- Acte authentique
(Law no. 2000-230, 13th march 2000 art. 1 and art.2 Official journal 14th March 2000).
‘l’acte authentique’ is the final sales act, consecrated by a member of the legal profession (notary, bailiff…) capable of drawing up and actualising a formal document. As a member of the legal profession, he/she verifies, with his/her signature, the authenticity of the agreement and takes responsibility for the content and the date of that agreement. He/she is therefore able to explain the nature of the engagement of both parties, the consequences of the agreement, and to give relevant explanations of all aspects of it.
- Assemblée générale des copropriétaires
(Law passed the 10/7/1965: art.17; 17/3/1967).
The ‘assemblée générale des copropriétaires’ or general assembly of co-owners, occurs at least once a year (more often if important/urgent decisions are to be made). During these meetings, the co-owners who are either present or represented focus uniquely on current concerns. The questions raised concern each aspect of the life of the co-owners. A vote is carried out in relation to each question raised (each co-owner has a number of votes that correspond to their share in the communal property). Decisions are made in accordance with majority votes in order of importance. At the end of the general assembly, the managing agent compiles a report that is sent out to each co-owner.
- Avant-contrat
An ‘avant contat’ (a provisional sales agreement) fixes the sale conditions of the property.
If the provisional sales agreement is established by private agreement, you have 7 days from the day following your reception of the written or otherwise certified version of the agreement to withdraw your offer.
Your withdrawal must be carried out in accordance with the same rules (a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or a statement certified by a bailiff).If your agreement has been made via a notary, you have seven days to withdraw from the moment you sign the provisional agreement.
The ‘avant-contrat’ or provisional sales agreement must specify:
- All personal details concerning both buyer and seller
- The address and surface area of the property
- A precise description of the property and of any other properties belonging to it
- The history of the property: the date of the last sale, the name of the preceding owner, and the account provided by the notary who certified the last sales agreement.
- The mortgages, charges and other constraints associated with the property.
- The various suspensive conditions associated with the final realisation of the sales agreement (these must at this point be removed).
- A statement concerning whether or not the sales price is to be paid directly or not, even in part, and with the assistance of one or more loan.
- The date for the signing of the final sales agreement.- Biens propres (private property)
- According to the marriage settlement, private property includes all property owned by the two spouses before marriage and everything given to them during their marriage (gifts, inheritances etc).
- Bon de visite (visit card)
- A document in which a potential buyer states that he/she has visited a property with a given agency.
- Budget prévisionnel (projected budget)
The projected budget of the co-ownership is prepared by the managing agent and voted for by the general assembly. Since the 1st of January 2002, it is required to cover all expenses concerning the general maintenance, functioning and administration of communal parts of the building.
It must be voted on by the general assembly within the 6 months following the last day of the preceding accounting year. It must be voted on before the beginning of the accounting year concerned and not necessarily in accordance with a calendar year.
- Cadastre
- In France the cadastre serves one purpose: it serves as the basis for the calculation of property tax. It has no legal value, property being fixed in legal terms by specialist surveyors. However, in the absence of (notably graphic) documents, it can be used as proof of ownership. When a property is sold, presentation of cadastral information is obligatory for it serves as proof of the authenticity of the property or plot.
- Carnet d’entretien (Upkeep journal)
In accordance with the decree of the 30th May 2001, the managing agents of co-ownerships have to establish and keep up to date an upkeep journal for each co-owned building.
For each building this must include:
- the coordinates of the managing agent
- the year in which major works were done
- the schedule and bill-book of the multi-annual programme of works decided on by the managing agent and co-owners
- the references of insurance contracts, notably concerning:
- the current insurance contracts concerning damaged property
- the contracts concerning the mantenance and upkeep of the building
This journal should trace the history of the building and projects concerning its future evolution so that it can serve as a vital tool for its management.
- Charges (maintenance charges)
Maintenance charges are expenses paid by the co-ownership. They concern the communal parts of the building, technical equipment and collective services.
Each co-owner is involved in accordance with his/her share in the property. Maintenance charges tend to be general, but the regulations bearing on the co-ownership can incorporate special charges that only bear on certain co-owners.There are three sorts of maintenance charges that are shared between the co-owners in accordance with their nature :
- maintenance and conservation charges
- collective service and technical charges
- special charges
These are split in accordance with the particular percentage share of each building. Upkeep works are thus split between the co-owners of the building concerned. Each year, the general assembly takes a vote concerning the current maintenance and administration expenses in order to establish a provisional budget for the following accounting year. On the first day of each quarter the managing agent can demand 25% of the budget voted on from the co-owners, having first send out an invoice indicating the sum required. These payments are regularised annually when the accounts are checked.
As for the expenses that are not covered by the provisional budget (works concerning improvement, conservation or alteration that are not covered by general maintenance). These are split in accordance with decisions taken during the general assembly. The managing agent can demand advance payments in such cases.
- Charges d’exploitation (Running charges)
- All expenses connected to collective technical equipment (eg. lift, up-keep of communal parts of the building…). These are shared between all the owners and tenants of a given building.
- Compromis de vente (provisional sales agreement)
- A pre-contract signed by the seller and buyer of a property that involves a two-way promise that amounts to a provisional sales agreement. This bears on both buyer and seller. In general, the buyer provides a deposit (usually 10% of the sales price) to guarantee the execution of the contract. However, the sale can only be actualised following the resolution of the suspensive conditions foreseen in the contract and the receipt of all relevant administrative documents.
If one of the suspensive conditions is not resolved the buyer can, if he/she wishes, withdraw from the contract. - Condition suspensive (suspensive condition)
- These are conditions that allow the buyer of a property to withdraw from the contract he has signed and recuperate his deposit.
There are at least 3 types of suspensive conditions: those concerning the content of the town-planning certificate (health-risks of the property, the building in danger…), those concerning eventual constraints or easements (in such cases the suspensive condition is used if the seller changes the declarations he/she has made) and finally the eventual decision made by the town to recuperate the property. Another suspensive condition often added to the above concerns the buyers potential success in applying for a loan. - Conseil syndical (Management committee of a co-owned propert
- The management committee is a body that liaises between the managing agent and the co-owners of a property. Its mission is to assist and check up on the managing agent. Its role is only discursive, it does not have the right to make any decisions. Its members are chosen from amongst the co-owners and elected by the general assembly. It has the right to copies of all documents owned by the managing agent regarding the management and administration of the co-ownership. Its existence is obligatory except when the majority of co-owners vote against its existence. It often deals with everyday details and smaller problems connected to the daily life of the co-owners.
- Copropriété (co-ownership)
- The situation of a building that belongs simultaneously to several people and to each of them separately. The building is therefore split into private and communal areas. The regulations concerning the co-ownership specify the rules that concern communal life. In accordance with French law, co-ownership functions on a system of forced joint possession. This system is strictly regulated by the law of the 10th July 1965 and the corresponding decree of the 17th March 1967, and by the law of the of the 13th December 2000 and the corresponding decree of the 27th May 2004. These laws and decrees are of public order, which means that they cannot be departed from by means of a contract.
- COS
In France, the coefficient of occupation determines the density of construction allowed in a property in accordance with its size. According to the first paragraph of the article R 123-9 of the Code d’urbanisme (town-planning code): ‘The coefficient of occupation which determines the density of construction allowed is the relation that determines the number of squared metres on the ground excluding construction or the number of cubic metres that could be constructed per square metre.
This concept is based on zoning (town planning), and it serves to determine the surface area excluding construction (SHON) that could be built on a given plots. Town planning regulations, and in particular local ones, can fix the value of the COS for given plots. For example, when the COS is fixed at 3 (in Paris for instance) and it is applied to a plot of 100m2, the maximum SHON that can be constructed is 3 x 100m2 = 300m2.
- Dépôt de garantie (Guarantee deposit)
- The sum laid down as a guarantee that a contract will be executed. When a property is rented this sum is given to the bailiff or their proxy by the tenant when he/she enters the property and it is returned to him/her at the end of the rental period on condition that rent and charges have been paid correctly and that the property has been well looked after. In the case of a provisional sales agreement, the guarantee deposit serves to assure the finalisation of the contract and it is debited from the sales price when the final payment is made. The amount is not fixed, but normally it constitutes about 10% of the final sales price.
- Diagnostiques obligatoires (obligatory analyses)
On top of the obligatory guarantee of surface area (loi carrez) for every residential property in a co-ownership, an order dating from the 8th June 2005 groups all analyses in a single folder of technical analyses that the seller must provide as an annex to the provisional sales agreement or, if none was made, to the final sales agreement. This rule has been active since the 1st November 2007 and the folder must include:
- an evaluation of risks connected to the presence of lead, as laid out by the law of the 9th August 2004 concerning public health and risks associated with exposure to lead
- a statement mentioning the presence or absence of materials containing aspestos
- an evaluation of the interior installation of gas
- a statement concerning natural and technological risks
- a diagnostic of the energy performance of the property
The documents relating to lead and gas are only required when residential properties or buildings are concerned.
In a co-ownership, the document relating to lead only bears on the private section of the building connected with the residence and the documents relating to termites and gas only concern the private residence.- Droits de mutation (Transfer laws)
- The sum owed to the tax office by a person who receives a property as a gift, through inheritance or against payment. This right of registration is dealt with for the tax office by the notary when a property is transferred (the owner changes) either against payment (this notably concerns sales) or freely (gifts and inheritance).
- Droits d’enregistrement (registration laws)
- Registration is an administrative formality that states the existence of a legal act and certifies the date on which it took place. Certain acts are obliged to be registered due to the function of those involved in drawing it up (notaries, bailiffs…) for others it is necessary because of the legal operation concerned (selling and buying property). Personal reasons can also lead to the desire to register acts: to mark the receipt of a debt or bail…
- Garantie biennale (biennial guarantee)
This guarantee covers all ‘non-incorporated’ elements; which means those that can be removed or replaced without severe damage to the property as a whole.
Examples:
- wall and floor coverings
- windows and doors
- taps
- boilers
- surfaces of terraces
In view of the short-term nature of this guarantee, it is advisable to summon the construction manager before the judge in chambers in order to interrupt the course of the guarantee by issuing an order (appointing an expert for example).
- Garantie décennale (decennial guarantee)
This obligatory guarantee covers all construction faults that compromise the solidity of the construction or that render it unsuitable for the purposes for which it was built for a period of 10 years. It also covers all damages that affect the solidity of equipment that is inseparable from the building. It comes into action when the property comes into the ownership of the developer. It is worth noting that construction works carried out by an individual are also covered by the decennial guarantee, even if the sale occurs after the completion of the construction works.
Concerning building renovation, the decennial guarantee covers:
- the restoration of façades
- the decontamination of parts of the building affected by damp
- the reparation of cracks
- the placing if a plaque
- the reparation of walls, roves and partition walls
- the creation of stair cvities
- the installation of a lift
- the creation of bathrooms
- Géomètre expert (surveyor)
- A technician who exercises a regulated liberal profession (law of the 7th May 1946) who is registered on the official list of surveyors and who, in his own name and at his own responsibility carries out topographic work, fixes the limits of properties, and creates maps and plans relevant to properties.
- Gros oeuvre (main structure)
- The elements that constitute the main structure of a building: foundations, walls, beams.
- Hypothèque (mortgage)
Mortgages allow the bank to be covered in the eventuality that the borrower is unable to repay their loan. They give the bank the right to regain the money lent via the sale of the property. Preferential reimbursement is given to the creditors. The lending establishment has the highest priority.
Costs:
- Tax on property publicity, approximately 0.6% of the total sum borrowed
- Costs of the mortgage, approximately 2% of the total sum borrowed
- Costs of the release of the mortgage, approximately 0.7% of the total sum borrowed (if the property is sold before the 2 years that normally follow reimbursement are up)
- Impôt foncier (property tax)
Property tax is an annual tax that concerns property (whether built-up or not) that goes to local territorial authorities (municipalities, districts, departments or regions). It is established in accordance with the cadastral rental value of the property or declared by the owner who evaluates it himself. The rate of property tax can vary with the nature of the property (social residence, job generating activities…) and it is voted on by local authorities. It must be paid by the pwner on the 1st of January of the tax year for all property (land or building development).
Additional taxes can be imposed in order to finance the functioning of inter-municipal/regional services (such as the tax on household waste).
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