Can we exclude an obnoxious neighbour?

Can we exclude an obnoxious neighbour?

I can't take it any more! In what used to be a peaceful block of flats owned by people of good company, living with a new young neighbour has become unbearable: he stores half his belongings in the corridors, lets his dog do his business all over the building and in the garden, and even insults the other co-owners. Several of our neighbours have told us that it would be possible to vote to exclude him from the building at the next general meeting of co-owners. If this is true, how should we go about it?

Cohabitation between co-owners of a PPE is not always easy. Fortunately, the co-ownership regulations generally provide for instruments to be used in the event of conflict, ranging from warnings to mediation. So, in the first instance, you should contact your administrator to put the troublemaker in order, making it clear that his lack of respect for the communal areas and for the people who live in the building could result in severe legal penalties.

As a last resort, art. 649b of the Swiss Civil Code provides that a co-owner may be excluded from the community by court order if, by his behaviour (or that of his tenants or persons for whom he is responsible, such as his children), he so seriously breaches his obligations to the other co-owners that they cannot be required to continue the community. In such a case, the judge may force the excluded co-owner to sell his share of the co-ownership, or even order its sale by public auction.

The conditions for exclusion are very strict, as such a measure is tantamount to expropriation under private law. The decision to take legal action must be taken by a majority of all the co-owners, excluding the co-owner who is the subject of the exclusion request. In the event of a favourable outcome to this vote, each injured co-owner is entitled to bring an action before the competent court; it is therefore not necessary for the entire community of co-owners to act jointly in this process.

However, you will have to show the judge that your charming neighbour has committed a particularly serious breach of an obligation under the law or the co-ownership by-laws that makes it impossible to continue living together, and that the co-owner concerned has been duly warned but has not changed his behaviour.

In particular, Swiss courts have ruled that a person who is perpetually quarrelsome, acting in bad faith and violating the personal rights of other co-owners by permanently preventing good neighbourly relations violates these rights. That said, exclusion decisions are not frequent in practice, which is a rather good sign. You will therefore need to prepare your case carefully and probably be prepared for a lengthy dispute, in the hope that this will make the person concerned think again so that you can resume dialogue and avoid such a drastic end to your relationship.