopening to the public.

Cass. 3e civ., 9 July 2008, LawLex202100001353JBJ, Bull. civ. III, No 122; D. 2008, AJ 2074, note FOREST; RTD com. 2009, 279, note SAINTOURENS; Loyers et copr. Oct. 2008, Comm. 220, note CHAVANCE; JCP E 2008, No 38, 26; LPA 18 Dec. 2008, note DENIZOT; RJDA 2008, No 1012.

Cass. 3e civ., 28 January 2015, LawLex202100001359JBJ, AJDA 2015, 890, obs. BLATTER; Gaz. Pal. 14 April 2015, 15, note BARBIER.

Cass. 3e civ., 10 February 1999, LawLex202100001429JBJ, Administrer Apr. 1999, 32, concerning premises located in a residential area and away from all other commercial activities.

Commercial Leases/Business Goodwill

28. Existence of own particuler clientele.

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28. Existence of own particuler clientele.

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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