Seller v. Buyer (Judicial Rescission of Land Sale)

A contract for the sale of land was entered into, stipulating that the transfer of ownership would occur only upon the full payment of the price, a condition subsequent to the agreement. When the buyer subsequently failed to make the agreed payments, the seller sought judicial rescission of the sale, which the lower courts granted, ordering the eviction of the buyer. The Court of Cassation quashed this decision, reasoning that a contractual condition for the automatic termination of a sale upon non-payment of the price constitutes a resolutory condition, which, under the applicable law, does not operate automatically; instead, the termination requires a formal judicial ruling, meaning the seller needed to formally seek rescission through the court rather than rely on the mere occurrence of non-payment to effectuate termination and seek eviction.