2024-01-21 08:39:25
A buyer succeeded in obtaining the cancellation of the sale on the basis of the guarantee of hidden defects. And he was able to obtain compensation from the real estate agent.
It is permissible for justice to criticize a real estate agent for not having reported to a potential buyer defects which were perfectly visible, ruled the Court of Cassation. The real estate agent’s duty to advise requires him to inform the purchaser of the building of the existence of apparent disorders, states the Court of Cassation.
It ruled in favor of a buyer who, following undertaking renovation work on a recently purchased house, complained regarding the poor condition of the facade joinery and the poor waterproofing of a roof terrace.
These are external disorders, however, the real estate agent contested, and they were perfectly visible to anyone. The poor condition of the window joinery, which was very degraded, and the traces of infiltration might not escape anyone, according to this professional.
Resolution of the sale
But the Court of Cassation, which usually requires a minimum of diligence and attention during visits, ruled otherwise. If the disorder was necessarily known to the buyer at the time of signing the deed, since it was enough to look, it was also necessarily known to the real estate agent who, in his capacity as a real estate professional, does not might ignore it and had to draw her client’s attention to this point, she said. On this basis, the judges allowed the buyer to obtain the resolution of the sale on the basis of the guarantee of hidden defects and to obtain compensation from this intermediary.
In another judgment dated the same day, the Court however approved a court of appeal which explained to a buyer that the importance of the defects in question did not allow him to complain because they had not “might have escaped the notice of a normally diligent buyer”.
(Cass. Civ 3, 21.12.2023, T 22-20.045 et K 22-21.234).
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