Why to choose a solicitor while buying or Selling a French Property?
Buying a property in any country requires the specialist legal assistance of highly-trained, qualified and experienced lawyers. To have a own legal professional is highly recommended. In various countries both vendor and acquirer instruct their own legal professional.
Notaires (notaries) and Public Officers are civil servants who have a monopoly on documents that must be authenticated by Deed, i.e. wills, marriage, contracts, document dealing with transfer of real property, and conveyance and hence, so draft and execute Deeds. They often act for both buyer and seller and their fee is on a fixed scale, depending on the property’s value.
French notaires are generally very courteous, professional and competent, but there are situations where customers, especially non-French speakers, are experiencing difficulties:
- simply left in the dark with no answer whatsoever to their queries, delays occur etc, or
- they are either being overcharged for a service, or
- leave foreign customers with very little recourse against the notaire concerned.
Why to use the services of a bilingual, qualified French solicitor:
- An independent solicitor is obliged to comply with strict professional standards
- He will get paid regardless of where and from whom the buyer buys;
- Where a difficulty arises, your solicitor can liaise with the notaire on your behalf
- if the matter does not get resolved, write to the notaires’ local Law Society and lodge a formal complaint on your behalf.
- The solicitor can cancel the sale, reclaim your deposit and/or damages, and even sue the notaire in question for negligence where applicable;
- A qualified French lawyer officially acts for you when corresponding with French Notaries, local authorities, banks, etc.
- that a qualified and experienced legal professional can really look after your interests.