Business Contracts

The law grants the buyer a cooling-off period in certain circumstances. Article L. 271-1 of the Construction and Housing Code stipulates that:
“For any deed concerning the construction or acquisition of a building for residential use, the acquisition of shares giving entitlement to the allocation in beneficial ownership or ownership of residential buildings, or the sale of buildings to be built or …

Buyer withdrawal

The law grants the buyer a cooling-off period in certain circumstances. Article L. 271-1 of the Construction and Housing Code stipulates that:

“For any deed concerning the construction or acquisition of a building for residential use, the acquisition of shares giving entitlement to the allocation in beneficial ownership or ownership of residential buildings, or the sale of buildings to be built or for lease-accession to property ownership, the non-professional purchaser may retract within a time-limit of ten days from the day following the first presentation of the letter of notification of the deed (...)”.

According to this provision, the promise to sell must be notified to the purchaser by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, or by any other means offering equivalent guarantees for determining the date of receipt or delivery, with the right of withdrawal being exercised in the same manner. In addition, information on the terms and conditions for exercising the right of withdrawal or reflection must be included in the promise in a legible and comprehensible manner, subject to an administrative fine of up to EUR 3,000 for a natural person, and up to EUR 15,000 for a legal entity.

According to case law, a purchaser who, although he had a time-limit of [ten] days from the day following the first presentation of the letter notifying him of the deed to retract, failed to collect his registered letter from the post office, can no longer exercise his right to retract once the time-limit has expired . On the other hand, the beneficiary of a bilateral promise of sale cannot be ordered to pay damages to the promisor if he/she withdraws within the period stipulated in the deed . In addition, the purchaser of a residential property who renounces his intention to purchase and then “repents” before the expiry of the time-limit for withdrawal, cannot again agree to purchase under the conditions set out in the bilateral promise of sale, since the exercise of the right of withdrawal provided for in Article L. 271-1 of the Construction and Housing Code entails the annulment of the contract .

Furthermore, only non-business purchasers may avail themselves of the provisions of Article L. 271-1. Thus, an undertaking which has acquired a villa under the terms of a bilateral promise of sale, and then refused to complete the sale, is not entitled to invoke the time-limit for withdrawal provided for in Article L. 271-1, since, in view of its corporate purpose, it is a professional purchaser . The same applies if there is evidence linking the disputed transaction to the buyer's professional activity at the date of the bilateral promise of sale . On the other hand, the parties may contractually grant a professional purchaser the right of withdrawal provided for in Article L. 271-1 of the Construction and Housing Code .

Cass. 3e civ, 14 février 2018, LawLex202300004762JBJ, quashing an appeal court ruling that the withdrawal period provided for in Article L. 271-1 of the Construction and Housing Code did not run with regard to the buyer, since the latter did not receive the two registered letters sent by the notary to notify him of the bilateral sales agreement, and that it was the responsibility of the notary to take all necessary measures to ensure the effectiveness of the notification of the sales agreement.

Cass. 3e civ. 29 May 2013, LawLex202100006416JBJ.

Cass. 3e civ. 13 February 2008, LawLex202300004770JBJ.

Cass. 3e civ. 24 October 2012, LawLex202300003037JBJ.

Cass. 3e civ., 16 February 2022, LawLex202300004756JBJ, such being the case when, in the promise, the purchaser has stated that he is a property developer, that he has taken over the sale from a company, of which he is the manager and whose activity is that of a property trader, and that he is looking for offices in which to set up his undertaking.

Cass. 3e civ., 5 December 2019, LawLex202300004728JBJ.

Business Contracts

94. Buyer withdrawal

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

94. Buyer withdrawal

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise