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 duty of advice of the real estate agent requires him to inform the buyer of the building of the existence of apparent disorders, states the Court of Cassation. It ruled in favor of a buyer who, after undertaking renovation work on a recently purchased house, complained about the poor condition of the façade joinery and the poor waterproofing of a terraced roof.
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 deteriorated, and the traces of infiltration, could not escape anyone, according to this professional.
But the Court of Cassation, which usually requires a minimum of diligence and attention during visits, judged 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 could ignore it and should draw his client’s attention to this pointdid she say.
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 the intention of a purchaser that the importance of the defects in question did not allow him to complain because they had not been able to escape a normally diligent buyer.
Cass. Civ 3, 12/21/2023, T 22-20.045 and K 22-21.234
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