Title First: Conditions of Sale

Article 372

Art. 372 - The sale is a contract whereby the seller undertakes to transfer the ownership of a thing and the buyer to pay the price thereof.

Article 373

Art. 373 - The validity of the sale is contingent upon the agreement of the parties on the nature of the contract, the thing, and the price, as well as the general conditions of validity of contractual obligations.

Article 374

Art. 374 - The sale may be made, either: 1) in bulk: The bulk sale is that which has as its object a set of things at a single and same price, without regard to the number, weight, or measure, unless it is to determine the total price; 2) by weight, count, or measure; 3) By sample; 4) By tasting; 5) By repurchase.

Article 375

Art. 375 - The costs of the deed and other accessories of the sale are borne by the buyer.

Article 376

Art. 376 - The sale may be made in writing or verbally, except for the application of the rules established for real estate sales.

Article 377

Art. 377 - The seller and the buyer must have the capacity to contract. The seller must have the capacity to alienate the thing or to transfer the right to which the sale relates.

Article 378

Art. 378 - The following individuals may not acquire, even through auction, under penalty of nullity, either in their own name or through intermediaries, unless authorized by the court: 1- Agents, of the properties they are entrusted to sell; 2- Administrators, of the properties of the State, municipalities, or public establishments entrusted to their care; 3- Public officers, of the properties whose sales are conducted through their agency; 4- Fathers and mothers, guardians, curators, judicial councils, provisional administrators, of the properties of the persons they represent or assist.

Article 379

Art. 379 - Brokers and experts shall not purchase, either in their own name or through an intermediary, any goods, rights, or claims, the sale or appraisal of which has been entrusted to them, nor shall they receive them in exchange or as a pledge.

Article 380

Art. 380 - Magistrates, lawyers, clerks, and deputy clerks may not purchase, either directly or through an intermediary, disputed rights that fall within the jurisdiction of the courts in the jurisdiction where they exercise their functions.

Article 381

Art. 381 - The following are deemed to be intermediaries, in the cases provided for in the above articles, the wives and children, even if of full age, of the persons named therein.

Article 382

Art. 382 - The sale may not relate to things that are not commercially available or that have no appreciable value, or to things that, by their nature, are not capable of being delivered.

Article 383

Art. 383 - The sale may relate to a tangible or intangible asset.

Article 384

Art. 384 - The sale may relate to a specific body or an undivided or determined right to the specific body. It may also relate to a thing determined only as to its species; but, in this case, the sale is only valid if the designation of the species applies to fungible things sufficiently determined, as to number, weight, quality, or measure, so that the consent of the parties has been informed.

Article 385

Art. 385 - The sale of another person's property is null and void, except: 1 - If it concerns a thing determined only by its kind or species; 2 - If the owner ratifies it; 3 - If the seller subsequently acquires ownership of it; In the event that the owner refuses to ratify the sale, the seller may be liable for damages to the buyer if the seller knew that the property did not belong to them and the buyer was unaware of it. The nullity of the contract can never be invoked by the seller due to the circumstance that the property belonged to another party. All of the above, subject to the application of Decree No. 188 H.C. of March 15, 1926 (Decree No. 188/1926 established the land registry).

Article 386

Art. 386 - The price of the sale must be determined by the parties. It may, however, be left to the arbitration of a third party; in this case, if the third party is unwilling or unable to make the estimation, there is no sale.

Article 387

Art. 387 - When the deed of sale does not mention the terms of payment of the price or the conditions of such payment, the sale is presumed to be made in cash and without condition.

Article 388

Art. 388 - The sale is not perfected unless there is consent of the parties with regard to the nature of the contract, the thing, and the price.

Article 389

Art. 389 - The bulk sale is perfected as soon as there is agreement between the parties on the thing and on the price, even if the weighing, counting or measuring necessary, if applicable, for the determination of the price, has not been done.

Article 390

Art. 390 - In a sale by weight, count, or measure, the goods remain at the risk of the seller until the weighing, counting, or measuring has taken place.

Article 391

Art. 391 - The sale on trial is always presumed to be made under a suspensive condition.

Article 392

Art. 392 - In a sale by tasting, there is no sale until the buyer has approved the thing.

Article 393

Art. 393 - The sale of real estate or real estate rights shall only take effect, even between the parties, as of its registration in the land registry.