Law No. 107-12 and Loans to Purchasers

This article examines the effects of Law No. 107-12 governing the sale of property under construction (off-plan sale – VEFA) on the bank financing of purchasers. It highlights the difficulties arising from the absence of an immediate transfer of ownership, which prevents the creation of a traditional mortgage and weakens the granting of real estate loans. After analyzing the role of completion guarantees and refund guarantees for advances, the study explores the possibility of securing credit through set-off (compensation), while emphasizing the limitations of this mechanism in relation to third-party rights. The article then demonstrates the inadequacy of certain legal techniques, such as subrogation, delegation, and assignment of claims, and concludes that the pledge of claims (assignment by way of security) constitutes the most appropriate security to guarantee real estate loans within the VEFA framework. It thus underlines that, despite the shortcomings of the legal framework, traditional civil law instruments can effectively ensure purchaser financing while preserving the legal certainty of transactions.