French Property Forum

[Buckner]

Hello,

What is the legislation that the French government has in place to protect consumers purchasing French real estate.

Thanks

[Bole]

This legislation springs into action before you even contact a lender. Any loan advertisement must clearly identify the lender, loan characteristics including annual percentage rate, application procedure and delay periods. After you apply for the loan, any preliminary offer of financing must be in writing. The preliminary offer must give details of the loan including an amortization schedule showing principal and interest payments, insurance requirements, options to transfer the loan to a third person and any cancelation cost if the loan does go through. The consumer must have a minimum of thirty days in which to decide whether or not to accept the loan and its conditions. Once the loan is finalized the consumer has an additional eleven days to reconsider and even cancel the loan without penalty.