Chapter First: Sale with Right of Redemption

Article 473

Art. 473 - The sale with a right of redemption or sale by repurchase is that by which the buyer undertakes, after the sale is perfected, to return the thing to the seller against reimbursement of the price. The sale by repurchase may have as its object movable or immovable property.

Article 474

Art. 474 - The right of redemption may not be stipulated for a term exceeding three years, as from the sale; if a longer period has been stipulated, it shall be reduced to three years.

Article 475

Article 475 - The term fixed is of strictness and cannot be extended by the judge, even though the seller would not have been able to make use of the right of repurchase for a cause independent of his will. However, when it is through the fault of the buyer that the seller was not able to exercise the right of repurchase, the expiration of the fixed term does not prevent him from exercising his right.

Article 476

Art. 476 - The thing sold by redemption becomes, by the very fact of the sale, the property of the buyer under the condition of redemption: that is to say, if the seller does not fulfill the conditions stipulated for the restitution of the thing, the buyer remains its owner. If, on the contrary, the conditions are fulfilled, the thing is deemed to have never ceased belonging to the seller. In any case, during the duration of the deadline, or until the seller exercises the right of redemption, the buyer enjoys the thing as its owner, subject to what is stated in articles 482 and 485; the buyer receives its fruits, and may exercise all actions related to the thing, provided that this is done without fraud.

Article 477

Article 477 - The right of redemption is exercised by the notification made by the seller to the acquirer of his will to effect the repurchase: it is, moreover, necessary that the seller make at the same time the offer of the price.

Article 478

Art. 478 - If the seller dies before exercising his right of redemption, this right passes to his heirs for the time remaining to their author.

Article 479

Art. 479 - The heirs of the seller may only exercise the right of redemption jointly, and for the entirety of the thing sold. The same provision applies in the case where several persons have sold jointly and by a single contract, a thing common to them, if they have not reserved the right of redemption each for their own share.

Article 480

Art. 480 - The action of redemption may be exercised against the heirs of the buyer taken collectively. \tHowever, if the estate has been divided, and if the thing sold has fallen to the lot of one of the heirs, the redemption may be exercised against him for the whole.

Article 481

Art. 481 - In the event of the vendor's declared insolvency, the right of redemption may be exercised by the creditors.

Article 482

Art. 482 - The seller with a right of redemption may exercise his action against a new acquirer.

Article 483

Art. 483 - The seller who uses the repurchase clause cannot regain possession of the sold property except after having reimbursed: \t1 - The price which he received; \t2 - The useful expenditures which have increased the value of the thing up to the extent of the increase in value. As for expenditures that are merely voluptuous, the buyer has only the right to remove the improvements made by him if he can do so without damage. He cannot recover either the necessary expenditures and maintenance expenses, nor the costs of collecting the fruits; \tOn the other hand, the buyer must restore: \t1 - The thing, as well as its accretions since the sale; \t2 - The fruits which he has collected from the day the price was paid or deposited. \tHe has a right of retention on account of the reimbursements owed to him. \t All this, unless otherwise stipulated by the parties.

Article 484

Art. 484 - The buyer shall also be liable for any deterioration or loss of the thing that occurs due to his actions, his fault, or the fault of persons for whom he is responsible. He shall also be liable for changes that have essentially transformed the sold thing to the detriment of the seller. He shall not be liable for cases of force majeure, nor for minor changes made to the thing, and the seller shall not have the right, in such cases, to claim a reduction in price.

Article 485

Art. 485 - When the seller reclaims their property through redemption, they simultaneously acquire the right to cancel all real rights, encumbrances, or mortgages with which the buyer may have burdened it. However, they are required to execute the leases made without fraud by the buyer if the lease term does not exceed the stipulated deadline for redemption and if it has a certain date.

Article 486

Art. 486 - When the sold property is agricultural land and the redemption is exercised during the agricultural year, the buyer, if he has sown it himself or rented it to others who have sown it, has the right to continue to occupy the sown parts until the end of the agricultural year by paying what may be due according to the custom of the place for the time remaining to run from the termination until that date.