Bill of Sale of Land in Subdivision

Verified 25 June 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

You are buying land located in a subdivision and you're going to sign a authentic instrument sale in front of a notary? We take stock of the content of the act, its form and its signature.

The notary checks the legal status of the seller, the buyer and the property.

Legal status of persons

Before writing the bill of sale, the notary check obligatory next points :

  • Identity of the 2 parts, by requesting a birth certificate and a supporting document including a photo and the signature (national identity card or passport for example)
  • Capacity of the 2 parties to sign the deed (a minor or a protected major must be assisted or represented by an authorized person who will sign the document with or on behalf of him)
  • Compliance of power of attorney given to a third party by the buyer or seller absent on the day of signature of the deed
  • Buyer's criminal record to ensure that there is no prohibition against the purchase of residential real estate.

Legal status of the property

The notary check in particular the next points :

  • Mortgage Statement to attest to the seller's right to property and his ability to dispose freely of the goods and to know the mortgage registrations
  • City planning Rules applicable (request from )
  • Cadastral location
  • Right of pre-emption the Business for Land Management and Rural Settlement (Safer) for Agricultural Land
  • Right of pre-emption of local and regional authorities (urban, commercial, right of pre-emption of sensitive natural areas)
  • Right of pre-emption of joint-partners when there is division
  • Seller's ownership origin (sale, donation, succession...).

The bill of sale shall contain the following information:

  • Contact Information from seller (called) subwoofer) and the buyer
  • Plan of bounding of the land subdivision compulsory
  • Detailed description of the land derived from the bounding plane
  • Sales price and payment methods (with or without the help of a mortgage)
  • Amount of fees of the seller or supplier and the people who have to pay them (seller or buyer).

The following proof obtained by the notary during his checks is attached to the bill of sale:

  • Certificate of city planning
  • Right of urban pre-emption served
  • Mortgage lifting.

The developer must provide the buyer with the following documents:

If not signed by promise of sale, the following documents shall be submitted at the time of signature of theThe authentic instrument Sales:

In principle, the bill of sale must be signed after the completion of the public facilities (roads, water, electricity, gas...).

However, the bill of sale can be signed before the completion of this equipment when the subcontractor has obtained one of the following 2 documents:

  • Authorization of the City Hall to postpone work to avoid deterioration of the tracks during construction of the buildings. These are the finishing of the lanes, the sidewalks, the laying of their borders, the installation of the equipment depending on the sidewalks and the plantations.
  • Guarantee of completion of the works, with a bank, a financial institution or a business of mutual guarantee which undertakes to advance to it or to pay for it the sums necessary for the completion of the works.

L'authentic instrument is signed by the seller and the buyer before a notary. When one of the 2 cannot be present, he can be represented by entrusting himself to a third party one power of attorney private signature.

The representation of the absent person is indicated in the bill of sale.

L'authentic instrument of sale is signed by the buyer, the seller or their representative (who has received power of attorney) and the notary.

The seller and the buyer can choose the same notary or each have their own. In this case, the costs are shared between the 2 notaries.

When the buyer or seller does not know or cannot sign the deed of sale, it is signed by a 2nd notary or two witnesses.

The bill of sale is signed on paper or on electronic media. Whatever the medium, the notary reads the bill of sale aloud before the buyer and the seller sign it.

Act on paper

The notary shall be required to include the following information on the document:

  • Date in all letters and place where the act was performed
  • Name and place of establishment of the notary receiving the document
  • Names, forenames and domicile of the parties and of all the signatories to the agreement
  • Names and homes of witnesses
  • Numbering of each page and total number indicated at the end of the act
  • Mention that the document has been read by the parties or that it has been read to them
  • The number of blanks that are crossed out, and the words and numbers that are crossed out.

The document must be written without overloading, line spacing, or addition. The notary includes the image of his seal.

The documents annexed to the deed must be signed by the notary.

If the parties declare that they do not know where they cannot sign, the document must state that fact.

The quality of the paper must offer any guarantee of preservation. The text and the signatures and initials must be indelible.

The notary who wrote the deed keeps one original called the minute. It is kept in the archives of the notarial study for 75 years, then transferred to the public archives.

After the signature, the notary registers a copy of the bill of sale with the land advertising service and the land registry.

FYI  

On the day of the signature of the deed, the notary gives the buyer a proof of ownership.

Act in electronic form

The bill of sale can be signed electronically, we are talking about a electronic authentic instrument (EFA).

The notary shall be required to include the following information on the document:

  • Date in all letters and place where the act was performed
  • Name and place of establishment of the notary receiving the document
  • Names, forenames and domicile of the parties and of all the signatories to the act
  • Mention that the document has been read by the parties or that it has been read to them
  • Names and homes of witnesses.

The document must be written without overloading, line spacing, or addition.

During the appointment at the notary's office, the act and its annexes are read on a large screen.

The parties sign the deed on a tablet with an electronic stylus.

The notary shall sign and seal with a computer key that certifies the signature and makes it inviolable.

The date and place of the signatures are automatically validated and the act can no longer be modified.

The notary uses an information processing system approved by the Supreme Council of the notary (CSN). It guarantees the integrity and confidentiality of the content of the dematerialized act.

The EFA shall be sent to the central electronic minutier of notaries of France (MICEN) where the document, its annexes and the signatures of all parties are kept.

The notary may issue a copy of a dematerialized act in paper or electronic form. He shall include the date, his secure electronic signature and the image of his seal.

Dematerialized copies may be transmitted by electronic means by the notary under conditions guaranteeing the integrity of the document, the confidentiality of the transmission, the identity of the sender and of the recipient.

After the signature, the notary registers a copy of the bill of sale with the land advertising service and the land registry.

FYI  

On the day of the signature of the deed, the notary gives the buyer a proof of ownership.

On the day of the signature of the deed of sale, the buyer must pay the full price of the sale and the notary's fees.

The selling price is paid by wire transfer if it is greater than or equal to €3,000.

The notary issues a receipt to the buyer. It transfers the amount of the transaction to the seller after the registration of the deed with the land advertising service.

In principle, the transfer period does not exceed 1 month.

If there are funds remaining to the buyer's credit after registration, the notary sends him a check or a transfer with the detailed statement of fees and fees.

If not, he shall request the additional provision before sending him his title.

Please note

If a promise of sale has been signed, a capital allowance has been paid by the buyer. It is paid in return for the seller's commitment to sell his property exclusively to the designated buyer. This fixed asset allowance is deducted from the sale price.

The notarial fees are at the expense of the buyer. The seller and the buyer can decide otherwise.

These fees consist of:

  • Fees and taxes collected by the notary and remitted to the public treasury (registration fee, land advertising tax or value added tax)
  • Remuneration of the notary (drafting of the bill of sale, consultations, expertise...)
  • Costs incurred on behalf of the seller and the buyer (e.g. cadastre extract)

The amount of notarized fees remains the same when the seller and the buyer each have their notary. The costs are then shared between the 2 notaries.

The amount of these costs can be estimated using a simulator:

Calculate the amount of the costs of acquiring a property

The notary must ensure the land advertising by recording the bill of sale in land advertising service or the land book.

General case

The buyer becomes the owner of the land when the bill of sale is signed. This transfer of ownership becomes enforceable to third party after publication of the act in land advertising service on which the land depends.

Who shall I contact
In Alsace-Moselle

The buyer becomes the owner of the land when the bill of sale is signed.

In the departments of Haut-Rhin, of Lower Rhine and the Moselle, this transfer of ownership becomes enforceable to third parties after publication of the deed in the land register.

After registration at the land advertising service, the notary notify copy of the deed of ownership to the buyer by hand or by letter RAR: titleContent or by a Commissioner of Justice.

This copy, bearing the stamps of the tax authorities, shall constitute the title to property.

The time limit for receiving this copy isapproximately 6 months after the signature of the bill of sale.

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