What to do in the presence of unmaintained land (uncultivated or rubble)?
Verified 12 April 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
An owner is obliged to maintain his land. If the land next to yours is not maintained, there are remedies available. The steps to take differ depending on whether you know the owner of the land or not.
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Owner is identified
If your neighbor's land is located in a residential area or within 50 meters of a dwelling, you can contact the city hall directly.
Otherwise, you should contact your neighbor to let them know about the inconvenience.
The land is located in a residential area or within 50 meters of a dwelling
You can contact the municipal health and hygiene department directly to ask them to intervene with your neighbor.
The mayor notifyto your neighbor one decree requiring him to restore his land within a certain period.
If, on the day specified in the order, the land has not been rehabilitated, the mayor may to execute it of its own motion at the expense of your neighbor or rights-holders.
The restoration of the land is then carried out by agents of the municipal health and hygiene service of the town hall.
Other case
You must go and see your neighbor to tell him about your embarrassment.
If he doesn't act, you owe him send simple mail reminding her of the embarrassment.
If your neighbor does not act, you must send registered mail with acknowledgement.
If despite your various letters your neighbor still does not act, you have the possibility to use a conciliator of justice (free of charge) or mediator (paid approach) or participatory procedure (paid approach with recourse to a lawyer) for find an amicable solution. This is mandatory in order to be able to appeal to the court of first instance.
If you have not found an amicable solution, you can take to court that your neighbor rehabilitate his land and compensate you for your damage.
Owner is unknown
When the owner of the land is not identified, you can contact the municipal health and hygiene service of the town hall.
If the owner is not found, the mayor sets up a record of abandonment of land and order the necessary rehabilitation work.
The work is then carried out at town hall expenses.
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