Short answer. Five things under Article 1555: the value of the thing at the time of the eviction, the fruits you were ordered to deliver, the costs of the suit, the expenses of the contract if you paid them, and damages and ornamental expenses if the sale was made in bad faith.

What the law says

The return of the value which the thing sold had at the time of the eviction, be it greater or less than the price of the sale

Civil Code, Article 1555 — What the Buyer May Recover on Eviction. Read the full provision →

You recover value, not the price you paid

The first and largest head of recovery is The return of the value which the thing sold had at the time of the eviction, be it greater or less than the price of the sale. That closing phrase is the one to hold on to. A buyer evicted from land bought cheaply years ago claims what it was worth when he lost it, and the seller cannot answer that he only ever received the old price. It cuts the other way too, so a property that has fallen in value yields less than was paid. The measure is the value at eviction, which means a valuation as of that date is the centre of the claim.

The four other heads

Beyond value, Article 1555 allows the income or fruits where you were ordered to deliver them to the party who won the suit against you, so rentals or harvests surrendered under the judgment are recoverable from your seller. It allows the costs of the suit that caused the eviction and, in a proper case, of the suit brought against the vendor on the warranty. It allows the expenses of the contract if you paid them, which covers the transfer costs buyers usually shoulder. Damages, interests and ornamental expenses are added only where the sale was made in bad faith.

Two conditions that quietly defeat most claims

The warranty is not enforceable on a threat or a demand letter. Article 1557 requires a final judgment by which the buyer loses the thing or part of it. More dangerous is Article 1558: the seller is not obliged to make good the warranty unless he was summoned in the eviction suit at the buyer's instance, and Article 1559 requires the buyer to ask, within the period fixed for answering the complaint, that the seller be made a co-defendant. A buyer who fights the case alone and approaches the seller only after losing may find the claim already gone.

Check what the deed says about warranty

Article 1548 defines eviction as deprivation of the whole or part of the thing purchased by final judgment based on a right prior to the sale or an act imputable to the vendor, and makes the seller answer even if the contract said nothing about it. But the parties may increase, diminish or suppress that obligation. Article 1554 then distinguishes a bare renunciation, which still entitles you to the value at eviction, from a waiver made with knowledge of the risks and assumption of the consequences, after which the seller is not liable at all.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.