When an owner complains to his neighbor about abnormal neighborhood disturbances, this neighbor is responsible for them even if they started before he became the owner, explained the Court of Cassation.
There is therefore no sharing of responsibility between the old and new owners, depending on the date of purchase.
A resident refused to take sole responsibility for repairing the adjoining house, belonging to his neighbor, which had been damaged for several years by water leaks from his home.
The burden of repairs, he said, must be shared with the former owner who was aware of these problems that had appeared for years already when he sold his house.
The problem had indeed been raised several times between the victim and the former owner but, faced with a sudden worsening of the damage, the neighbor victim ended up taking legal action after the arrival of a new owner.
It is the current owner who assumes everything, explained the Court of Cassation, because there is no question of fault. It is just a civil liability automatically linked to the ownership of the building which causes the trouble and which allows the victim neighbor to seek compensation.
It is therefore of no importance, she concluded, that this new owner was not the owner when the first neighborhood disturbances were noted. This principle applies to this owner's insurer, who cannot refuse his guarantee on the pretext that the problems started before the signing of his contract.
The important thing, said the judges, is that the damage has been noted or the claim made since the signing of the contract.
(Cass. Civil 3, 16.3.2022, J 18-23.954).
