Article L. 311-2 of the French Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures states that "Any creditor in possession of a writ of execution recording a claim that is due and payable may seize property under the conditions laid down by this Book and by the provisions of Book I that do not conflict with it.
The seizure of property procedure can only be implemented when the 4 conditions listed in this text are met: the creditor, the debtor, the writ of execution and the property seized.
The debtor may be a natural person or a legal entity.
The individual debtor
The debtor, like the creditor, must be identified in the procedural documents in compliance with the requirements of the land registry service, and more specifically in compliance with the provisions of Article 5 of Decree no. 55-22 of 4 January 1955.
However, identifying the debtor's marital status presents specific challenges. It is necessary in order to determine against whom the property seizure proceedings should be brought, as article L. 311-7 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures states that "Seizure of joint property shall be pursued against both spouses.
The third paragraph of article R. 321-1 of the same code states that "Where a property owned by one of the spouses constitutes the family residence, the summons shall be served on the other spouse no later than the first working day following service of the document.
It is therefore necessary to obtain a copy of the birth certificate, not only for the purposes of certifying the identity of the parties when the deeds are published in the property register, but also to determine how the proceedings are to be continued and the rules applicable to giving notice to the spouse.
Remember that any marriages, deaths, adoptions, etc. are mentioned in the margin of the birth certificate.
In practice, the registry office responsible for marriages informs the other registry offices, which then make a note of the marriage in the margin of the birth certificate. Sometimes an error is made at the marginal mention stage, for example if the department fails to process the request for mention. In such cases, there may be a discrepancy between the entries on the marriage certificate and those on the birth certificate.
For example, it is possible for marriage or divorce to appear in the margin of the husband's birth certificate, but not that of the wife.
For this reason, it is advisable to systematically order not only the spouses' birth certificates, but also their marriage certificates, even if their birth certificates match and both mention marriage.
If you are dealing with foreign nationals, you should always ask :
- The central registry office,
- The consulate or embassy of the country of origin,
- The town hall of the place of birth, even if it is abroad.
Finally, it will be necessary to consult the BODACC to check that no collective proceedings have been opened against the seized debtor.
The legal entity debtor
Like natural persons, legal entities must be identified in accordance with the requirements of the land registry service, and more specifically with the provisions of Article 6 of Decree no. 55-22 of 4 January 1955.
However, obtaining information about them is simpler, since it is generally sufficient to order a Kbis extract, which contains all the information listed in the aforementioned article 6.
Artisans who are not registered with the Trade and Companies Register, but with the Trades Register, can order a statement of their situation from the Chamber of Trades.
For associations, information about their articles of association (date and place of filing) will appear in the Journal officiel des associations et fondations d'entreprise.
In all cases, it will be necessary to consult and place a BODACC alert to check the existence of any insolvency proceedings.
EN 
FR