A Neighbour Is Making Our Lives Hell: What Can You Do?

In this article you'll learn how to deal with a situation where one flat owner is making the other owners in the building's lives a misery. One of the unit owners is, through their behaviour, a nuisance to everyone around them. The other residents are forever dealing with problems caused by them: whether banging on the radiators every night, slamming furniture against the floor, throwing things out of the windows, fouling the common areas, screaming abuse at the neighbours, ringing other neighbours' doorbells in the night, or making unapproved alterations to the common parts. Everyone in the building has had enough. What can you do?

The homeowners' association's procedure against a nuisance owner

As a last resort, the homeowners' association (SVJ) can step in. The first step is for the association to send the neighbour in question a written warning. This warning has to state the following:

• The reason it is being issued: describing what the owner's nuisance behaviour consists of;
• A notice of the possibility of an application for the unit to be sold by court order: the owner has to be told that if they do not stop the behaviour described, the association will be forced to ask the court for a forced sale of their unit;
• A demand to stop breaching their duties: the owner has to be called on to stop the nuisance behaviour described (and, where relevant, to remove its consequences, such as any mess);
• The length of the period for putting things right: the nuisance owner must be given a period of at least 30 days to make amends.

After the warning has been sent, you need to assess whether the owner in question has mended their ways or not. If not, an extraordinary meeting of the association has to be called. At that meeting the owners will vote on whether the association should ask the court for a forced sale of the nuisance owner's unit.

Bringing the action

A majority of all the unit owners must consent to the application being brought. The nuisance owner's vote does not count. If the owners decide in favour of the action, the association files an application with the court for the sale of the nuisance owner's unit, on the ground that this neighbour is breaching their duties in a way that substantially limits or prevents the other unit owners from exercising their rights.

Although this is an exceptional measure, the court can grant such an application, particularly in cases of long-term and intense nuisance.

In conclusion

If another neighbour in your building disturbs the peace over the long term and seriously bothers the other residents, we recommend getting in touch with a lawyer to discuss what to do next. We will be glad to help you in a situation like this.