Short answer. Yes. Under Article 1588 of the Civil Code, when you refuse to accept goods that were properly placed at your disposal without just cause, title passes to you from that moment. The refusal itself transfers ownership — you now bear the risk of loss or damage to the goods.
What the law says
when the buyer's refusal to accept the goods is without just cause, the title thereto passes to him from the moment they are placed at his disposal
Civil Code, Article 1588 — Wrongful Refusal Passes Title. Read the full provision →
Title passes at the moment of refusal
Article 1588 of the Civil Code states the rule plainly: if you refuse to accept goods that were properly placed at your disposal and your refusal has no just cause, title passes to you at that very moment. This is not a discretionary outcome — it is the legal effect that the Civil Code attaches to an unjustified refusal. The seller's obligation to deliver has been fulfilled; ownership shifts to the buyer even though the buyer refused to take physical possession.
What 'placed at your disposal' means
The trigger for Article 1588 is that the goods were placed at your disposal — not that they were physically handed to you. This distinction matters. A seller who brings the goods to an agreed location, or who makes them available for pickup at the designated time and place, has placed them at the buyer's disposal. The buyer's failure to physically receive the goods does not prevent title from transferring once they were properly made available and the refusal was unjustified.
The condition: no contrary stipulation under Article 1523
Article 1588 applies only if there is no stipulation as specified in the first paragraph of Article 1523. Article 1523 addresses delivery to carriers and contains a rule that can be varied by agreement — for example, a contract may provide that delivery to a carrier does not constitute delivery to the buyer. If your contract contained such a provision, the Article 1588 rule may not apply in the same way. Where there is no such stipulation, the default rule — title passes on wrongful refusal — governs.
Risk of loss follows title
Because title passes to you from the moment the goods were placed at your disposal, the risk of loss or deterioration also passes to you at that same moment. If the goods are damaged, stolen, or destroyed after you wrongfully refused them, that loss is yours — not the seller's. The seller has fully performed and cannot be held responsible for what happens to goods that you already legally own but declined to take into your actual possession.
What counts as a 'just cause' for refusal
Article 1588 operates only when the refusal is without just cause. Just cause exists when the goods delivered do not conform to the contract — wrong quantity, defective quality, different items, or delivery at the wrong time or place. If you had a legitimate reason to reject, title does not transfer under this provision and the seller remains in breach. The question of whether your particular reason qualifies as just cause depends on the terms of your contract and the facts of the delivery, and that assessment is best made with a lawyer who has reviewed the documentation.