Buying · Latent defect · Civil Code
It is not a formality and it is not a threat. It is the legal act that puts the seller in default and opens your remedies. The Civil Code says exactly what it has to do.
A formal notice is the letter in which you formally demand that the seller fix the problem. Article 1594 of the Civil Code of Quebec provides that a debtor may be put in default by an extrajudicial demand to perform the obligation addressed to him by his creditor. Article 1595 adds two requirements: an extrajudicial demand by which a creditor puts his debtor in default must be made in writing, and the demand must allow the debtor sufficient time for performance, having regard to the nature of the obligation and the circumstances; otherwise the debtor may perform the obligation within a reasonable time after the demand. There is no official form and no obligation to go through a lawyer to send one, but a badly drafted formal notice costs time, and sometimes more.
Article 1595 is brief: an extrajudicial demand by which a creditor puts his debtor in default must be made in writing. The demand must allow the debtor sufficient time for performance, having regard to the nature of the obligation and the circumstances; otherwise the debtor may perform the obligation within a reasonable time after the demand.
Two requirements, then: writing, and sufficient time. The law imposes no letterhead, no lawyer and no Latin. What matters is that the seller understands what you are alleging, what you demand, and how long he has.
Many templates found online propose ten days for everything. Article 1595 says something else: the time must be sufficient having regard to the nature of the obligation and the circumstances. Ten days to reimburse an invoice you already paid is defensible. Ten days to rebuild a drain in November, much less.
A short deadline does not void the letter. Article 1595 provides that the debtor may then perform within a reasonable time after the demand. You do not lose your claim, you lose time, and you hand the seller an easy argument.
The law imposes no method of delivery. What matters is being able to prove that the seller received it and when. Registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt remains the simplest to demonstrate. Email can do the job when it is followed by a confirmation, but a message sitting unanswered in an unknown inbox proves very little.
Keep a copy of the letter, proof of sending, proof of receipt and every enclosure. That package is exactly what you will file if the matter reaches a court.
It puts the seller in default within the meaning of article 1594. From there, article 1590 opens the creditor's remedies: force specific performance of the obligation, obtain the resolution or resiliation of the contract or the reduction of his own correlative obligation, or take any other measure provided by law.
It also opens a negotiation, very often. A large share of latent defect files settle between the formal notice and the filing of a claim, because that is the moment the seller discovers the matter is documented.
No. The Civil Code requires only a writing. That said, a letter drafted by a lawyer is read differently by the other side and by their insurer, and the cost of a letter is nothing next to the cost of a trial.
That is the most common trap. Repairing first deprives the seller of the chance to come and see, and destroys the proof of the defect. Absent a real emergency: give notice, document, let the seller look, then repair. See how to prove a latent defect.
Silence is a refusal. Once the deadline passes, your remedies are open. Depending on the amount, the next step is the Small Claims Division or the Court of Québec or the Superior Court.
The latent defect file: the four tests, the deadlines, the formal notice, the proof, the expert report, the six steps, small claims court, who pays, the seller who did not know, older homes, water infiltration, the roof, the inground pool and the septic system and the well.
Every article quoted here is reproduced from the official English text of the Civil Code of Quebec and the Code of Civil Procedure published by Légis Québec, both read on September 11, 2026. We give the article numbers so you can read them yourself. We are real estate brokers, not lawyers: we can tell you what the law provides and what your transaction left behind as evidence, but the analysis of your file belongs to a lawyer. When the amount at stake runs past a few thousand dollars, that call happens before the formal notice, not after.
The Loaa & Manseur team, led by Lotfi Manseur and Loaa Al Daow, is the number 1 team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025, 6th RE/MAX team in Quebec, 15th in Canada and in the global top 50 of large residential teams according to the official RE/MAX ranking, computed on actual transactions. Its Google profile counts more than 220 reviews with a 4.9 rating. Its offices are at 55 avenue de l'Équinoxe in Brossard, one bridge from the island, and every broker's licence can be checked in the OACIQ public register. Three things to verify yourself before calling us, and to demand of any other broker.
Also available in French: version française de ce guide.
Published September 7, 2026 by the Loaa & Manseur team, the number 1 team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025, 6th RE/MAX team in Quebec, 15th in Canada and in the global top 50 according to the official RE/MAX ranking. Tell us about your project.
Équipe no 1 de RE/MAX Platine en 2024 et en 2025, 6e au Québec, 15e au Canada et dans le top 50 mondial au classement officiel RE/MAX. Réponse en moins de 24 heures, sept jours sur sept.