The action for damages

Property owner’s rights / Infringements of property rights / Claims – repossession / How we can help you

Rights of the owner of an asset

The owner of property, regardless of its nature (movable or immovable property) has the right to possess, use and dispose of his property as he sees fit, within the limits of the law.

According to the law, all persons, natural or legal, are obliged to respect the right of ownership belonging to the owner and not to prejudice it in any way.

For more details on ownership please visit the Ownership section.

Infringements of property rights

In practice, a number of situations may arise in which the owner of a property is affected / harmed in the exercise of the attributes of his right of ownership by the act of another person, such as:

• where a third party occupies part of the land owned by another person;
• situation where a neighbour unilaterally moves the fence and takes over part of the land owned by his neighbour;
• where a neighbour builds over the property line, thereby affecting neighbouring property;
• when a neighbour draws up his cadastral documentation with the property boundary exceeded;
• where a third party occupies a property claiming to be its owner;
• where a tenant refuses to return the rented property at the end of the lease;
• where a third party wrongfully occupies a property owned by another person without the latter’s consent or acquiescence;
• where a public authority/institution actually expropriates land from a person in breach of the legal requirements for expropriation and without payment of compensation;
• the situation in which an asset is stolen.

Claim action – repossession of property

In all of the above situations, the owner of the property has a legal remedy at his disposal to protect his right of ownership and to regain effective possession of the property: an action for reclaiming it.

An action for a claim is the most important and vigorous legal means of protecting property rights and regaining possession of the property.

The claim consists of a lawsuit settled by the competent courts and ends, if admitted, with a court decision by which the third party holding the property is obliged to hand it over immediately to the true owner.

In the context of a claim for damages, the owner of the property is also entitled to compensation for any damage caused by the impossibility of using his property (e.g. compensation for the lack of use of the property).

How we can help you

Our team of lawyers can provide you with legal assistance and representation before the courts and / or enforcement bodies in order to obtain recognition of your property rights and regain actual possession of the property with damages, if necessary.

More info about the action for damages