Are you buying or selling a property in France?
Or involved in a joint-ownership dispute?
Or a dispute with a builder or an estate agent?
Or have problems with a succession?
Or have got yourself in a pickle in France!
We can help you. Philip Winter-Taylor is a U.K. property lawyer with twenty three years experience of property matters in France. Admitted in 1988, he has represented clients before the court in France and has probably covered every area of French property law during his career.
He is also a lecturer and author of an English compliance text on French law. He specialises in French estate agency law and is a leading authority on the licensing of U.K. estate agents dealing in French property.
Legal News Update April 2010
Selling your house by email.
The court of appeal in Douai has announced (R.G. no.05/00997) that it is possible to make a sale contract by email.
An owner was selling his house privately on his web site and had agreed terms with a buyer by email. He subsequently sold the house to a second buyer at a higher price and the first buyer sued him for breach of contract. The court decided that all the elements of a contract as required by the Civil Code were to be found in the exchange of emails: the property, the price and the parties concerned together with proof of dispatch and receipt. The lack of any signature on a formal document did not invalidate the agreement and the court awarded damages to the first buyer.
The Power of Joint-ownership.
The French court has made a further ruling about the joint ownership of property and the importance of advising the notary of the respective contributions of the buyers. A joint owner bought a house with his partner. Despite proving to the court that he had provided all the purchase price and the costs, the court decided not to amend the declaration in the deed of sale which stated they had purchased the house in equal shares. The court held that the declaration was freely and fairly signed by both parties and that the joint owner had made an indirect gift to his partner of the half share prior to the purchase. The court also refused his application to force his co-owner to sell her share. Article 815-5 of the Civil Code states that any co-owner can decline to sell his share provided this refusal was not ‘prejudicial to their common interests’. (Cour de Cassation chambre civ 2008).