Receipt of Compromise & Diagnostics Reports (Feb 2018)
I'm still building this blog, setting up the 'Retrospective' pages which describe our activities between first embarking on this adventure and finally deciding to create this blog. However, I've decided to create the first blog post as we've hit the first major milestone to occur since I started blogging - the receipt of the Compromise and the Diagnostic Reports.
The Compromise is the first of two contractual documents and commits both parties to the sale of the property. The other contract is the main contract at the end of the process. Rather than travel to France we had decided to give the notaire (similar to a solicitor but working for the State rather than the two parties) power of attorney to sign the Compromise on our behalf. This seemed seemed sensible as it involved no additional fees and saved us the journey. We would still have a 10-day cooling off period and, even if we had traveled there, the chances of understanding even a small part of what we were signing (given it was legaleese and in French) were minimal.
The 10-day cooling off period commences on receipt (by tracked mail) of the document. I currently work a couple of hundred miles from home from Sunday evening until Thursday night and, of course, our copy of the Compromise arrived on Monday morning - so I had already lost half of the available time. Fortunately Sally was able to scan and email me the 19 page document so the time wasn't entirely lost and I got to work cutting and pasting sections into Google Translate.
HINT: Even though Google Translate allows you to upload entire documents (for me there was a limit of around 10 pages at a time) you'll probably find the results near unreadable if you use that feature in the case of this document, due to the formatting of the original, and OCR challenges your pdf (or whatever) will create. I found it easiest to cut and paste paragraphs individually, reviewing each and correcting OCR errors as I went. Do this and you'll get reasonable translations - though they'll often need you to 'interpret' them a little.
By the time I was home I had possibly 30% translated. I needed to push on as time was running out (and I had other commitments on the Saturday). So Friday, a non-working day for me, was set aside to not only complete the translation of the 19-page Compromise, but also the Diagnostic Reports that accompanied it. These are:
- Asbestos - 17 pages
- Energy - 8 pages
- Environmental risks - 12 pages
- Electrics - 6 pages
- Gas - 4 pages
- Lead - 20 pages
- Miscellaneous - 4 pages
A total of 90 pages of legal/technical documents in French!
I had a day to get this done (and it took a 12 hour day; I was tired and irritable at the end - ask Sally).
My approach was:
- Translate pretty much all of the Compromise, paragraph by paragraph, using Google Translate.
- Impose on my daughter (who got a degree in French, albeit 10 years ago - a luxury I know not everyone will have) to 'scan read' the Diagnostics Reports and to provide me with a verbal summary, highlighting any areas of concern.
- Translate those paragraphs of the Diagnostic Reports, using Google Translate, that my daughter had highlighted.
Taking this approach, by the end of the long day, I was able to:
- Satisfy myself that there were no unexpected horror stories lurking
- Identify a small number of questions I wished to bounce off the Estate Agent relating to the Compromise
- Take the decision to target some of the early decorating on areas with exposed lead paint
- Conclude that we probably needed to rewire sooner than later - for safety reason. Considering we want to start decorating ASAP it makes sense to get rewiring done anyway.
Now that is all done I can see the legaleese/technical info was less daunting than I had expected and, though the task was arduous, 10 days should be sufficient in most cases (even if you don't have ready access to someone to help with the translation).
It is over twenty five years since we moved house in the UK so I am not well acquainted with the current legal and technical documents we get over here. But I can say that overall I was impressed with the accessibility and detail in the French documents.
Next milestone? Paying the deposit.
The real challenge is to find the usefull informations. Pay attention to the following diagnostics: "Amiante", "Termites" and "Électrique", and to the informations about "Assainissement", "Servitudes" and "Conditions suspensives".
ReplyDeleteFor those that don't speak French, the diagnostics Hautpoul mentions are Asbestos, Termites and Electrics. Our property was clear on the former, there was no termite reports (as these are only compulsory in certain regions. Ours borders one such, which is a little worrying as I suspect global warming will see termite colonies migrating), and the electrical report convinced us that rewiring should be done sooner rather than later.
DeleteAssainissement is sanitation - the drains, we're linked to mains sewers, but many rural properties will have fosse septics - many of which will not meet current standards, and you'll be responsible for upgrading (as per the house we saw in Pradines).
I believe the 'Servitudes' Hautpoul refers to is the report on environmental issues such as seismic activity, flooding etc.
As to 'Conditions Suspensive' I am not sure what the translation is. It is a section in the Compromise - left blank in our copy. I believe it is penalties against each party should they withdraw from the agreement - perhaps Hautpoul can explain - or I'll get my daughter to translate and will provide an updat elater.
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ReplyDeleteServitude is the French word for legal or agreed easements like a right of way. Environmental risks are mentioned on the "État des risques naturels et technologiques".
ReplyDeleteWhen the purchase price using one or more loans, the sale is made under the condition precedent of obtaining them. This an example of "condition suspensive".
ReplyDeleteThanks Hautpoul.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure.
ReplyDelete