French Notary Ordered to Pay Moroccan-Born Couple €29,045 After Demolition Threat
A couple born in Morocco has secured €29,045 in compensation after avoiding the demolition of a building they constructed in France. The legal battle stemmed from contradictory property deeds drawn up by a notary, who has now been held liable.
They had obtained their building permit, completed the work and begun renting out their apartments. Yet on June 11, 2019, a French court ordered the couple, who were born in Morocco, to demolish their building or pay a €250 daily penalty for each day of delay. Seven years later, the couple has just been awarded €29,045 in damages from the notary responsible for their case. The ruling was issued on September 8, 2026, by the Versailles Court of Appeal.
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The case began in March 2007. The couple bought a plot of land for construction in a co-ownership in Val-d’Oise. The preliminary sale agreement covered a 445 m² plot with a hangar. But the documents signed at the notary’s office described the property far less precisely.
Two months after the sale, a new deed changed how the land was divided. A courtyard and a garden were added to the co-ownership’s common areas. The buyers had not signed this document, and there is no evidence they were informed of it.
In 2015, the couple decided to build a small rental building. The town hall issued a building permit, and the co-owners approved the project at two general meetings. Construction proceeded. But in 2017, the co-owners’ association took the case to court, seeking the building’s demolition.
A notary’s mistake at the heart of the legal battle
The Pontoise court initially ruled in favor of the co-owners in 2019. The owners then faced losing their building and a daily penalty of €250. They appealed the ruling and ultimately prevailed before the Versailles Court of Appeal on May 5, 2021. The demolition order was overturned.
The couple also brought proceedings against the notary. The judges found that the deeds he had drawn up contained contradictory information about ownership of the land. They also faulted him for not sufficiently warning the buyers about the risks arising from these changes.
The couple sought more than €106,000 in compensation on appeal. The court found that the notary’s failings cost them 95% of their chance of avoiding this lengthy legal battle. It recognized, in particular, the expenses they incurred defending themselves and the years of anxiety caused by the threat of demolition.
In its September 8 ruling, the court ordered the notary to pay €19,000 for emotional harm, €9,299.55 in legal fees and €745.75 in expenses related to the co-ownership. That amounts to €29,045.30 in damages, plus €6,000 in appeal costs.
The court thus upheld the notary’s liability and increased the compensation from the €24,042 awarded at first instance. It rejected the couple’s claims for lost rent and professional income, however. The building, which had been ordered demolished seven years earlier, remains in the owners’ possession.
