Real estate: New pressure on developers!
Consumer protection measures vis-à-vis suppliers are being strengthened. Article 573 of the «dahir» (Royal Decree) establishing the Code of Obligations and Contracts (DOC) has just been amended. Customers who discover a redhibitory defect or a problem of non-conformity in the property they have purchased now have 2 years from the date of delivery to take legal action to claim compensation.
In all cases, this period has been extended to 5 years from the date of sale of the property, failing which the right to claim will be forfeited. Under the previous system, this period was limited to one year. The consumer can also take legal action if the real estate does not meet the promised quality conditions.
In the case of movables and animals in general, this period remains unchanged at 30 days from the date of delivery. However, whether in the case of real estate or movables and animals, and as stipulated in the same article of the DOC, these time limits may be extended or reduced by mutual agreement between seller and buyer.
This is in fact a partial adjustment to the provisions of article 65 of law no. 31-08, enacting consumer protection measures. This article sets a 2-year time limit for taking legal action in the real estate sector in the event of a defect requiring a warranty, or if the property sold does not conform to the promised quality. This adjustment is partial, since in the case of movable property, this period is one year from the date of delivery, but this has not been extended to the DOC, since it remains set at 30 days..
Bringing the two texts into line with each other has not eliminated a number of major inconsistencies that are likely to give legal experts a hard time. The DOC provides for the possibility of extending or reducing the time limit for taking legal action, provided there is agreement between the two parties. In the case of law no. 31-08, this is out of the question, as the provision is a matter of public policy.
Another disparity between the two laws is that, unlike the DOC, the Consumer Protection Act contains no provisions concerning the sale of animals.
The provisions of article 573 of the DOC obviously apply to property built before the law was published in the Official Gazette. However, second-hand real estate is excluded from the new provisions.
When asked by L’Economiste about the implications of this amendment, Taoufik Kamil, President of the National Federation of Real Estate Developers (Fédération nationale des promoteurs immobiliers), remained silent. In any case, the DOC’s amendment will put pressure on real estate developers, who will have to pay greater attention to the quality of their products and be more vigilant with their service providers to avoid legal risk as far as possible.
Hassan EL ARIF
