Guarantor when selling

[Ali]

Hello

 

I read somewhere that when you sell your property, you need a guarantor in case you default on payments such as taxe foncier.  Is this true? and if so can it be anyone? I read that you could end up having to use a governnent set up firm who charge 2000 euro!!

 

I am in the process of selling and don't want to incur 2000 euro unnecessarily.

[Patf]

I've heard of this as a friend was asked to be a guarantor. But I

THINK, not sure, it only applies if the vendor expects to leave France

before the deal is completed and all deductions from the sale monies

paid.  Pat.

[Benjamin]

Sounds like one of those stories that grow and grow with the telling.

We know that when we bought last year that the Notaire was responsible for ensuring that he deducted all possible expenses (taxes, capital gains etc.) from the seller before he passed on the net proceeds.

The figure of 2000€ sounds about what the Notaires fee would be.

Benjamin

[Ali]

I live in the Uk and the Agent is sending the Compris de Vente by registered mail and I will sign the Acte by proxy!  I do have a french bank account so the Notaire, could keep all monies until the Taxe Foncier is paid before lodging it that account!  Do you think this will be the case?

[Sunday Driver]

The notaire will settle any CGT or other taxes due out of the sale proceeds of the house and pass the net value on to you.  You usually receive the money straight after the Acte is signed.  The tax fonciere invoice will be generated in August as usual and will be payable by you then.  You can agree with the buyer that he pays a proportion of the fonciere bill for the number of days he's occupied the house.

[Will]

Before the current plus value system came into force, it used to be common that if a French non-resident was selling a house over a certain value, a French taxpayer had to stand as guarantor to ensure that the seller did not default on capital gains and other tax obligations. Now that notaires are able to withhold any money due to the government before passing it on, the guarantor is unnecessary, but some notaires, living in a bygone era as they do, may not have quite caught on to this fact.

SD has outlined what happens now. Apportioning the taxe fonciere, as he says, is usual practice. The fee which the buyer pays the notaire is invariably based on a maximum estimate, and when all the procedures have been carried out and all the taxes paid, there is normally a small refund several months after completion; the notaire will often pay the buyer's part of the taxe fonciere out of that. Alternatively the seller can pay it, as the bill will usually be sent to the occupier on 1 January of the year in question, and the buyer will send a cheque via the notaire to cover his/her portion.