Toxic algae, possible hidden vice for the house the sea

The seasonal presence of toxic algae on the coast represents a defect for nearby houses, which must be reported in a real estate sale, according to a judgment of the Court of Cassation.

It is irrelevant whether this phenomenon is natural or external to the property sold, observed the Court, because the law does not make such distinctions concerning latent defects.

It suffices, according to the law, that this defect render the house unfit for the use for which its purchaser intended it or that it diminishes this use so much that he would not have acquired it or that he would only have given it to him. a lower price, if he had known it.

Justice had been seized by the buyer of a house located one hundred meters from a beach on which sargassum regularly washed up, emitting toxic gases as it decomposed. As the phenomenon was not permanent, the seller was able to ignore it when selling the house.

Not only, argued the buyer, is this a hidden defect of which the seller was aware, but it is also fraud, deception, since the seller passed over this phenomenon in silence at the time. that the buyer was worried about it, indicating that he had respiratory problems.

Each of these two legal foundations is likely to lead to the cancellation of this sale, the judges confirmed by giving the purchaser a win.

Nobanques: the cheapest offers to control your budget

(Cass. Civ 3, 15.6.2022, A 21-13.286).

source site-96