Co-ownership solutions – forced sale and forced lease

The right to freely enjoy one’s property within the limits of the law is a fundamental human right granted to all owners; however, particular events and legal limitations may render a property unusable, and this to the detriment of both the owner and effectively the property itself. One such circumstance is co-ownership, or rather disagreement between co-owners which more often than not leads to a deadlock. Commonly, such disputes revolve around whether the property should be sold, at what price and under what conditions.

Fortunately, the law offers a solution for these conflicts and this through a court-ordered forced sale, which eliminates any deadlock created by the conflicting views of the co-owners, but at the same time, allows the dissenting owners to defend their decision to refuse a sale. This procedure is laid down in Article 495A of the Civil Code.

The law states that the majority owners can force the sale and this through a simple procedure. The majority owners must first sign a promise of sale agreement with the buyers where it is clearly stated that the sellers do not own the entirety of the premises being sold and that the promise of sale agreement is subject to a...