Short answer. Yes. Article 1595 of the Civil Code provides that when the price is payable on a certain day regardless of delivery or transfer of title, and the buyer wrongfully neglects or refuses to pay, the seller may maintain an action for the price even though ownership in the goods has not passed.
What the law says
Where, under a contract of sale, the price is payable on a certain day, irrespective of delivery or of transfer of title and the buyer wrongfully neglects or refuses to pay such price, the seller may maintain an action for the price although the ownership in the goods has not passed.
Civil Code, Article 1595 — Seller's Action for the Price. Read the full provision →
Price action when due date is independent of delivery
The general rule on price actions under Article 1595 is that the seller can sue for the price when ownership has already passed and the buyer refuses to pay. But the article also covers a second, distinct situation: Where, under a contract of sale, the price is payable on a certain day, irrespective of delivery or of transfer of title and the buyer wrongfully neglects or refuses to pay such price, the seller may maintain an action for the price although the ownership in the goods has not passed. If the parties agreed that payment falls due on a fixed date regardless of whether the goods have been delivered or title transferred, the seller can sue for the full price on that date.
The defense: seller's inability or unwillingness to perform
Article 1595 builds in an important defense for the buyer. Even in a fixed-date price action, the buyer may argue that the seller demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to perform. The article provides that it shall be a defense to such an action that the seller at any time before the judgment in such action has manifested an inability to perform the contract of sale on his part or an intention not to perform it. If the seller made clear before judgment that they could not or would not deliver the goods, the buyer has a defense to the price action. A seller pursuing a price action must be ready and willing to fulfill their own obligations under the contract.
When the seller can hold the goods for the buyer
Article 1595 also addresses a third scenario — when the goods cannot readily be resold for a reasonable price and the damages provision does not apply. In that case, the seller may take a specific step: offer to deliver the goods to the buyer, and if the buyer refuses to receive them, notify the buyer that the goods are thereafter held as bailee for the buyer. After that notification, the seller may treat the goods as the buyer's property and maintain an action for the price. This gives the seller who cannot easily find another purchaser a path to a price action even when title has not yet passed — but it requires the seller to first make the offer and notify the buyer.
Practical implications for the seller
If your contract specifies a fixed payment date that is independent of delivery, you are in a strong position. Once that date passes and the buyer refuses to pay, Article 1595 supports a direct action for the price — not merely for damages measured by market difference. You do not have to prove you transferred title or delivered the goods first. However, you should ensure that you have not done anything to signal an inability or unwillingness to deliver. Any such signal before judgment could give the buyer a defense. Your own readiness to perform is what separates a price action from a damages claim.