Civil Chamber 1, January 24, 2024, Case No. 21-20.691

Contracts with consumers – The brand is essential information, and compliance with contractual formalism does not necessarily save a void contract

Recent case law indicates that the absence of information on the essential characteristics of a good necessarily vitiates the consumer's consent and justifies the cancellation of the contract.

The Court of Cassation has just given two other important clarifications:

• The brand of the product is an essential characteristic of the good
• The consumer who performs the contract does not waive the right to claim that it is void simply because the contract he signed contains the clauses required under the Fr consumer code

Consequently:

• If the pre-contractual information you gave is incomplete or erroneous
• For example, if you have provided erroneous information on the brand of the product to be delivered
• The only way to save your contract is to correctly inform the consumer and obtain his consent on the performance of the contract

In this specific case, the off-premises seller of solar panels was ordered to uninstall them, restore the house to its original state, and secure the bank as to the repayment of the granted loan.

• Panta Rhei can help secure your contracting processes with consumers!