Can a community of neighbors take a disputed employment case to court?

BarcelonaThe Express eviction proposal has been the subject of debate in Congress This week, just a few days after a ruling by the Barcelona Court to set a common criterion for occupationsBeyond the measures that have garnered the most attention so far, the Barcelona Bar Association (ICAB) has presented a proposal to empower homeowners' associations to take civil action if the owner has failed to do so in the event of an occupation that creates problems with coexistence or health. This is a "very transversal" solution that goes beyond the criminal sphere, according to the dean of the Bar Association, Jesús Sánchez.

Sánchez explains in conversation with ARA that the measure is "essentially" designed for properties where a drug-related prison has been established or where there is an occupied property engaged in criminal activity. "What the president of a homeowners' association will not do is remove an occupant if the owner of the property remains passive and doesn't care that it is occupied. However, in situations such as drug-related apartments, or when there is a very significant risk of fire, they have the standing to file a complaint," adds the dean of the bar association.

Specifically, the Icab proposes that the president of a homeowners' association, on behalf of the owners' association, may intercede to enforce what the horizontal property law already establishes when it states that neither the owner nor the occupant of an apartment may engage in "activities prohibited in the bylaws that are harmful to the property." This power to intercede would allow the community to go to court not only to stop the nuisance activities that may arise from an activity, but also to report the activities themselves.

As proposed by the Barcelona Bar Association, the president of the community should require the occupants to stop these nuisance activities and, if they fail to do so, request authorization from the owners' association to file a civil lawsuit. In this case, the Icab proposal continues, the judge could issue an injunction and order the occupants to stop these nuisances, with the warning that failure to do so could constitute a crime of disobedience. "We propose that the president have the capacity to take action in cases where, for example, a large investor does nothing. This way, you have direct action representing the community and its interests," adds Sánchez.

With the help of Juntos

To push forward its anti-employment proposals, the Icab (National Council of Workers) has found an ally in Junts to make them become law. In fact, the party has endorsed two of the measures promoted by the bar association. On the one hand, it presented a proposal to the Catalan Parliament to amend the Catalan Civil Code to allow homeowners' associations to intervene if a property contains an occupied apartment that causes problems with cohabitation.

The Icab is also the driving force behind a second proposal on employment that Junts presented to Parliament this Wednesday: a precautionary measure allowing the eviction of an occupied apartment within 48 hours. The bill was passed with the votes of the PSOE, PP, Vox and PNV."A culture has been created in which it seems that nothing happens when squatting. The right to occupy a home doesn't exist anywhere in the world, because the moment it is done, the owner's rights are violated," Sánchez argues about his measure.

"Without room for interpretation"

The proposal, Sánchez emphasizes, does not imply changing the Penal Code "at all" but only includes procedural or civil changes. Referring to the proposal for express evictions in employment, he adds: "Probably, with an appropriate interpretation of the regulations we already have, no modification would be necessary. Since some judges have one opinion and others another, what we are doing with the proposal is leaving no room for interpretation of the regulations."

In fact, this room for interpretation regarding the cases in which a precautionary eviction can be carried out (without waiting for the judicial proceedings to end) has led the judges of the Girona Court of Appeals to establish a unified agreement, in which they endorsed express police evictions without judicial authorization before . "There is no greater legal uncertainty than some saying A and others B in the same situation. We propose a technical improvement to properly interpret when an injunction can be issued and when the police can act," argues Sánchez.

Another court that has recently agreed to unify criteria in cases related to occupations is the Barcelona Court. In this case, the judges did not rule on evictions, but they did agree that the failure of the owner of an occupied apartment to pay their utilities cannot be considered a crime of coercion. "I think that until now the crime of coercion has been misinterpreted; the Court interprets it appropriately and in the same way that a section of the legal system already does," Sánchez assesses, regarding a position that he also considers "common sense."