Permits for building an outside wall?

[dolphina]

Hello,
I'll try to make it as brief as possible but as many of you know legal ownership of property can be very convoluted in Croatia.

My father and 3 siblings had inherited the family house. One of my cousins owns the house right next door to us. Unbeknown to us many years ago, my cousin somehow registered himself as owner of our property.

The two properties are divided by an entry way and a narrow laneway.

He was willing to make a deal to give us back the title to property if a piece of land in the back of houses would be sold to him. My aunts were not interested since they then would not have access to their land.

We are presently working on taking him to court over the ownership of our property. Since he lives in the United States, our lawyer sent the court summons in January through the Ministry of Justice in Zagreb, they were suppose to send it to the Croatian Consulate or embassy in the States and then to him.

He denies having received any summons so far.

Today I heard he had built a wall between the two houses, so I'm not sure we can even open the shutters or windows on our side. One of my cousins went to the permit department to see if he had registered and they said no. But I'm not sure exactly which department she went to check.

Does anyone know the legal procedure for building an extension or wall? Where would one go to apply? How do I ascertain he did it legally or illegally?

By the way, my parents and I are the only people that have been using the family house for the last 20 years or more consistently. We go every year, my parents usually stay for over 3 months at a time.

Appreciate any info I can get on this, and thanks.

[3lions]

My impressions are that he cannot just do this, but given he has put your house in his name then you may have to solve that case first. I think and I could be wrong that all the boundaries in Istria are fairly comprehensively documented and even on the internet? I know this as a Planner told us someone was using a bit of our garden and asked us why we were letting him do it. I actually don't think he was doing it on purpose or in a vindictive way. If he is in the US, ask around in Croatia and find out who built this wall.

[Madgolfer]

As a general rule any building structure should be one metre away from the centre of the boundary line between the two properties.

In some cases it is defined as one metre in total, so only 50cm from the boundary line.

A local surveyor or architect will be able to tell you exactly for that area.

You also cannot take away someones historical right of way to access their property.

[dolphina]

Thank you for the replies. We will report it to the inspectors as a start.

[Carol]

or just knock it down/ say you arrived to find it blown over: foundations not done properly

Sometimes in Croatia it is more effective to take the de facto route

[zvekov]

will tentatively agree with carol on this.... the legal system, though exists is very weak... But maybe this issue is really something for lawyers and legal experts as opposed to a property forum... Across croatia there are a multitude of stories of this nature.. Get yourself a good lawyer and prepare to play fair or unfair will be my 2 pence worth of advice

[dolphina]

To Carol: Best idea yet! Just wish I had the gumption to be mean spirited enough to do it.