I received a letter from the Land Registry informing me that a legal mortgage for craftsmen and entrepreneurs had been provisionally registered on my house for more than 50,000 francs. by a company I have never heard of, following a court ruling! What does it mean? L, Bernex
When a craftsman or a construction company has carried out work on a building, for example an apartment or a house, but does not receive the remuneration due to it, a legal mortgage can be registered on the building in question.
This legal mortgage of craftsmen and entrepreneurs can only be requested from the judge by these specific trades and their subcontractors. Its registration constitutes a guarantee for the amount of work carried out which has not been paid.
Such a mortgage is a particularly effective means of securing overdue invoices because it enjoys absolute priority over other real rights registered after the Land Register. The deadline for the registration of this mortgage to be made is only 4 months from the end of the disputed work. When registration is requested only a few days before the end of this period, the procedure must be initiated by means of super-provisional measures, which means urgently, without prior hearing of the owner of the building.
Indeed, if the craftsman manages to demonstrate in a plausible manner that the work was carried out on the basis of a contract but has not been paid, the Court will in principle grant his claims provisionally. It may thus happen that the owner of a building pays a general contractor but the latter does not honor its subcontractors; the latter will then be justified in requesting the registration of a legal hypothec, even without being bound by a direct contract with the owner, who thus runs the risk of having to pay twice for the service in question.
The law considers that a landowner cannot be enriched by materials or labor that has not been paid and it is his responsibility to ensure that his service providers assume the payment of their expenses. own suppliers.
It may therefore be that you have never dealt directly with the company which obtained a pledge on your house and that it is only a subcontractor implemented on your site. However, at this stage, this is only a provisional listing; the procedure will follow its course and you will subsequently have the possibility of making up your own mind at a hearing, in order to try to prevent a definitive registration while you demand accounts and appropriate support from the co-contracting party that you have hired for this work.
OpinionPascal Rytz Lawyer
Posted today at 09:51—
I received a letter from the Land Registry informing me that a legal mortgage for craftsmen and entrepreneurs had been provisionally registered on my house for more than 50,000 francs. by a company I have never heard of, following a court ruling! What does it mean?
L, Bernex
When a craftsman or a construction company has carried out work on a building, for example an apartment or a house, but does not receive the remuneration due to it, a legal mortgage can be registered on the building in question.
This legal mortgage of craftsmen and entrepreneurs can only be requested from the judge by these specific trades and their subcontractors. Its registration constitutes a guarantee for the amount of work carried out which has not been paid.
Such a mortgage is a particularly effective means of securing overdue invoices because it enjoys absolute priority over other real rights registered after the Land Register. The deadline for the registration of this mortgage to be made is only 4 months from the end of the disputed work. When registration is requested only a few days before the end of this period, the procedure must be initiated by means of super-provisional measures, which means urgently, without prior hearing of the owner of the building.
Indeed, if the craftsman manages to demonstrate in a plausible manner that the work was carried out on the basis of a contract but has not been paid, the Court will in principle grant his claims provisionally.
It may thus happen that the owner of a building pays a general contractor but the latter does not honor its subcontractors; the latter will then be justified in requesting the registration of a legal hypothec, even without being bound by a direct contract with the owner, who thus runs the risk of having to pay twice for the service in question.
The law considers that a landowner cannot be enriched by materials or labor that has not been paid and it is his responsibility to ensure that his service providers assume the payment of their expenses. own suppliers.
It may therefore be that you have never dealt directly with the company which obtained a pledge on your house and that it is only a subcontractor implemented on your site. However, at this stage, this is only a provisional listing; the procedure will follow its course and you will subsequently have the possibility of making up your own mind at a hearing, in order to try to prevent a definitive registration while you demand accounts and appropriate support from the co-contracting party that you have hired for this work.
A question? Write to [email protected]
–