Part of the property as an overall participation

Hello,

we bought a plot of land last year. As long as we are still waiting for the building permit, we are using the plot as a recreational property.

We were on our plot yesterday and wondered why 3 of our neighbors had placed their yellow bags and residual waste bins on our property.

I politely asked our neighbors what that was supposed to mean and why our property should serve as a storage area for garbage. Even though we do not use our property every day, we do not want any garbage on our property.

An elderly neighbor then told me that there is a green strip about 1 meter wide between the street and the property. This green strip surrounds the street on both sides and belongs to the city. The street itself is a private road in joint ownership, i.e. the road is half privately owned by the residents, but all supply lines belong to the city. My notary explained this joint ownership to me during the purchase contracts as a relic from Prussian times. It is only occasionally found in some cities in NRW.

I then contacted the land registry office to find out who owns the green strip in front of my property:

Answer:

Dear Sir,

The owner of the parcel (street) is the joint ownership represented by the city. Please contact the city with your question whether you can purchase part of parcel 123.

The land register states that I am also a co-owner of the street as a resident (joint ownership).


Am I then allowed to forbid my neighbors from placing their garbage on the green strip in front of my property? Or may I then place my garbage in front of their properties next year? All neighbors have such a green strip that supposedly belongs to the city.

----

By the way: The same neighbor yesterday unprovoked suggested that I mow my lawn because the grass seeds supposedly blow onto her property and cause her to have more weeds.

I assume that the yellow bags and bins were emptied on the same or the next day, right? If that is the case, then it has probably "become customary" to place them in front of the property to be emptied on the day of collection or one day before. This should then possibly regulate itself if your house is located there. However, the strip basically belongs to all of you and the city, so they are probably allowed to place it there (for emptying purposes).

Hopefully, this will sort itself out once you live there, although, of course, one never knows. Putting your rubbish in front of another property would probably be legally just as acceptable, but it would not contribute to good neighborly relations. It is a sensitive issue if they now consider this to be a habitual place.

Edit: If I understand correctly, you own a fractional share of this area. However, it should be noted that this share is only fictitious and not assigned to an exact physical area. You thus own a share of the entire area without it being defined which part exactly.

I assume that the yellow bags and bins were then emptied on the same or next day, right? If that is the case, it has probably "become established" to place them on the property in front of the house on the day of emptying or one day before. That should possibly regulate itself if your house is located there. However, the strip basically belongs to all of you and the city, so they are probably allowed to place them there (for emptying purposes). Hopefully, it will regulate itself when you live there, but of course, you never know. Putting your trash in front of another property would probably be legally okay as well, but it would not contribute to good neighborly relations. It is a sensitive topic if they now consider this their habitual place.

Actually, you could certainly have talked about it. However, our neighbor said yesterday in a very firm, demanding tone that the garbage collection picks up the trash at this location and we have to get used to it. Yesterday, we roughly counted about 7 yellow bags and 2 residual waste bins on the green strip in front of our property. As far as I know, there is no "right of habit." We still need to survey the property anyway. We will then see exactly where the property boundaries run. If it does not stop next year, we will also place the trash in front of their properties. The term "gemeinschaftliche Eigentumsfläche" (community ownership) bothers me. Allegedly, I am also an owner of this community. But does that count as the immediate area in front of our property, or am I also an owner of my neighbors’ street? So also an owner of the street section of the first house, which is about 70 meters away from our property? The private path is about 90 meters long and currently has 7 adjoining houses. With ours, there would then be 8 houses. Can my neighbor force me to mow the lawn?

But does that count as the immediate area in front of our property, or am I also the owner of the street of my neighbors? So also owner of the street section of the first house, which is about 70 meters away from our property?

You own an unallocatable share of the whole. So also 70m away.

So that basically sounds like partial ownership to me! The notarial deed should then actually list at least two parcels of land, namely:

- once your building plot
- and secondly the private road with a designated co-ownership share

At least that's how I would interpret it, in this case you own the share "x" of the entire road, without being able to assign it. So it is fictional or let's put it this way, you own the share "x" of every square meter of the road. And it looks the same for the others, if the "waste collection point" is now at your place, then that is certainly annoying, but possibly completely legal and at most you can talk to the neighbors about it.

Is your property located at the beginning of the road? If yes, then it may also be the case that this results from the fact that the garbage collection service does not drive into the road.

I advise keeping a low profile.

We will then see exactly where the property boundaries run.

The aerial photo doesn’t bode well for you:
[ATTACH alt="Luftbild_Ausschnitt.png" type="full"]46703[/ATTACH]
Carport and driveway apparently protrude into the communal property. Of course, only the survey will provide clarity. Then you can make a fuss. But good neighborliness works differently.

So also owners of the street section of the first house, which is about 70 meters from our property?

Yes.

Can my neighbor force me to mow the lawn?

No. But she can ask you to do so.

in a very firm, demanding tone

Well. The natives have to mark their territory. You don’t have to put up with everything, but at the beginning giving them a chance to get to know you – and not just from the unpleasant side – certainly wouldn’t be wrong.

Can I then forbid my neighbors from leaving their trash on the strip of grass in front of my property?

No. The area is probably even publicly designated. Ask the municipality.

All neighbors have such a strip of grass, which supposedly belongs to the city.

It is only a parcel of land. So the strip of grass does not exist as an independent area that can be assigned to an owner.