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The role of a real estate attorney in the transaction

Home > French Real Estate | Published 2018-10-19

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The legal skills of a lawyer acting as real estate attorney are significant attributes during a transaction. Indeed, the regulation linked to the sale, purchase or rental of a property is not simple. Contacting a legal professional allows the achievement of your real estate projects in keeping with the existing law. Avocats Picovschi, located in Paris, is composed of numerous lawyers able to assist you as a real estate agent.

The real estate mandate

You wish to sell or rent real property, but you cannot find a potential buyer or tenant? Due to lack of time and legal knowledge of the matter, you put aside your idea? You may know that you can delegate these tasks that turn out to be long even when you are patient. A real estate mandate is an essential contract which gives the attorney the right to accomplish one or multiple legal acts on behalf of his client, like the management, sale or lease of the real estate.

This contract is governed by the Law called “Loi Hoguet” of January 2nd 1970. It must be written, contain the registration number of the mandate, the duration, the precise description of the real estate and its price, the number of the lawyer’s Professional card, the conditions of breach of contract, the name and address of the mandate’s professional guarantee fund as well as the particular clauses.

The real estate mandate must be signed by both parties to the contract and both must have a copy. Without this mandate, the real estate attorney cannot proceed with the transaction.

The progress of the transaction: the advice of a competent professional

You have found multiple buyers and tenants for your real estate property, but you do not know which one you may choose? You wish to secure the progress of the transaction in order to avoid missing any details? Contacting a real estate attorney is a solution allowing you to reduce the possibility of resulting in a dispute. Indeed, the real estate attorney, expert in real estate law, already faced with litigations in the matter, and will know to prevent you of the risks while assisting you. Furthermore, he will bring all the judicial skills he has during the real estate transaction.

As part of the real estate mandate, the experienced lawyer is mainly subject to an obligation of means, which consists in the duty to do his best to sell or rent your real estate. To this end, he will ask you for all the necessary documents to put on sale or rent your property (mandatory diagnostics, co-ownership rules, land register) and will check the information that is then forwarded as well as the administrative regularity of the property.

He will then look after and welcome buyers or potential tenants in order to schedule visits, gather the offers, analyze the candidate’s solvency, write the sale agreement as well as assisting you up to the bill of sale or the property contract in compliance with the standards in force.

He is obviously able to write the contracts and preliminary contracts related to the sale or the property. This will avoid you calling a notary, especially for the sales agreement, the commercial lease, etc… and allows you to reduce fees.

The intervention of a real estate attorney : more than an intermediate

What is the added value of a lawyer, who would act as a real estate agent?

The attorney is not a merchant. Indeed, the lawyer profession is not compatible with all commercial activities engaged directly or by an interposed person. The mission of the real estate agent lawyer goes further than the simple linking between the principal and co-contracting party. He is a real support and a wise advisor to the principal. He will be involved to make best use of his legal skills along the transaction.

Contacting a lawyer allows you to entrust your real estate projects to an experienced and qualified professional you can trust, thanks to the professional secrecy, the code of ethics and his duties.

The real estate attorney is under the obligation of council, that means he must ensure that the product meets the needs of the acquirer. To this end, the lawyer must inquire about the reasons that push you to carry out these transactions (rentals, sales, purchases). He must evaluate and take into account your needs, your legal and tax situation and advise you on what you can and cannot do.

The attorney must give an objective opinion on the decisions you will make, in order to avoid hasty decisions. This duty to give advice is distinct from the obligation to provide information imposed on the lawyer. The latter consists in informing the client on the judicial characteristics and the object of the contract, in full and objectively so that the latter or another party to the contract is able to make an informed decision.

He is the sole editor, which often confronts him with a conflict of interest. Even though the lawyer must inform both parties to the contract, he acts only for the principal. His duty of loyalty leads him to check the information he collects and to transmit it to both parties.

The lawyer is then the privileged interlocutor in terms of the real estate transaction by his experience in real estate law and construction law. Our Lawfirm, Avocats Picovschi, expert in Real Estate Law for 30 years, is composed of experienced lawyers in these matters who will be able to take care of all your transactions.

This article is available online for public information purposes. It is updated regularly, as needed. Due to the constant evolution of the laws and the legal system, we cannot guarantee that the information in this article is still applicable. We invite you to contact us with any legal questions or concerns you have regarding this topic at +33 1 56 79 11 00. In no way can this firm be held liable for articles that contain inaccuracies or are now out of date.

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