By Raphaël MORENON
17 July 2025
Obtaining a favourable court ruling is a decisive step for a creditor. However, obtaining a judgment does not always guarantee that it will be enforced. Between the time when the judgment is handed down and the time when payment is made, the debtor can organise his or her insolvency. To counter this risk, French law has provided powerful guarantee tools, including the legal mortgage attached to sentencing judgments. Although created by a court decision, this security derives its force directly from the law. It makes it possible to secure a debt by backing it up with the debtor's real estate assets. Its mechanism is a strategic asset in the recovery of secured debts, offering the creditor a preferential right and a right of resale over the convicted person's property. Although it is part of the family of mortgages, the king of real estate securities, its legal nature and the conditions under which it is implemented give it a special status.
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