Transfer decree
The transfer decree is the act by which ownership really passes. Not the award, not the payment: the decree.
It is governed by article 586 of the Code of Civil Procedure and is issued by the enforcement judge after the successful bidder has paid the price.
What it contains
Three things, and each serves a different purpose.
The transfer. The decree transfers the asset by repeating the description contained in the sale order. It is that description that defines what you bought, not the listing.
The cancellation order. The judge orders “the cancellation of the registrations of attachments and of mortgages”, including those registered after the attachment. That is why you buy at auction without inheriting the previous owner’s debts.
The order to vacate. The decree contains the order to the debtor or the custodian to hand over the property sold.
Why it counts twice
Article 586 ends with a short and very dense sentence: the decree “constitutes title for the registration of the sale in the land books and an enforceable title for obtaining vacant possession”.
It means that to recover possession of an occupied property you do not need to bring a lawsuit: you already have the title in hand. It is a huge difference compared with an ordinary sale, where an occupant without title has to be dealt with through court proceedings.
What it does not cancel
The list of things that disappear is precise and short: registrations of attachments and of mortgages. Nothing else is mentioned.
Easements, landscape and planning restrictions, third parties’ rights in rem such as usufruct: they remain, because they are not a person’s debts but features of the property. The distinction is explained in full in the guide on what remains after the decree.
An exception, in the same article, is a mortgage relating to obligations the successful bidder has chosen to take on.
The power to suspend
Before signing, the judge has a power worth knowing about: they can suspend the sale “when they consider that the price offered is significantly lower than the fair price”.
It is a tool used sparingly, but it exists. An award at a price very far from the value is not a certainty until the decree.
When it arrives
There is no fixed legal deadline: it depends on the court and the office’s workload. Generally it takes weeks, sometimes a few months, from the balance payment.
Until then the successful bidder has paid but is not yet the owner, and this has practical consequences — for registration, for taxes, for the possibility of reselling or taking out a mortgage. The timescales and their implications are in the guide on the balance of the price.
After the decree
The registration in the land registers and the cadastral transfer remain to be done, and the cancellation of the formalities ordered by the judge has to be physically carried out: it does not happen by itself the moment the decree is issued.
If the property is occupied, vacating is carried out through the custodian. Who handles it and how is explained in the guide on the court-appointed custodian.