Registering your company at a third party's home: what is allowed, and the red line

A relative offers you their address for your registered office, just to get started. A friend puts you up and you picture setting up your company there. Domiciling your company at a third party's home means fixing the company's registered office at the home address of someone other than you. It is not the same thing as registering at your own home, nor the question of co-ownership clauses: it is a case of its own, with a red line that many cross without seeing it. This article describes the state of the law in autumn 2026; it does not replace a review of your own situation.

A third party's home is not the director's home, and that changes the rule

The five-year rule, which everyone quotes, does not apply here. That time limit comes from article L123-11-1 of the "code de commerce", which covers placing the registered office at the legal representative's home, that is, at the director's own home. At a third party's address, where the director does not live, you are outside that regime, and therefore outside the five-year cap, the detail of which appears in the five-year rule.

The legal basis is entirely different. Every company must prove its lawful occupation of the premises where it establishes its registered office (article L123-11), and a sole trader must prove lawful occupation of their business address (article L123-10). At a third party's address, that occupation does not come from a title held in the company's name, but from the consent of the person who holds the home.

One borderline case is worth flagging. If you are yourself staying with this third party, if you live there, then that address is your home, and you fall back under article L123-11-1, with its possible five-year cap. The true "third party's home" is the address of a dwelling where you do not live.

Proving lawful occupation of an address that is not yours

Since the premises are not yours, it is the third party who grants you a right of use, and they can pass on only the rights they themselves hold. If they own the property, they decide, subject to the co-ownership rules. If they are a tenant, their lease may prohibit or limit this, and the reasoning is then the same as for registering an office in a co-owned building: the clause binds them, and so binds you.

In practice, the guichet unique expects something in writing. A relative's verbal consent proves nothing. The file usually brings together a signed statement from the third party authorising the registered office at their address, proof of their occupancy title, lease or deed of ownership, and a recent proof of address. No single text fixes this list for hosting by a private individual: check the exact documents with the guichet unique at the time of the formality.

The red line: doing a favour, or running a domiciliation activity without realising it

This is where many go wrong. Hosting the registered office of a relative's company on a one-off, personal basis remains a simple provision of an address, which requires neither a licence nor any particular contract. But making an address available to businesses as an organised and regular activity means carrying on a domiciliation activity, and that activity is regulated.

Two consequences, confirmed in the text. First, a domiciliation activity cannot be carried on in premises used as a main residence or for mixed professional use (article L123-11-2): a private individual's home, where it is their main residence, therefore cannot lawfully host it. Second, no one may carry it on without a prior prefectural licence (article L123-11-3), and carrying it on without a licence is an offence punishable by six months' imprisonment and a fine of 7 500 euros (article L123-11-8).

Where exactly does the boundary run between a favour and a regulated activity? The law sets no numerical threshold, and it does not make the absence of payment a criterion: doing a favour without being paid therefore does not automatically exempt you. The right instinct is to stay within a genuine, personal and one-off arrangement, and not a system where the same address serves as the registered office of businesses on a repeated basis.

Sham registered office and false statement: the real risks, and a myth to set aside

A fine of 75 000 euros is going around in connection with article L123-11-1. It does not exist. That article lays down no penalty; it merely frames the registered office at the director's home. The real risks come down to two things, and they are real.

The first concerns whether the registered office is real. The declared address is enforceable against third parties, but a company cannot rely on it if its true seat is elsewhere (article L210-3). A sham registered office, with no genuine connection, is open to reclassification, with the court then looking for the place of actual management.

The second is harsher. Producing a false proof-of-accommodation statement is no trivial formality: forgery and the use of forgery are punishable by three years' imprisonment and a fine of 45 000 euros (article 441-1 du code pénal). The third party's statement must therefore be true, and the address must match a real connection.

What your host relative is really agreeing to

Before asking a relative for this favour, weigh what they are agreeing to. Their personal address becomes a business address, published in plain view in the national business register, picked up by INSEE, the BODACC and the directories. This point, and the ways to protect an address, are set out in protecting your personal address.

They will also receive the company's mail: the tax authorities, URSSAF, but also writs from a commissaire de justice (the former huissier, a judicial officer) and court notifications. A professional domiciliation provider handles these items within a precise framework, with a mandate and forwarding obligations. A relative receives them without that framework, and if they are a tenant or in a co-owned building, they may find themselves at odds with their lease or their building's rules.

Licensed domiciliation: an address that holds up without putting the risk on a relative

When the arrangement between relatives shows its limits, a licensed domiciliation company provides a stable and legal address, one that depends neither on your relative's lease nor on their moving out. It rests on a prefectural licence (article L123-11-3), which the law of 25 June 2026 strengthened by adding a requirement of anti-money-laundering training, under terms set by decree, and on a written contract of at least three months, renewable (article R123-168), with genuine mail handling. This is one of the points to check before signing, which we detail in the five points of a domiciliation contract.

It has its limits too. The registered office stays public, and domiciliation does not make the director anonymous, which is a matter for another mechanism. The cotisation foncière des entreprises (the local business property tax) is still due, as we explain in registered office and tax domicile. The provider applies its anti-money-laundering obligations and will ask you for supporting documents, and the contract has to be managed: an unpaid bill or the end of a contract can lead to removal from the register. Finally, it is a paid service.

Key takeaways

• Domiciling at a third party's home means fixing the registered office at someone else's address: the five-year rule, specific to the director's home, does not apply.
• The basis is proof of lawful occupation (article L123-11), provided by the third party's written consent, which passes on only the rights they hold.
• Making an address available to businesses on a regular and organised basis becomes a domiciliation activity, subject to licensing and not permitted in premises used as a main residence (articles L123-11-2 and L123-11-3).
• Contrary to a widespread belief, article L123-11-1 lays down no fine; the real risks are the fictitious registered office (article L210-3) and the false statement (article 441-1 du code pénal).
• The host relative sees their address published and receives the company's official mail.
• For a stable, legal address that carries no risk for a relative, licensed domiciliation is the safe route.

Main sources checked in autumn 2026: "code de commerce", art. L123-10, L123-11, L123-11-1, L123-11-2, L123-11-3, L123-11-8, L210-3 and R123-168; loi n° 2026-534 du 25 juin 2026; "code pénal", art. 441-1. This article describes a state of the law and does not replace a review of your own situation.