A Chalet Purchase Smells Very Fishy
In a recent case before the French courts, buyer and seller signed a sale and purchase agreement relating to a chalet for residential use, for the sum of €150,000.
The chalet and annexes measured 128m2 and the property included a lake of 1,000m2.
Some 9 years later, in 2017, the owners sought to sell the property, only to be advised by the local council that the property was located on land that was not zoned for residential use.
As a result, the owners sued the sellers for having concealed the planning status of the property, a claim that also included the notaire for not having verified it.
In court, it transpired that the original owners had the chalet built after having applied for planning permission to build a fishing hut.
The planning consent specified that the building could not, even occasionally, be used for residential purposes.
Even though they were later granted further planning permission to extend the chalet by 70m2, the non-residential status of the building continued to apply.
The court ruled that the sellers had deliberately concealed the planning status of the property and ordered that the sale be annulled, and that the buyers be reimbursed the selling price, as well as taxes paid on it since the purchase. They also awarded damages of €5,000.
In relation to the notaire, who had not carried out the usual checks on the property, the court noted that the agreement waived the obligation on the notaire to undertake a search, stating: "the parties, and more particularly the purchaser, have exempted the undersigned notary from requesting a note of planning information, the purchaser having declared that he knows perfectly the property sold and having taken himself from the competent services, all information concerning the planning rules applying to the building and the discharge of any responsibility in this regard."
Nevertheless, the court considered that such a clause was ineffective in that it deprived of its substance the obligation of the notary to ensure the effectiveness of the legal process. They ordered the notaire to reimburse the selling costs of €8,041 to the buyers as well as paying damages.
Frédéric Beguin, an avocat specialist in property law comments that: "For the purchaser to agree that the planning search should not be carried out is unusual, and the buyer was either very foolish or there was more to the original transaction than is apparent from the hearing."
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