Book IV: Securities

A surety bond may guarantee one or more present or future, definite or determinable obligations.

Guarantees can only exist on a valid obligation. Nevertheless, a person who stands surety for a natural person whom he knew did not have the capacity to contract is bound by his undertaking.

The guarantee must be express. It may not be extended beyond the limits within which it was contracted.

Unless otherwise stipulated, the guarantee extends to interest and other accessories to the guaranteed obligation, as well as the costs of the first demand, and to all those subsequent to the denunciation made to the guarantor.

The guarantee may not exceed what is owed by the debtor nor be contracted under more onerous conditions, on pain of being reduced to the extent of the obligation guaranteed. It may be contracted for part of the debt only and under less onerous conditions.

On pain of nullity of his undertaking, the natural person guarantor shall himself affix the statement that he undertakes as guarantor to pay the creditor what he is owed by the debtor in the event of the latter’s default, within the limit of an amount in principal and accessories expressed in words and figures. In the event of a discrepancy, the guarantee is valid for the sum written out in…

The guarantor may raise against the creditor all defences, personal or inherent in the debt, which belong to the debtor, subject to the provisions of the second paragraph of article 2293. However, the guarantor may not rely on legal or judicial measures from which the debtor benefits as a consequence of his default, unless there is a special provision to the contrary.

The professional creditor is required to warn the natural person guarantor when the principal debtor’s commitment is unsuited to the latter’s financial capacities. Failing this, the creditor forfeits his right against the guarantor to the extent of the loss suffered by the latter.

If the guarantee given by a natural person to a professional creditor was, at the time it was entered into, manifestly disproportionate to the income and assets of the guarantor, it shall be reduced to the amount to which the guarantor could have committed himself at that date. .

The person who undertakes to provide a legal or judicial guarantee must be sufficiently solvent to meet the obligation. If this guarantor becomes insolvent, the debtor must substitute another guarantor, on pain of forfeiture of the term or loss of the advantage subordinated to the provision of the guarantee. The debtor may substitute a sufficient real security for the legal or judicial guarantee.