A acompte - deposit, sum paid in advance (a certain percentage of the purchase price) achat - a purchase acquérer - purchaser acte authentique - legal paper drawn up (with all due formalities), by a public officer empowered by law (e.g. a notaire) in the place where he officiates acte sous seing privé - private agreement in writing with no witnesses (the pre-sale agreement) acte de vente - a conveyance or transfer of land (sometimes referred to as acte d'achat) agence immobilière - estate agent arrhes - sum paid in advance by the purchaser, forfeited if purchaser withdraws or double the amount refunded if the vendor withdraws assurance décès - life insurance assurance décès, invalidité et en général et incapacité - insurance covering death, invalidity and incapacity attestation d'acquisition - a notarial certificate that the property purchase has been completed attestation de conformité aux règles de sécurité - certificate of security standards attestation de propriété - proof of ownership of a property attribution de juridication - formal signing of a purchase contract authentique - document authorised by a notaire autorisation de prélèvement automatique - direct debit autorisation provisoire de travail - temporary work permit B bail - lease to tenant bail commercial - commercial lease baileur - landlord banque de consignation - the bank where the notaire places the deposits, with no interest accruing to either party or the notaire C cadastre - local town planning register recording details of land-holdings carte bleue - debit card carte professionnelle - granted by the Préfecture to estate agents to carry out business carte de crédit - credit card carte d'identité - identity card carte de retraite - cash card carte de commerçant étranger - foreign resident business permit carte de séjour - government permit to reside in France (also called permis de sejour) caution - security deposit/guarantee centre des impôts - tax office certificat d'urbanisme - zoning certificate (equivalent to a local authority search) cession - transfer of ownership or rights chèque - cheque chéquier - cheque book charges - maintenance charges on a property (e.g. water, electricity) clause particulière - special condition clause pénale - penalty clause governing performance of an agreement clause suspensive - a conditional clause in a contract that must be met in order for the sale to reach completion code du travail - French employment law commission compris (C/C) - agency commission included commission non compris- agency commission not included code du travail - French employment law communauté - joint estate of a husband and wife compromis de vente - contract for sale and purchase of land comptable - accountant comptant - cash purchase compte à terme - deposit account compte courant - current account compte joint - joint account compte séquestre - deposit help in a special escrow account pending fulfilment of certain conditions conditions particulières - special conditions conditions suspensives - conditional terms stated in the pre-sale agreement (e.g. the acquiring of a loan, the gaining of a positive zoning certificate) conseiller fiscal - tax advisor conseiller juridiques - professional legal advisor conservation des hypothèques - mortgage/land registry constat d'huissier - factual statement prepared by a bailiff which is irrefutable in court constructible - land which is designated for building under local planning scheme contrat â durée indéterminée (CDI) - employment contract of unspecified duration contrat â durée déterminée (CDD) - employment contract of a specified duration contrat de réservation - the purchase contract used for purchase "on plan" (sometimes called contract préliminaire) contrat préliminaire - preliminary contract convention - agreement convention collective - sector specific collective agreement on employment relations contrat de prêt - mortgage contract copropriété - co-ownership D date de livraison prévue - expected date of completion décennale - 10 year warranty provided by artisan déclaration de sincérité - compulsory formula providing that the purchase price has not been increased by a counter-deed département - administrative area within a region dépôt de garantie - deposit paid when renting or buying a property dévis - written quotation direction départmentale de l'équipement (DDE) - departmental surveyors, land planning and public works department domicile fiscal - main residence for tax purposes droit de passage - right of way droit de préemption - pre-emptive right to acquire the property instead of purchaser droit de succession/donation - inheritance/gift tax droits d'enregistrement - stamp duty paid by the purchaser durée - duration of mortgage E EDF/GDF - The state utilities: Electricité de France, Gaz de France emoulements - the scale of charges of the notaire enregistrement (droits d') - registration of the title of ownership (following of which are the payment of transfer duties) état de achèvement futur - buying a new build property with stage payments etats des lieux - schedule of condition or schedule of delapidations depending on whether it applies to the beginning or end of a lease expédition - the certified copy of a notarial document showing the date of its registration and the registration duty paid expert comptable - chartered accountant expert foncier - professional to check on the state and value of the property (usually an architect) expertiser - to value a property F FNAIM - Federation Nationale des Agents Immobilier - national association of estate agents, providing a compensation fund for defaulting agents fonds de roulement - capital supplied by all flat-owners, in an appartment block, on top of service charges to meet unexpected liabilities frais de notaire - total sum of money to be paid to the notaire on top of the sale price (includes, notaire fee, registration duty, land registration duty and other charges) G géomètre - surveyor appointed by the notaire to certify the dimensions of the property according to the cadastre H HT - hors taxe - not including sales tax hussier - has many official duties, including baliff and process server; is used to record evidence (for example on the state of property) where legal proceedings are considered hypothèque - mortgage - where the property is used as security for the loan I immobilière - real estate agent indivision - joint-ownership J jouissance - right of possesion which must occur simultaneously with the transfer of ownership K L location - renting (tenancy) loi scrivener - the law protecting borrowers from French lenders and sellers on French property purchases in all cases other than a purchase on plan lots - land registry plots applied in appartment blocks "lu et approuvé", "bon pour achat" - phrases written accompanying signature of contract ("read and approved", "good for acquisition") M mairie - town hall mandat - a document giving the right of sale of a property to an estate agent by the vendor mandat de recherche - private agreement giving power to estate agent to look for property marchand de biens - real estate dealer monuments historiques - listed buildings N nue-propriété - reversionary interest where the purchaser has no occupational rights over the property until the death or prior surrender of the life tenant O occupation - occupant of the premises (either tenant or occupant without good title) offre d'achat/de vente - an offer to buy or sell property which is not itself a binding contract P paiment comptant - cash payment parties communes - common parts of buildings parties privatives - parts of the building restricted to the private use of the owner permis de construire - planning permission plan de financement - financing scheme plus-value - capital gain realised on the sale of the property prélèvement - direct debit Q R rejeter - to bounce a cheque réservation - the deposit paid in a contract de réservation réservation, contract de - type of contract for the purchase of property résiliation - cancellation of a contract S SAFER - local government organisation supposed to ensure the proper use of agricultural land, sometimes they will hold pre-emptive rights to buy land securité social - French national health system société - legally registered company T TTC - toutes taxes comprise - including sales tax TVA - taxe sur la valeur ajoutée - value added tax tantiéme - proportion of of the common parts of a copropriété owned jointly with other appartment owners taxe d'habitation - rate levied on the occupation of property taxe fonciére - local tax on the ownership of property testament - a will timbres fiscal - some official documents (e.g. applications for the carte de sejour) carry a revenue stamp tontine - joint ownership troisiéme age - senior citizens (old age pensioners) U - Z