Legal mortgage for tradesmen and entrepreneurs

Legal mortgage for tradesmen and entrepreneurs

When a craftsman or construction company has carried out work on a building, such as a flat or house, but has not received the payment due to him, a legal mortgage can be registered on the building in question. This type of mortgage is a particularly effective way of securing outstanding invoices, as it has absolute priority over other real rights registered subsequently in the Land Register. The deadline for registering this mortgage is just 4 months from the completion of the disputed work. If registration is requested only a few days before the end of this period, the procedure must be initiated by way of superprovisional measures, which means as a matter of urgency, without first hearing the owner of the property. In some cases, the owner of a building may pay a general contractor but the latter does not pay its subcontractors; the subcontractors will then be entitled to apply for the registration of a legal mortgage, even if they are not bound by a direct contract with the owner, who may then have to pay twice for the work in question. The law considers that a landowner cannot be enriched by materials or work that has not been paid for, and it is the landowner's responsibility to ensure that his service providers pay their own suppliers. It is therefore possible that you have never dealt directly with the company that has obtained a pledge on your house and that it is only a subcontractor working on your site. However, at this stage, it is only a provisional registration; the procedure will take its course and you will later have the opportunity to determine your case at a hearing, to try to prevent a definitive registration while you demand accounts and appropriate assumption of responsibility from the co-contractor you have hired for this work.