The joint ownership, separating line between two adjoining properties, can lead to disputes between neighbors. Any survey of the rights and duties of owners.
What is the common ownership? This is an interest in land (attached to a well) which have two neighbors on the wall or a fence separating their property. Governed byArticles 653 and following of the Civil Code , this right is also mentioned in Article 7 of theLaw of 10 July 1965 on condominiums .
When the wall is attached, it is co-owned by the two neighboring landowners. They thus have the same rights on the entire wall, and not just half, but also the same obligations towards each other. " This is not an easement but a real property right which two people enjoy in common ," says the website of Notaries of France.
Rights…
Each of the owners has the same rights on the party wall, and can therefore do the work he wants. There may install plantations or even use its portion of the wall for the purpose of display advertising. It is nevertheless advisable to keep current the other owner, and obtain his agreement in writing. Property rights are fully exercised, subject of neighborhood nuisance - eg sunshine deprive his neighbor.
If an owner wants to raise his wall, he must also receive the approval of its neighbor. The operation will be done at its expense, and the upper part of the wall belong to him exclusively, indicates the Article 658 of the Civil Code . Another neighbor may however ask acquire joint ownership of that part of the wall, paying half the cost of the work.
... and obligations
The maintenance of the wall lies with two neighbors. Each participant for half the necessary expenses ( Article 655 of the Civil Code ). Except in an emergency (threat of collapse, flooding ...) in which case the consent of the neighbor is not mandatory. But the co-owner who performed only the work will have to establish the urgency of the operation (judgment of 14 June 2006) for a refund.
One of the co-owners may give up work, deciding to abandon his right. For this, it must perform a deed issued to the mortgage. The judges agreed, however, in a judgment of 3 October 1973, the waiver by " facts involving undoubtedly the desire to give ."
Evidence of joint ownership
The wall is attached assumed when separating a building, a courtyard and a garden or enclosures in fields, unless otherwise specified. But in any case, this is a rebuttable presumption. The proof can be provided by other means:
- For a title
A title, deed, will specify if the fence is private or terraced. But it must be common to both neighbors have great probative value, otherwise " it is only a presumption subject to the discretion of the judge ," say notaries.
- For the thirty-year prescription
An individual who invokes this prescription called "acquisitive" - that is to say which one can claim a right to the end of this period - must prove that he has behaved in real owner for thirty years. Case law has identified a number of criteria to know: possession must be continuous, uninterrupted, peaceful, public and finally unequivocal.