Lease – Writing not required
Art. 2681. Form. A lease may be made orally or in writing. A lease of an immovable is not effective against third persons until filed for recordation in the manner prescribed by legislation.
Civil Law Basics
Lease – Definition of lease
Lease – Definition of lease
Art. 2668. Contract of lease defined. Lease is a synallagmatic contract by which one party, the lessor, binds himself to give to the other party, the lessee, the use and enjoyment of a thing for a term in exchange for a rent that the lessee binds himself to pay. The consent of the parties as to the thing and the rent is essential but not necessarily sufficient for a contract of lease.
Sale – Rescission of sale for lesion beyond moiety
Sale – Rescission of sale for lesion beyond moiety
Art. 2589. Rescission for lesion beyond moiety. The sale of an immovable may be rescinded for lesion when the price is less than one half of the fair market value of the immovable. Lesion can be claimed only by the seller and only in sales of corporeal immovables. It cannot be alleged in a sale made by order of the court. The seller may invoke lesion even if he has renounced the right to claim it.
Art. 2590. Time of valuation for determination of lesion. To determine whether there is lesion, the immovable sold must be evaluated according to the state in which it was at the time of the sale. If the sale was preceded by an option contract, or by a contract to sell, the property must be evaluated in the state in which it was at the time of that contract.
Art. 2591. Option of buyer to supplement price. When a sale is subject to rescission for lesion the buyer may elect either to return the immovable to the seller, or to keep the immovable by giving to the seller a supplement equal to the difference between the price paid by the buyer and the fair market value of the immovable determined according to the preceding Article.
Art. 2592. Lesion, return of fruits by buyer and payment of interest by seller. If the buyer elects to return the immovable he must also return to the seller the fruits of the immovable from the time a demand for rescission was made. In such a case, the seller must return to the buyer the price with interest from the same time. If the buyer elects to keep the immovable he must also pay to the seller interest on the supplement from the time a demand for rescission was made.
Art. 2594. Lesion, action against vendee who has resold the immovable. When the buyer has sold the immovable, the seller may not bring an action for lesion against a third person who bought the immovable from the original buyer. In such a case the seller may recover from the original buyer whatever profit the latter realized from the sale to the third person. That recovery may not exceed the supplement the seller would have recovered if the original buyer had chosen to keep the immovable.
Art. 2595. Peremption of action for lesion. The action for lesion must be brought within a preemptive period of one year from the time of the sale.
Art. 2596. Lesion, action against vendee who has granted a right on the immovable. When the buyer has granted a right on the immovable to a third person, rescission may not impair the interest of that person. The seller who receives back the immovable so encumbered is entitled to recover from the buyer any diminution in value suffered by the immovable because of the right of the third person. That recovery may not exceed ‘the supplement the seller would have recovered if the buyer had not encumbered the immovable and had decided to keep it.
Art. 2597. Condition in which property is returned to seller; reimbursement of buyer for improvements. When rescission is granted for lesion the seller must take back the immovable in the state it is at that time. The buyer is not liable to the seller for any deterioration or loss sustained by the immovable before the demand for rescission was made, unless the deterioration or loss was turned into profit for the buyer. The seller must reimburse the buyer for the expenses of the sale and for those incurred for the improvement of the immovable, even if the improvement was made solely for the convenience of the buyer.
Art. 2599. Buyer’s right of retention pending reimbursement. The buyer may retain possession of the immovable until the seller reimburses the buyer the price and the recoverable expenses.
Art. 2600. Divisibility of action in lesion among joint sellers and successors, joinder. If more than one seller concurred in the sale of an immovable owned by them indivision, or if each of them sold separately his share of the immovable, each seller may bring an action for lesion for his share. Likewise, if a seller died leaving more than one successor, each successor may bring an action for lesion individually for that share of the immovable corresponding to his right.
Sale – Dissolution of sale
Sale – Dissolution of sale
Art. 2561. Dissolution of sale for nonpayment of price. If the buyer fails to pay the price, the seller may sue for dissolution of the sale. If the seller has given credit for the price and transfers that credit to another person, the right of dissolution is transferred together with the credit. In case of multiple credit holders all must join in the suit for dissolution, but if any credit holder refuses to join, the others may subrogate themselves to his right by paying the amount due to him. If a promissory note or other instrument has been given for the price, the right to dissolution prescribes at the same time and in the same period as the note or other instrument.
Art. 2562. Dissolution of sale of immovables for nonpayment of price; extension of time for payment. When an action is brought for the dissolution of the sale of an immovable and there is no danger that the seller may lose the price and the thing, the court, according to the circumstances, may grant the buyer an extension of time, not in excess of sixty days, to make payment, and shall pronounce the sale dissolved if.the buyer fails to pay within that time. When there is such a danger, the court may not grant the buyer an extension of time for payment.
Art. 2563. Payment of price after expiration of term but prior to default When the contract of sale of an immovable expressly provides for dissolution in case of failure to pay the price, the buyer still has the right to pay, in spite of the express dissolution clause, for as long as the seller has not given the buyer notice that he avails himself of that clause or has not filed suit for dissolution.
Art. 2564. Dissolution of sale of movables. If the thing is movable and the seller chooses to seek judicial dissolution of the sale because of the failure of the buyer to perform, the court may not grant to the buyer any extension of time to perform.
Sale – Obligation to take delivery
Sale – Obligation to take delivery
Art. 2555. Liability of the buyer who fails to take delivery. A buyer who fails to take delivery of the thing after a tender of such delivery, or who fails to pay the price, is liable for expenses incurred by the seller in preservation of the thing and for other damages sustained by the seller.
Sale – Payment of price
Sale – Payment of price
Art. 2550. Time and place of payment of price. Payment of the price is due at the time and place stipulated in the contract, or at the time and place of delivery if the contract contains no such stipulation.
Sale – Obligations of the buyer
Sale – Obligations of the buyer
Art. 2549. Obligations of the buyer. The buyer is bound to pay the price and to take delivery of the thing.
Sale – Warranty of fitness for ordinary use
Sale – Warranty of fitness for ordinary use
Art. 2524. Thing fit for ordinary use. The thing sold must be reasonably flt for its ordinary use. When the seller has reason to know the particular use the buyer intends for the thing, or the buyer’s particular purpose for buying the thing, and that the buyer is relying on the seller’s skill or judgment in selecting it, the thing sold must be fit for the buyer’s intended use or for his particular purpose. If the thing is not so flt, the buyer’s rights are governed by the general rules of conventional obligations.
Sale – Warranty against redhibitory defects
Sale – Warranty against redhibitory defects
Art. 2520. Warranty against redhibitory defects. The seller warrants the buyer against redhibitory defects, or vices, in the thing sold. A defect is redhibitory when it renders the thing useless, or its use so inconvenient that it must be presumed that a buyer would not have bought the thing had he known of the defect. The existence of such a defect gives a buyer the right to obtain rescission of the sale. A defect is redhibitory also when, without rendering the thing totally useless, it diminishes its usefulness or its value so that it must be presumed that a buyer would still have bought it but for a lesser price. The existence of such a defect limits the right of a buyer to a reduction of the price.
Art. 2548. Exclusion or limitation of warranty; subrogation. The parties may agree to an exclusion or limitation of the warranty against redhibitory defects. The terms of the exclusion or limitation must be clear and unambiguous and must be brought to the attention of the buyer. A buyer is not bound by an otherwise effective exclusion or limitation of the warranty when the seller has declared that the thing has a quality that he knew it did not have. The buyer is subrogated to the rights in warranty of the seller against other persons, even when the warranty is excluded.
Art. 2489. Condition of thing at time of delivery. The seller must deliver the thing sold in the condition that, at the time of the sale, the parties expected, or should have expected, the thing to be in at the time of delivery, according to its nature.
Sale – Warranty of possession
Sale – Warranty of possession
Art. 2500. Eviction, definition, scope of warranty. The seller warrants the buyer against eviction, which is the buyer’s loss of, or danger of losing, the whole or part of the thing sold because of a third person’s right that existed at the time of the sale. The warranty also covers encumbrances on the thing that were not declared at the time of the sale, with the exception of apparent servitudes and natural and legal nonapparent servitudes, which need not be declared. If the right of the third person is perfected only after the sale through the negligence of the buyer, though it arises from facts that took place before, the buyer has no claim in warranty.
Art. 2502. Transfer of rights to a thing. A person may transfer to another whatever rights to a thing he may then have, without warranting the existence of any such rights. In such a case the transferor does not owe restitution of the price to the transferee in case of eviction, nor may that transfer be rescinded for lesion. Such a transfer does not give rise to a presumption of bad faith on the part of the transferee and is a just title for the purposes of acquisitive prescription. If the transferor acquires ownership of the thing after having transferred his rights to it, the after-acquired title of the transferor does not inure to the benefit of the transferee.
Art. 2503. Modification or exclusion of warranty, seller’s liability for personal acts, restitution of price in case of eviction. The warranty against eviction is implied in every sale. Nevertheless, the parties may agree to increase or to limit the warranty. They may also agree to an exclusion of the warranty, but even in that case the seller must return the price to the buyer if eviction occurs, unless it is clear that the buyer was aware of the danger of eviction, or the buyer has declared that he was buying at his peril and risk, or the seller’s obligation of returning the price has been expressly excluded.
