Compromis or promesse de vente: deadlines and deposits

Compromis or promesse: the real difference

Both are avant-contrats (preliminary contracts) that come before the deed of sale signed at the notary’s office (service-public.gouv.fr).

• The compromis (promesse synallagmatique, bilateral contract) binds both parties: the seller undertakes to sell and the buyer to buy, at the price set on signing. It may be a private agreement (drafted by the parties or an agency), countersigned by a lawyer, or authentique (executed before a notary).
• The promesse unilatérale binds only the seller: they reserve the property for the buyer, who has a droit d’option (option right) for an agreed period and remains free to exercise the option (buy) or to walk away. As a private agreement, it must be registered within 10 days of the buyer’s acceptance, at a cost of €125, or it is void (service-public.gouv.fr).

In both cases, where the seller is a private individual, the contract must be authentique (signed before a notaire (notary)) if it lasts more than 18 months, extensions included (art. L290-1 of the CCH).

The 10-day cooling-off period

Article L271-1 of the CCH applies to any contract to acquire a building used as a dwelling by a non-professional buyer.

• Length: 10 days (calendar days, as service-public.gouv.fr specifies).
• Starting point: the day after the first presentation of the recorded-delivery letter with acknowledgement of receipt (or another means offering equivalent guarantees) notifying you of the contract. So it is neither the day of signing nor the day you collect the letter.
• Hand delivery: if the contract is concluded through a professional instructed to handle the sale, it can be handed to you directly; the period then runs from the day after delivery, which must be certified.
• How to withdraw: in the same form (recorded-delivery letter with acknowledgement of receipt or equivalent), without having to give a reason.

The seller, on the other hand, has no cooling-off period: they are bound from signing, unless the contract includes a clause de dédit (withdrawal clause) (service-public.gouv.fr).

If you sign the acte authentique (final deed of sale) directly without a preliminary contract, you have a 10-day délai de réflexion (reflection period) from notification of the draft deed, during which the deed cannot be signed (art. L271-1).

Money paid: holding deposit and security deposit

During the cooling-off period, no one may receive from the buyer “any payment of any kind or in any form whatsoever” (art. L271-2 of the CCH). The only exception: if the contract is concluded through an instructed professional holding a financial guarantee, payment may be made to them; if you withdraw, they refund it within 21 days from the day after the withdrawal. Demanding or accepting payment in breach of these rules is punishable by a €30,000 fine.

After this period, practice differs depending on the contract:

No payment is a condition of the contract’s validity: it is a custom, not an obligation (service-public.gouv.fr), except in the case of a promesse lasting more than 18 months.

Conditions precedent, including the mortgage condition

A condition precedent makes the sale depend on an event occurring: obtaining the loan or a certificat d’urbanisme (planning certificate), clearance of the droit de préemption (pre-emption right), works to be carried out by the seller (service-public.gouv.fr). The parties are free to set how long they last, with one exception:

• If the contract states that the price is paid, even partly, with a mortgage, the sale is automatically concluded subject to the condition of obtaining it (art. L313-41 of the Consumer Code).
• This condition cannot last less than one month from the signing of the contract (or from its registration, for a private agreement subject to that formality).
• If the loan is not obtained, any sum paid is “immediately and fully refundable without deduction or compensation”.

Alsace-Moselle: in the Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin and Moselle départements, a compromis signed as a private agreement must be followed by the acte authentique within 6 months at most (service-public.gouv.fr).

Which professional to consult

The notaire drafts the promesse or compromis, ensures it contains the mandatory information (price, conditions precedent, deadlines, withdrawal procedure) and holds the funds in their escrow account; a notary is compulsory for a promesse lasting more than 18 months and for the final deed of sale. An agent immobilier (estate agent) holding the “Transaction” licence can also draft the compromis and, if they have a financial guarantee, hold the deposit. Finally, a courtier en crédit (mortgage broker) helps you set a realistic duration for the mortgage condition and obtain the loan offer within that time.