Can the principal residence of the individual contractor (including the micro-contractor) be seized?

Verified 20 January 2026 - Entreprendre Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

The principal residence is part of the personal assets of the individual contractor. It is in principle protected and cannot be seized by professional creditors (suppliers, distributors, etc.). There are, however, specific cases in which the principal residence may be seized.

The main residence is “ elusive ”: this means that it is automatically protected from the creation of the entity and cannot be seized by professional creditors (suppliers, distributors, etc.). This protection is automatic. It is not necessary to carry out formalities with a notary.

Only there habitable part of the home is protected. This protection applies regardless of the method of detention of the principal residence: by freehold , in usufruit or in bare-property. On the other hand, when the contractor carries out his activity in his home (office, storage, workshop, medical practice, etc.), the part reserved for professional activity is not protected and may be seized by professional creditors.

In case of sale of the main residence, the price obtained remains elusive by creditors if the money is reused to purchase a new principal residence. However, this purchase must be made in the year of the sale.

When the individual contractor ceases his professional activity, his principal residence remains elusive by creditors professionals. Thus, even in the case of bankruptcy of the contractor, the creditors professionals may not compel him to sell his principal residence for the payment of professional debts.

Warning  

An individual contractor who objects to the seizure of his principal residence must prove that it is his domicile and that he lives there. Indeed, a second home is unprotected and can be seized.

The principal residence may be seized in the following cases:

  • Either when the claim is personal
  • Either in case of fraudulent maneuvers or breaches of its tax obligations by the individual contractor

Claim that belongs to personal assets

The main residence as all the other elements of the personal assets can be entered by personal creditors of the individual contractor.

Thus, when the individual entrepreneur has taken out a bank loan to buy his principal residence, the bank has a personal claim. She can therefore request that this residence be seized in order to obtain reimbursement of her debt.

The individual contractor may be subject to a bankruptcy if he's in cessation of payments within the framework of his professional activity.

In this case, several situations are possible.

  • When the personal debts and professional debts are good distinct, the commercial court or the tribunal des activités économiques (TAE) shall open a bankruptcy procedure to deal with the professional liability and refer the matter to the over-indebtedness commission to process personal liabilities. The agreement of the head of company is necessary. The professional creditors cannot therefore request the seizure of the principal residence of the individual entrepreneur since it belongs to the personal property.
  • If personal and professional debts are not strictly separate, the commercial court or the TAE shall open a bankruptcy procedure which concerns both professional and personal assets. We're talking about bi-patrimonial procedure. In this case, the liquidator appointed by the commercial court (or the TAE) deals with the 2 assets. He can request the sale of the principal residence to the judge commissioner for personal creditors.

Fraudulent tactics or non-compliance with tax obligations

The tax authorities may obtain payment of their claims by seizing the principal residence of the individual contractor where he has committed any of the following acts:

  • Fraudulent schemes : these are acts that are intended to avoid the declaration or payment of taxes that have been knowingly paid. For example, use by the manager of fictitious invoices for the purposes of undue deduction of VAT, secret exercise of an activity, false domicile abroad. These facts often constitute a tax fraud.
  • Serious and repeated non-compliance with tax obligations : for example, unfiled returns, reduction of tax bases, undue deductions, failure to declare the start of business.

The individual contractor may voluntarily waive elusiveness of his principal residence.

He must then sign a deed before a notary by which he waives the elusiveness of the principal residence.

Who shall I contact

This act must then be declared within theone month, on the website company formalities window :

Window of company formalities

Once this formality has been completed, the contractor may grant a mortgage on the principal residence for the benefit of a creditor. The beneficiary of the mortgage can then seize the principal residence in case of difficulty in repayment.

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