A request for an opinion was made by an economic activities court hearing an application to put up for sale the principal residence of an individual contractor. The latter is the subject of a collective procedure opened on his personal and professional assets.

The request for an opinion concerns the following question: where a collective procedure is opened on the personal and professional assets of an individual contractor, the judicial liquidator can he request the sale of the principal residence on behalf of the personal creditors?

The Court points out, first, that the individual entrepreneur automatically has two assets:

• professional (assets, rights, obligations and collateral held by him and ‘useful to his activity or independent professional activities’); it serves as security for professional creditors;
• personnel (all items not included in the professional assets); it serves as a guarantee for personal creditors.

It goes on to state that the principal residence of the individual entrepreneur is part of his personal assets.

The Court infers from this that, in the event of a collective proceeding concerning the personal and professional assets of the individual contractor, the liquidator may proceed to the sale of assets of personal assets.

Thus, at the request of the liquidator, the commissioner may authorize the sale of the principal residence from the individual entrepreneur to the personal creditors.