la disproportionnalité du cautionnement

Question 1

The law requires that the guarantee be proportionate to the guarantor’s assets. It is justified by contractual good faith and also by the concern to avoid the guarantor ruining himself when he commits himself.

Answer 1

law of 31 December 1989 which established the principle of proportionality but limited it to guaranteeing consumer credit. In the meantime, the emergence of jurisprudence completed the article of the consumer code but enshrined this principle under the common law of liability. Then the law of 1 August 2003 imposed a requirement of proportionality in the relationship between an individual and a professional creditor on pain of forfeiture.

Question 2

l’article L332-1 dans le code de la consommation.

Answer 2

Un créancier professionnel ne peut se prévaloir d’un contrat de cautionnement conclu par une personne physique dont l’engagement était dans l’ordre de sa conclusion manifesté à ses biens et revenus à moins que patrimoine de cette caution au moment où elle est appelée ne lui permettent de faire face à son obligation.

Question 3

Réforme 2021 et le nouvel article 2300

Answer 3

Il retient que si le cautionnement souscrit par une caution PP envers un créancier profes est lors de sa conclusion manifestement disproportionné aux revenus t au patrimoine de la caution il est réduit au montant à hauteur duquel elle pouvait s’engager à cette date.

Question 4

Arrêt Macron: Cass. com.,17 juin 1997

Answer 4

The Paris Court of Appeal, taking into account that the amount of the guarantee was lower than the guaranteed debt, considered that the guarantee was manifestly disproportionate and that the bank had committed a fault by asking the guarantor for such an undertaking. The bank ordered the guarantor to pay damages. This eliminates the major part of the guarantor’s exceeding his payment capacity.
The Court of Cassation followed the reasoning of the judges of the court of first instance in holding that, because of the size of the sum guaranteed, the bank had failed in its obligation to contract in good faith.
Thanks to a compensation claimed by the creditor and the damages.

Question 5

Cass com 8 octobre 2002

Answer 5

In this case, in the context of financing the acquisition of several buildings
The appeal was dismissed on the grounds that the former president of the association and managing director of the company had never shown that the bank had had information about their income that they themselves had not known. It limits the Macron ruling by making a distinction.

Question 6

Cass com 18 mai 2005