What is a “Compromis de vente” ?

When both parties reach an agreement about the sale of a property, the buyer and the seller sign a deed called a “compromis”. This deed is a preliminary contract to the final deed.

It does not need to be done before a notary but we strongly recommend that you do it with legal advice because the “compromis” will commit you to buying unless one or several conditions are not fulfilled at term.  The deal will then be cancelled free of charges.

If the stipulated conditions are fulfilled at term, the sale can only be cancelled forfeit 10% of the price of the estate.

Stating that you had misunderstand one of the clauses or conditions of sale would not of course allow you to get your money back.

Therefore signing a compromis should always be preceded with a meeting with your lawyer in order to understand what are the risks and consider together what is not said in the compromis and what are the problems which currently happen in a copropriété or when buying a land.

By a decision dated 20 November 2013 the Court of Cassation has decided that shall be considered as realised the suspensive condition upon the obtention of a mortgage stipulated in a compromis de vente when the demand of mortgage presented by the buyer to the bank did not match the criteria defined in the contract.

The signers of the compromis de vente were designated as the owners of the property designated in the compromis.