During a condominium apartment sale, the notary requests a set of financial and administrative documents before signing the preliminary agreement. Among them, the preliminary dated statement raises many questions for sellers, particularly regarding its cost and the possibility of producing it themselves from a free template.
Article L.721-2 of the Construction and Housing Code (CCH) requires the transmission of precise information to the buyer, but does not prescribe any specific method of production. This discrepancy between the mandatory content and the freedom of form deserves factual examination.
Cost of the preliminary dated statement by production method: comparative table
The property manager generally charges for the production of the preliminary dated statement as a specific service. Conversely, the seller can compile the information themselves from the condominium documents they already possess. The table below summarizes the observed differences.
| Production Method | Indicative Cost | Average Timeframe | Risk of Incompleteness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional Property Manager | Variable, often several hundred euros | 1 to 3 weeks | Low (direct access to accounting data) |
| Free Template Filled by the Seller | Free | Several days (if documents are available) | Moderate (depends on the completeness of the documents held) |
| Specialized Online Service Provider | Lower than the property manager, variable depending on the offer | Several days | Moderate to low |
The cost difference is the primary factor driving sellers towards a free template. For the dated statement (a distinct document produced for the authentic deed), the price is capped at 380 euros including tax. The preliminary dated statement, however, has no legal cap, which explains the sometimes high charges from certain property managers.
A detailed analysis of this issue is provided on letopimmobilier.com, which dissects the actual usefulness of the free template in the context of an apartment sale.
Preliminary dated statement: legal obligation of content, not form
The ALUR law has strengthened the information owed to the buyer of a condominium lot. Article L.721-2 of the CCH lists the documents and data to be transmitted before signing the preliminary sales agreement. However, no legal provision requires that the preliminary dated statement be established by the property manager.
Notaries themselves confirm this: the seller can gather the required elements by their own means, provided that the document is complete and accurate. The preliminary dated statement does not have legal existence as a standardized form. It is a professional practice that groups together the information required by law under a single title.
The practical consequence is direct: a correctly filled free template serves the same function as a document billed by the property manager. The difficulty lies not in the form, but in the seller’s ability to gather reliable data.
What the document must contain
- The amount of current charges from the projected budget and off-budget charges attached to the sold lot, for the last two financial years
- The status of unpaid charges within the condominium association and any debts of the seller to the association
- The sums that may be owed to the association by the buyer (share of the works fund, voted calls for funds not yet due)
- Ongoing legal proceedings involving the condominium association
- The minutes of the last three general meetings
If any of this information is missing at the time of signing the preliminary agreement, the buyer’s withdrawal period does not begin to run. This is the real risk of an incomplete document, far more than its form or its issuer.
Billing by the property manager: a contestable service if not in the contract
Several property managers bill the preliminary dated statement as a specific service, sometimes without the line being explicitly included in the property management contract. However, an uncontracted billing can be legally contested by the selling co-owner.
The list of authorized specific services is regulated. If the property management contract does not mention the production of the preliminary dated statement among the billable services, the co-owner has the right to refuse the billing or contest it afterward.
This contractual point remains largely unknown. Before paying, checking the current property management contract allows one to identify whether the service is legitimate or if it falls under abusive billing. In the latter case, producing the document oneself from a free template becomes not only an economical alternative but also a legally sound one.
Validity of the preliminary dated statement: a perishable document
No legal validity period is set by the texts for the preliminary dated statement. In practice, the document is only fully relevant until a new event occurs: holding a general meeting, voting on works, modifying the projected budget, or changes in unpaid charges.
A preliminary dated statement drafted three months before the signing of the preliminary agreement may therefore be obsolete if a general meeting has taken place in the meantime. The seller using a free template must incorporate this time constraint and update the document if necessary.
This implicit expiration also works against the property manager: a preliminary dated statement billed several hundred euros but produced too early loses its relevance at the same rate as a free document.
Free template of preliminary dated statement: conditions for acceptance by the notary
The notary cannot refuse a preliminary dated statement solely on the grounds that it was not produced by the property manager. However, they check the completeness of the information in accordance with Article L.721-2 of the CCH. A document with gaps will be returned, regardless of its issuer.
For a free template filled by the seller to be accepted without reservation, three conditions must be met. The seller must have the minutes of the last three general meetings. They must have access to the individual charge statements and the voted projected budget. Finally, they must know the exact status of their payments to the condominium association.
If any of these documents are missing, the seller will still need to contact the property manager, which may incur partial fees. The free template thus works best for co-owners who are up to date with their charges, who keep their documents, and who follow the general meetings.
The free preliminary dated statement is neither a gadget nor a universal solution. Its relevance entirely depends on the seller’s documentary rigor and the timing of the sale in relation to the events of the condominium.
