The acceptance of the loan offer does not immediately trigger the signing of the authentic deed. Between the two, a series of legal and operational constraints impose a timeline that neither the buyer nor the notary can control alone. Understanding each hurdle allows for anticipating blockages rather than suffering them.
Article L.313-36 of the Consumer Code: the 4-month limit that banks do not explain
Most buyers think in weeks after the acceptance of the offer. The real framework is more restrictive. Article L.313-36 of the Consumer Code states that the loan offer is accepted subject to the resolutory condition of the sale not being concluded within a period of 4 months from this acceptance.
In practical terms, if the authentic deed is not signed at the notary’s office within this timeframe, the offer automatically lapses. The borrower loses their financing without any fault on the part of the bank. This provision is often absent from most accompanying bank letters, even though it conditions the very survival of the loan.
This 4-month period is not a professional practice or a recommendation: it is a mandatory legal limit. When a file is delayed (urban planning, unresolved easement, complex co-ownership on the seller’s side), the question is not to push the notary but to check if the timeframe between acceptance of the loan offer and signing at the notary remains compatible with this critical deadline. Once this threshold is crossed, a new offer must be requested, with the risk of a revised rate.
Release of funds by the bank: no legal timeframe specified
Unlike the 10-calendar-day reflection period (11 days in practice, as acceptance cannot occur before the 11th day following receipt of the offer), the release of funds is not governed by any text setting a number of days. The law imposes a framework for the borrower’s reflection, not for the bank’s operational responsiveness.
In practice, the disbursement of funds to the notary depends on several simultaneous factors:
- The type of transaction: a purchase in the existing market requires a single disbursement, while a VEFA triggers successive calls for funds based on the progress of the construction site.
- The effective receipt by the bank of the call for funds issued by the notary, a document distinct from the accepted offer.
- The internal validation circuit: some institutions centralize disbursements in a dedicated service that processes requests in batches, which can add several business days.
- The compliance of guarantees: if the bank requires a lender’s privilege or a conventional mortgage, the notary must first confirm the registration, which extends the timeline.
It is useful to ask the bank, as soon as the offer is accepted, about its average internal processing time for calls for funds. This information, rarely communicated spontaneously, allows the notary to schedule the signing date more accurately.
Notary-bank coordination: the real bottleneck
The timeframe perceived by the buyer between the acceptance of the offer and the signing at the notary results less from legal obligations than from the operational coordination between the notary’s office and the loan service. Two parallel circuits must converge at the same time.
On the notary’s side, preparing the authentic deed requires gathering documents that do not depend on the borrower: up-to-date mortgage status, urban planning certificate, technical diagnostics, and purging of urban preemption rights (for which the legal timeframe is two months for the municipality). A complete file on the bank’s side is useless if the mortgage status reveals an unremoved registration.
On the bank’s side, sending the funds requires receiving the notary’s call for funds mentioning the exact amount, the expected date, and the details of the escrow account of the office. Any discrepancy between the amount of the offer and that of the call for funds blocks the process. This discrepancy frequently occurs when the final notary fees differ from the initial estimate.
Typical sequencing after acceptance of the offer
The notary can only set the signing date after gathering all the administrative documents and receiving confirmation from the bank regarding the disbursement timeframe. In existing purchases, the range is generally between three and six weeks after acceptance, but this duration varies depending on the complexity of the seller’s file.
A often overlooked point: the seller’s notary and the buyer’s notary (when there are two) must coordinate on the draft deed. Each back-and-forth between offices extends the timeline by at least a few days.
Concrete risks of a delay beyond the compromise
The sales agreement sets a deadline for signing the authentic deed, often scheduled three to four months after the signing of the agreement. This date is not decorative. If the buyer does not sign within the specified timeframe and no extension amendment has been signed, the seller can invoke the nullity of the agreement and retain the deposit.
The trap closes when two deadlines overlap: the deadline of the agreement and the 4-month period of Article L.313-36. A delay in bank disbursement can simultaneously invalidate both the agreement and the loan offer. The buyer then finds themselves without financing and without property, with a potentially lost deposit.
To secure the transaction, three precautions are necessary:
- Align the deadline of the agreement with a margin of at least two weeks before the expiration of the 4 months of the offer.
- Obtain in writing the estimated disbursement timeframe from the bank and forward it to the notary as soon as the offer is accepted.
- Anticipate the request for an extension amendment if the notary indicates a delay in gathering administrative documents, rather than waiting until the last week.
The timeline between the acceptance of the loan offer and the signing at the notary is based on fixed legal constraints (reflection period, resolutory condition of 4 months) and operational variables (bank disbursement, administrative documents, inter-office coordination). Mastering the former and anticipating the latter remains the only lever to prevent a real estate purchase from derailing in its final stretch.