Yes. In a commercial lease, the landlord may require that certain rents be paid in advance when this condition is provided for in the lease or agreed upon between the parties.

Advance payment may be requested upon signing the lease or before taking possession of the premises. It may cover one or more months' rent, depending on the negotiated terms.

It is important to distinguish between rent paid in advance and a security deposit . Rent paid in advance is normally intended to be applied to the payment of rent for a specific period, whereas a security deposit can be used to guarantee various obligations of the tenant as stipulated in the lease.

The lease should therefore clearly state:

• the amount required in advance;
• the rental period to which this amount will be applied;
• the time when it must be paid;
• if this amount can be applied to other obligations of the tenant;
• the applicable consequences if the lease ends before the period to which the advance payment would normally have been applied.

Advance payment of rent may be requested, in particular, when the landlord wishes to reduce the financial risk associated with the lease, for example when the tenant is a newly formed company or when its financial situation presents a higher risk.

The tenant should therefore carefully check whether the sums paid at the beginning of the lease constitute an advance payment of rent, a security deposit or another form of guarantee , since the rights and obligations attached to them may be different.