Is the Car Port illegal?

[Julijana Zappia]

We purchased an apartment (1 of 6) in a beautiful newly built villa just outside of Porec last year. Everything went through super smoothly. However when we returned a couple of weeks ago we noticed that the neighbours who own one of the apartments have constructed a car port that can only be described as a 'blot on the landscape' within the communal parking area. Needless to say we are not happy. Not only does it look awful (it may have knocked 1000s off the value), but more importantly they have now delineated their parking space (surprise, surprise, it is the closest to the entrance) by the construction of this monstrosity. None of the other apartment owners were consulted before the construction. I'm sure they would not approve too!

The developer of the villa (and agent) still owns 2 of the 6 apartments and when I voiced my displeasure he said it was difficult to contact all owners, as one one of owners is seriously ill, plus it could have looked a lot worse! I was stunned by this reply.

At present there is no management group, until all apartments are sold, and the developer is managing the upkeep of the communal areas of the property (gardens and pool).

We do not know all the neigbouring owners and I don't think the developer would be keen on supplying their names and addresses for us, so that I could contact them to see if they also dissaprove of the contruction.


My questions:

As in the UK, is there a legal obligation in Croatia for them to have consulted all neighbouring apartment owners before going ahead, as you can imagine, what would happen if we all constructed what we liked, where we liked on the property and grounds?

Can we enforce a removal of the 'car port'?

If someone could offer help/suggestions on the way we should proceed, and may have an apartment with a management group, I would be most grateful.

Thanks.

[Julijana Zappia]

Hi Peter

Hope you and Ksenija are well. You may have missed my previous posting regarding this car port problem. I would welcome your thoughts if you get a minute.

Many thanks.

p.s. I did also email Ksenija (our Lawyer in the buying process) but have not heard back from her either.

[Peter Ellis]

Hi Julijana!

I was just about to respond, thinking the main post was a new one, spoke to Ksenija about it, then scrolled down and realised that there was another post and the original one was a fortnight ago. Sorry! I hadn't noticed it earlier.
Ksenija is checking the contract to determine ownership of the carpark and also sending me the address, so that I can go down there and have a look.
I would have thought that there was an obligation to consult and that they wouldn't be allowed to construct closer than certain limits from the borders of their property, which if it is just a parking space would be technically impossible. However, I'll go and have a look and Ksenija will check.

[Julijana Zappia]

Hi Peter and Ksenija

Thank you so much for the reply. It is very kind of you to check out the property and contract. As the property is a new built villa with communal parking, gardens and pool, I would have thought consultation with the other 5 owners was necessary (as is the case in the UK), however I am sure Ksenija will cast her legal eye over the documentation and suggest a way forward. If you need the address or directions please let me know.

Thank you!
Kind regards
Julijana

[Peter Ellis]

Hi Julijana!

It seems the car port is illegal. The contract specifies common use of the car park and swimming pool for all owners. Any owner can use any car parking space at any time, as the contract does not allocate specific parking places in this development. He has no specific right to any one parking place.

[Julijana Zappia]

Hi Peter

Thank you to you and Ksenija for checking for me. I suspected that was the case. It now seems that the only course of action is to take him to court, or park in his car port. I don't know which one is worse?!

When I'm next there I will have a word with the agent with a view to establishing a courtesy procedure in future for any owner wishing to develop any part of the communal site. Is there a correct way for this to be established?

Julijana