CHAPTER II

DUTIES AND LIABILITIES OF THE SELLER

PART I

Delivery

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Section 461. The seller is bound to deliver to the buyer the property sold.

Section 462. Delivery may be made by doing anything which has the effect of putting the property at the disposal of the buyer.

Section 463. If the contract provides that the property sold shall be sent from one place to another, delivery takes place at the moment when the property is delivered to the carrier.

Section 464. The costs of transportation of the property sold to a place other than the place of performance are to be borne by the buyer.

Section 465. In a sale of movable property:

1. Where the seller delivers the property less than he contracted for, the buyer may reject it; but if the buyer accepts it, he must pay the proportionate price.
2. Where the seller delivers the property more than he contracted for, the buyer may accept the property according to the contract and reject the rest, or he may reject the whole. If the buyer accepts the whole of the property so delivered, he must pay the proportionate price.
3. Where the seller delivers the property he contracted for mixed with the property of a different description not included in the contract, the buyer may accept the property according to the contract and reject the rest, or he may reject the whole.

Section 466. In a sale of immovable property where the total area is specified and the seller delivers the property less or more than he contracted for, the buyer has the option either to reject or accept it and pay the proportionate price.

If the deficiency or excess does not exceed five per cent of the total area so specified the buyer is bound to accept it and pay the proportionate price, provided that the buyer can rescind the contract if the deficiency or excess is such that had he known of it he would not have entered into the contract.

Section 467. No action for liability on account of deficiency or excess can be entered later than one year after delivery.

Section 468. When there is no time clause for payment of the price, the seller is entitled to retain the property sold until the price is paid.

Section 469. Even though there is a time clause for payment, if the buyer becomes bankrupt before delivery, or was bankrupt at the time of sale without the knowledge of the seller, or impairs or reduces security given for payment, the seller is entitled to retain the property sold, unless the buyer gives proper security.

Section 470. When the buyer is in default, the seller who retains the property under the foregoing sections can, instead of using the ordinary remedies for non-performance, notify the buyer in writing to pay the price and incidental charges, within a reasonable time to be fixed in the notice.

If the buyer fails to comply with the notice, the seller can sell the property by public auction.

Section 471. The seller shall deduct from the net proceeds of the public auction what is due to him for the price and incidental charges and deliver forthwith any surplus to the buyer.

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PART II

Liability for Defect

Section 472. In case of any defect in the property sold which impairs either its value or its fitness for ordinary purposes, or for the purposes of the contract, the seller is liable.

The foregoing provision applies whether the seller knew or did not know of the existence of the defect.

Section 473. The seller is not liable in the following cases:

1. If the buyer knew of the defect at the time of sale, or would have known of it if he had exercised such care as might be expected from a person of ordinary prudence.
2. If the defect was apparent at the time of the delivery, and the buyer accepts the property without reservation.
3. If the property was sold by public auction.

Section 474. No action for liability for defect can be entered later than one year after the discovery of the defect.

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PART III

Liability for Eviction

Section 475. The seller is liable for the consequences of any disturbance caused to the peaceful possession of the buyer by any person having over the property sold a right existing at the time of sale or by the fault of the seller.

Section 476. The seller is not liable for a disturbance caused by a person whose rights were known to the buyer at the time of sale.

Section 477. In any case of disturbance where an action arises between the buyer and a third person, the buyer is entitled to summon the seller to appear in the action to be joint defendant or joint plaintiff with the buyer, in order to enable the Court to settle disputes between all the parties to them in one action.

Section 478. The seller is also entitled, if he thinks proper, to intervene in the action in order to deny the claim of the third person.

Section 479. The seller is liable if, by reason of eviction, the buyer is deprived of the whole or part of the property sold or if the property is subject to a right, the existence of which impairs its value, fitness, use or benefit and of which the buyer had no knowledge at the time of sale.

Section 480. If an immovable property is declared to be subject to a servitude established by law, the seller is not liable unless he has expressly guaranteed that the property was free from servitudes, or from that particular servitude.

Section 481. If the seller was not a party to the original action, or if the buyer has made a compromise with the third person, or has yielded to his claim, no action for liability on account of eviction can be entered later than three months after final judgment in the original action, or after the date of the compromise, or of the yielding to the third person.

Section 482. The seller is not liable for eviction in the following cases:

1. If no action was entered, and the seller proves that the rights of the buyer were lost on account of the fault of the buyer, or
2. If the buyer did not summon the seller to appear in the action, and the seller proves that he would have succeeded in the action if summoned to appear, or
3. If the seller appeared in the action, but the claim of the buyer was dismissed on account of the fault of the buyer.

In any case the seller is liable whenever he is summoned to appear in the action and refuses to take the part of the buyer as joint defendant or joint plaintiff.

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PART IV

Clause for Non-Liability

Section 483. The parties to a contract of sale may agree that the seller shall not incur any liability for defects or eviction.

Section 484. Unless the non-liability clause specifies otherwise, such clause does not exempt the seller from the repayment of the price.

Section 485. A non-liability clause cannot exempt the seller from the consequences of his own acts or of facts which he knew and concealed.

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