Here's what you should do if your neighbour is harassing you or playing loud music / Gtres
Here's what you should do if your neighbour is harassing you or playing loud music / Gtres

It's not always easy for neighbours to live together, especially if you live in an apartment building or block of flats. Be it loud music, construction work, or noisy animals... there are those who have difficulties in complying with the rules of good neighbourliness. In today's article, aimed at consumers in Portugal and provided for idealista/news by the Portuguese consumer rights watchdog DECO - Associação Portuguesa para a Defesa do Consumidor, we explain everything you can do when you’ve got bad neighbours.

Send your question to DECO, by email to decolx@deco.pt or by telephone to 00 351 21 371 02 20.

"There is a conflict in my condo. One of the neighbours doesn’t respect the rules of good cohabitation, nor those of the building. How can we complain?"

In order to maintain good personal relations in your condominium, the best thing is to try and avoid problems in the first place, but we know that this isn’t always possible.

Therefore, when someone crosses the boundaries, regardless of the type of situation (noise, animals, building work, etc.), you should inform the building manager so that they can have a word with the offending party.

This means first of all having a conversation, alerting the person about the problem/damage they are causing and, if that still doesn’t work to make them stop what they’re doing, you can send a letter by registered post requesting acknowledgment of receipt. If they still insist on causing problems, you can report it to the appropriate authorities.

If the disruption involves intrusive construction work, get some cameras to record the bad behaviour. In cases of noise or smoke and smells, you should contact the police first and only then resort to using cameras, or report the infraction to the Inspectorate General of Agriculture, Sea, Environment and Town Planning or the respective regional authorities where you live. If the actions of these institutions are not helpful, or if someone suffers material or personal damages and wants compensation, it is best to bring a court case against the offending party.

However, since prevention is still the best remedy, the condominium should try to create rules that protect everyone's interests. The homeowners in the building can draw up a document together specifying the building rules and regulations, a sort of code of conduct for co-living in a condominium. It is always possible to include more rules at a later date that prohibit behaviour similar to that which has led to recent misunderstandings.

The purpose of these building regulations is:

  • To help to order the life of the condominium, for example, mandatory fines for people who don’t pay their communal fees;
  • To resolve possible conflicts, for example, if there is a dispute, the condominium members commit themselves to resort to an Arbitration Centre and not to the Courts of Law.