Guarantees, securities and enforcement law
Seizure of assets for payment: understanding the legal capacity and powers of the parties
By Raphaël MORENON14 September 2025Attachment: your rights are at stake! Find out how the legal capacity of the creditor, debtor and garnishee affects the validity of the seizure.
Judicial sureties: an alternative to protective attachments
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, Seizure of assetsIf a debt is threatened, creditors have two options: precautionary seizure or legal security. The former freezes the debtor's assets and makes them unavailable. The second, less restrictive but just as effective, allows a preferential right to be registered over certain assets without immobilising them. This protection...Conservatory measures and insolvency proceedings: anticipating to protect your rights
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, Seizure of assetsWhen a creditor has a claim that appears legitimate but is not yet recognised by an enforceable title, he is in a precarious situation. If the debtor encounters financial difficulties and is the subject of collective proceedings, there is a great risk that his chances of recovery will vanish. Faced with...International aspects of precautionary measures
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, Seizure of assetsAs a creditor, how do you protect your rights when your debtor owns assets abroad? Precautionary measures offer a practical solution, but their international implementation raises complex issues. 1 Securing your international receivables Precautionary measures make it possible to secure a receivable by making it...Attachment procedure: stages and formalities
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, Attachment of assetsAttachment is a formidable procedure for recovering debts. This mechanism, introduced by the law of 9 July 1991, enables a creditor in possession of a writ of execution to obtain immediate payment of his debt by seizing the sums owed to his debtor by a third party. This article details the...Effects and disputes of attachment for payment: understanding this enforcement mechanism
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, Attachment of assetsAttachment is a formidable mechanism for creditors with a writ of execution. This procedure makes it possible to obtain rapid payment of a debt by blocking the sums owed to the debtor by a third party. Its legal effects are immediate and far-reaching, but it is subject to a system of contestation that guarantees the...Particular situations relating to seizures for payment
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, Attachment of assetsAttachment for payment, a formidable enforcement procedure because of its immediate effect on claims, raises thorny issues in certain situations. After reviewing the basic principles and standard procedures of attachment for payment, this article looks at situations that require particular attention. 1. Attachment of assets and insolvency proceedings The...Attachment: unavailable and unseizable claims
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, Attachment of assetsSome debts are resistant to attachment. Even with a writ of execution in your pocket, you could come up against some solid legal obstacles. To help you understand how this procedure works in general, here's a look at the world of unavailable and unattachable debts. Unavailable debts The fact that a debt is unavailable is a...Attachment of assets and insolvency proceedings
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, Attachment of assetsThe encounter between a seizure-attribution procedure and the opening of collective proceedings, whether safeguard, reorganisation or judicial liquidation, creates a major area of legal friction. It pits the law of enforcement, which is designed to enable a creditor to recover his debt, against the law...Attachment: pitfalls and case studies
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, Attachment of assetsAttachment is a powerful tool for recovering debts. However, certain atypical situations can complicate its implementation. An experienced practitioner needs to be familiar with these special situations to avoid procedural pitfalls and fully master the general operation of attachment for payment. 1. Seizure on oneself: a mechanism...Seizure for sale: fundamental principles and requirements
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, seizure and saleSeizure for sale is regularly used to obtain compulsory payment of a debt. But do you know how it works? When can it be used? Who can use it and against whom? Our firm of enforcement lawyers analyses the key aspects of this procedure. Introduction: what is an attachment for sale? Attachment for sale is a...What assets can be subject to seizure and sale?
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, seizure and saleSeizure and sale is a procedure whereby a creditor in possession of a writ of execution can sell the debtor's tangible assets and obtain payment from the proceeds. This compulsory execution measure, provided for in articles L. 221-1 et seq. of the Code des procédures civiles d'exécution (CPC exéc.), raises...The special status of vehicles in repossessions
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, seizure and saleA vehicle often represents an accessible asset for a creditor seeking to recover a debt. The seizure and sale procedure has its own special features when it comes to land-based motor vehicles. There are a number of rules governing this procedure, ranging from relative unseizability to specific practical arrangements. The seizability of the vehicle The seizability of a vehicle...Incidents relating to the ownership of goods in a foreclosure sale
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, seizure and saleSeizure and sale, a compulsory execution procedure enabling a creditor to sell the debtor's movable property, is not immune from incidents. Among the most sensitive are disputes over the ownership of the goods seized. From misidentification, to situations where the debtor lives with the debtor, such as...Attachment for sale in the context of collective proceedings and overindebtedness
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, seizure and salehtml Have you obtained a writ of execution against your debtor and are you ready to launch a seizure and sale? Be careful: the opening of collective proceedings or a case of overindebtedness can change everything. These specific legal situations impose strict rules that suspend or prohibit individual enforcement measures. Here's how...Objections and the addition of creditors to the seizure for sale
Law of guarantees, securities and enforcement measures, seizure and saleForeclosure often puts creditors in a competitive situation. How do you divide up the spoils when several creditors are after the same debtor's assets? This question, far from being theoretical, arises daily in the French courts. In the past, the adage "saisie sur saisie ne vaut" ("seizure upon seizure is not worth anything") meant that the second creditor had to wait...Creditors' general right of lien: what you need to know
Law of guarantees, security interests and enforcement measures, Security interests in immovable propertyWhen it comes to creditors' rights, the general right of pledge is their minimum protection. This essential but limited mechanism helps explain why some creditors seek additional security. These guarantees, such as mortgages, have specific implications for the parties, such as exploring the rights and obligations...Liens in insolvency proceedings: who gets paid first?
Law of guarantees, security interests and enforcement measures, Security interests in immovable propertyWhen a company goes through a financial crisis and enters receivership, the normal interplay of security interests is disrupted. This is especially true for the owner of a mortgaged asset, whose rights and obligations are affected. The usual rules of the Civil Code give way to a new logic...Classification of property security interests: order and priorities
Law of guarantees, security interests and enforcement measures, Security interests in immovable propertySecurity law organises competition between creditors. Who will be paid first if the debtor cannot honour all his debts? This is not a theoretical question. It determines the effectiveness of collateral and, for owners of mortgaged property, their rights and obligations. Why classify mortgages?The reform of security interests: what has changed?
Law of guarantees, security interests and enforcement measures, Security interests in immovable propertySecurity law has undergone two major waves of reform in 15 years. The first in 2006 laid the foundations for modernisation. The second, in 2021, revolutionised certain key aspects. These changes have profoundly transformed the legal landscape for collateral, impacting in particular the rights and obligations of...The right of retention in property matters: a little-known legal weapon
Law of guarantees, security interests and enforcement measures, Security interests in immovable propertyThe right of retention is an effective but often neglected mechanism in security law. Although it is widely recognised for movable property, its application to immovable property remains more delicate, raising questions about the rights and obligations of the owner of an asset encumbered by a security on immovable property. A legal nature...
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