No legal case if sales info wrong
A man who found the 90m² house he was buying was actually only 62m² has lost a court case against the estate agent
A MAN who found the 90m² house he was buying was actually only 62m² has lost a court case against the estate agent which showed him the property.
In a landmark ruling, France’s highest court, the cour de cassation, rejected a claim for a reduction in the sale price of the property.
The new owner argued that a seller had an obligation to act in good faith, and to deliver the property as described. They also argued that the estate agent owed a duty of care to verify the surface area of the property.
The demand of the owners was rejected by the cour de cassation, which upheld a decision made by a lower court of appeal.
The judges argued that the sale particulars were not a contractual document – they were of information value only, to assist buyers in the search for a property.
The surface area of the property was not mentioned in either the sale contract or the final deed of sale and, as a consequence, neither the seller nor the agent could be bound by the figure given in the sale particulars.
They also argued that the buyers did not purchase the property on the basis of the sale particulars alone, but following several visits to the property, when they had the opportunity to measure the surface area.
Although sellers and agents have a legal obligation under the Loi Carrez to state the exact surface area of an apartment, no such obligation exists for a house.
House sale particulars from an agent will normally state the overall size of the property, but the figure may only be based on a rough and ready measurement taken by them.
In a secondary ruling, the court also rejected the demand of the new owner that the price be reduced because the electrical system in the property did not comply with legal standards, despite information to the contrary in the sale particulars.
Once again the judges stated that the sale particulars had no contractual value and that an electrical survey had been undertaken prior to the sale that pointed out the lack of compliance of the electrical wiring in the property.
