Three "saisies", three different jobs
English speakers tend to reach for a single word — "seizure" — for very different French legal tools. In practice, the French toolkit has (at least) three distinct saisies, each governed by its own articles of the Code des procédures civiles d'exécution (CPCE), used at different moments of a case and for different purposes. Confusing them is the single most common misunderstanding we see from foreign creditors. Here is how they actually differ.
Saisie conservatoire
Before judgment. Freezes assets so they can't disappear while you sue. No enforceable title needed yet.
Saisie-attribution
After judgment. Directly collects money sitting in the debtor's bank account. Requires an enforceable title.
Saisie-vente
After judgment. Seizes and auctions physical, movable property (equipment, vehicles, stock). Requires an enforceable title.
Saisie conservatoire — freezing assets before you have a judgment
Governed by articles L.511-1 to L.512-2 of the CPCE, the saisie conservatoire is a preventive measure: it freezes a debtor's assets (typically bank accounts, but also receivables, shares, or movable property) before any judgment, so the debtor cannot organise their own insolvency while the case is pending. It is granted on two conditions read together — the claim must appear "well-founded in principle" (une créance paraissant fondée en son principe) and there must be circumstances threatening its recovery (circonstances susceptibles d'en menacer le recouvrement) — and, in most cases, prior court authorisation (art. L.511-3 CPCE); a small set of creditors already holding a qualifying title can proceed without it (art. L.511-2 CPCE).
Once authorised, the freeze must be executed within 3 months (art. R.511-6 CPCE). Once executed, you must then bring the merits action within 1 month (art. R.511-7 CPCE) — a payment order, référé, or full lawsuit — or the freeze automatically lapses. This is the same 30-day logic that underpins the EU-wide European Account Preservation Order, which is the EU-regulation equivalent available to creditors based in another EU member state.
The debtor is not warned in advance — the surprise effect is the entire point. They are notified only after the freeze has already taken hold, at which point they can challenge it, but cannot move the frozen funds in the meantime.
Saisie-attribution — collecting from a bank account after judgment
Once you hold an enforceable title (a judgment, a payment order past its opposition window, or a notarial deed), articles L.211-1 to L.211-5 and R.211-1 to R.211-22 of the CPCE let you instruct a French judicial officer to seize funds directly from the debtor's bank account. The moment the bank is served, the attribution is immediate and irrevocable (art. L.211-2 CPCE) — the money legally becomes yours up to your claim amount, even if the debtor tries to intervene afterwards. The bank must declare the account's balances and any competing claims to the judicial officer (art. L.211-3 CPCE).
If you don't know where your debtor banks, the judicial officer can search the FICOBA database (the French central registry of bank accounts) to locate them — you do not need to already know the debtor's bank.
Saisie-vente — seizing and selling physical assets
Governed by article L.221-1 and following of the CPCE, saisie-vente also requires an enforceable title, but instead of targeting a bank account, it targets tangible movable property: equipment, vehicles, inventory, machinery. A commissaire de justice physically inventories the debtor's assets and, absent payment, has them sold at public auction, with the proceeds applied to your claim.
This route is slower and more resource-intensive than bank garnishment, so we typically use it when a debtor's bank accounts turn out to be empty but visible, seizable physical assets exist — a workshop full of equipment, a fleet of vehicles, warehoused stock.
A separate, more specialised procedure exists for seizing real estate (saisie immobilière). It is rarely proportionate for typical B2B invoice disputes given its cost and duration, but can be relevant for large claims against a debtor whose main asset is property.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, and this is common practice. A typical sequence: saisie conservatoire to freeze accounts while the case is pending, then — once you obtain an enforceable title — convert to saisie-attribution to actually collect the frozen funds. If the accounts turn out insufficient, saisie-vente on physical assets can follow.
We can search FICOBA for other accounts, monitor for newly opened ones, or pivot to saisie-vente on physical assets, salary garnishment against an individual debtor, or a judicial mortgage on real estate depending on what the debtor actually owns.
No — that is the entire mechanism. Notice comes only after execution, once the freeze is already in place, so the debtor cannot move funds in reaction to the request.
The core mechanics are the same, but individual debtors benefit from certain protections a corporate debtor does not have — for example, a portion of a natural person's bank balance is shielded from seizure (the "solde bancaire insaisissable", roughly equivalent to the monthly RSA welfare amount). A corporate account has no such protected minimum.
No. Your attorney instructs the commissaire de justice on your behalf for every step — petitioning the court where needed, executing the freeze or the garnishment, and reporting results back to you. No physical presence in France is required.
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