FrançaisOnce again, the Court of Cassation recalled the importance of the formalized during the drafting of a promise to sell and in particular the obligation to insert the area of the property concerned.
In a judgment of 22 November 2018 (judgment no. 17-23.366 Civ 3 published in the bulletin), the Court of Cassation stated that:
“When the promise of sale does not include the mention of the area of the unit of the lots sold, only the signature of the authentic deed stating the completion of the sale mentioning the area of the private portion of the lot or fraction of the lot entails the forfeiture of the right to initiate or to pursue an action in nullity of the promise or the contract which preceded it, founded on the absence of mention of this surface “.
In other words, a promise to sell that does not mention the area of the property is worthless.
In this case, however, the parties had signed the acreage certificate in order to regularize the promise. The Court did not follow the reasoning of the judges of the merits and considered that the mere signing of the surface certificate was not sufficient to comply with the provisions of Article 46 of the Law of 10 July 1965.
Thus, as long as the final deed of sale to notary has not been signed with the mention relating to the area, the parties can claim a nullity of the promise.
Here is a new example of the importance of knowing how to surround yourself with a lawyer when you buy or sell a property, which will be responsible for writing the promises to buy or sell your property.
