The distrainee debtor can summon the creditor before the enforcement judge to submit a request for an out-of-court sale before the case is called for the orientation hearing.
The procedure is blocked from the date of the judgment authorising the out-of-court sale. This has the very simple advantage of limiting the procedural costs that will have to be reimbursed later.
Summons for out-of-court sale
Article R. 322-20 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures :
"An application for the amicable sale of the property may be submitted and judged before service of the summons to appear at the orientation hearing, provided that the debtor brings into question the creditors registered on the property.
The decision granting the application suspends the course of the enforcement proceedings, with the exception of the period allowed for registered creditors to declare their claims.
The debtor may submit a request for an amicable sale without waiting for the judge's authorisation, provided that the registered creditors are involved, in the form of a summons and a denunciation outside the orientation hearing.
The judgment authorising the out-of-court sale will comply with the requirements of article R. 322-21 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures. Article R. 322-20 simply provides that the judge may give a ruling before the orientation hearing. This text has no influence on the content of the judgment, which results from article R. 322-21:
"The enforcement judge who authorises the out-of-court sale sets the price below which the property may not be sold in view of the economic conditions of the market and, where applicable, the specific conditions of the sale.
The judge charges the costs of proceedings at the request of the pursuing creditor.
It sets the date of the hearing at which the case will be recalled within a period that may not exceed four months.
At this hearing, the judge may only grant additional time if the applicant can provide proof of a written commitment to purchase and to allow the deed of sale to be drawn up and concluded. This period may not exceed three months.
Suspension of proceedings
In addition, the procedure is suspended from the date of the judgment that the enforcement judge will hand down following a referral from the debtor.
Article R. 321-22 of the Code des procédures civiles d'exécution (Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures) sets out a specific mechanism for dealing with the expiry of the summons to pay for the seizure of property, relating to the time limit for expiry of the summons to pay:
"This period is suspended or extended, as appropriate, by a note in the margin of the copy of the published summons of a court decision ordering the suspension of enforcement proceedings, the postponement of the sale, the extension of the effects of the summons or the decision ordering the reopening of the auction.
Thus, publication of the judgment authorising the sale out of court will suspend the time limit for expiry of the summons until the sale is completed or until legal proceedings are resumed.
On the other hand, the text does not provide for any automatic mechanism to compensate for the lapse of the summons to pay for the seizure of property if, as a result of the summons issued by the debtor, he suspends the proceedings and fails to take one of the numerous steps provided for on pain of lapse.
If necessary, the pursuing creditor will have to apply to the enforcement judge to have the lapse lifted, in accordance with article R. 311-11 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures:
"The time limits stipulated in articles R. 321-1, R. 321-6, R. 322-6, R. 322-10 and R. 322-31, as well as the two- and three-month time limits stipulated in article R. 322-4, must be observed in order for the summons to pay to become valid.
Any interested party may ask the enforcement judge to declare the order null and void and to order, where necessary, that this be noted in the margin of the copy of the order published in the real estate register.
The application shall not be granted if the pursuing creditor can show a legitimate reason.
The declaration of lapse may also be revoked if the pursuing creditor informs the registry of the enforcement judge, within fifteen days of the declaration of lapse, of the legitimate reason that he would not have been able to invoke in good time.
EN 
FR