Chapter First: Conditions Required for Entitlement to Damages (Debtor's Default)

Article 253

Article 253 - To have a right to damages, it is necessary that: 1 - A damage has been caused; 2 - That this damage be imputable to the debtor. 3 - That the debtor, except in exceptional cases, has been notified.

Article 254

Article 254 - In contractual matters, the debtor is liable for non-performance of the obligation unless he demonstrates that performance has become impossible in accordance with Article 341. In such a case, he is discharged by impossibility of execution.

Article 255

Article 255 - In certain contracts and exceptionally, the debtor's liability is not triggered solely by the non-performance of the agreement; it is conditional upon the commission of a fault for which the creditor bears the burden of proof, and the degree of gravity of which is specified by law.

Article 256

Article 256 - In matters of extra-contractual liability, the conditions for imputability of damage are determined by Articles 122 and following.

Article 257

Article 257 - The debtor's residence, outside of which he cannot be held liable for damages, is, in principle, the result of a summons issued to him by the creditor, in any form whatsoever, but necessarily in writing (registered letter, telegram, summons, citation before an incompetent judge). This summons is required, without distinction based on the nature or origin of the obligation or the damages.

Article 258

Article 258 - It ceases to be demanded: 1 - When execution has become impossible; 2 - When the obligation was subject to a term that has now expired and which had been inserted at least partially in the interest of the debtor; 3 - When the performance required consists of returning an item that the debtor knows was stolen or received unjustly and with full knowledge. In these three scenarios, the debtor is deemed to be in default by operation of law, regardless of any intervention by the creditor.