Hello everyone,
I have just joined this forum because I am in need of some urgent help. I received a letter from a géomètre company on the 19/10/2019. The letter states that one of my neighbours has enlisted their services to establish a boundary (division parcellaire pour plans de vente). Our properties gardens border one another. A meeting is to be held on the 30/10/2019 to address the boundary dispute.
The problem is, is that I don’t permanently live in France. I currently live in the UK. I had no prior knowledge to this dispute until Saturday morning. Which means I haven’t had sufficient time to organise a trip over to France. Does anyone know whether I can have a family member attend the meeting on my behalf?
I have detailed documentation dating from 1959. Which states the measurements of my plot. My properties plot is fenced off too. I cannot speak French. However I have a family member who is fluent in French that is able to attend on my behalf.
Can someone please offer me some advice? I’m extremely worried. As a member of my family went to the local land registry(?) office and was told that if I don’t attend my neighbour could take half my garden. I’ve also read online that I will have to pay 50% of my neighbour’s bill?
This seems a bit odd to me, if the OP has owned the property for some time and knows the neighbours then I’m very surprised that the boundary dispute hasn’t been mentioned before. Perhaps Jackie could give us some more info.
Our neighbours house sold about 3 months ago. The surveyors marked where they thought the boundary was with posts - it was where we thought it should be - we signed to say it was agreed.
It was more establishing where the boundary was rather than a dispute.
What leads you to believe this is in response to a boundary dispute? Nothing you have written suggests other than, as @Mat_Davies has said, it is establishing where the boundaries are
Can you not consult the Notaire who handled your original purchase?
I agree with Graham and Mat, it doesn’t sound that ominous to me. Sounds much more like the neighbour getting the cadastral plan confirmed for a sale. [quote=“Rhaegar, post:1, topic:27771”]
division parcellaire pour plans de vente
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If you can have someone there who speaks good french there that would be an advantage, and they can always phone you during the session to keep you informed. We have just bought a neighbouring bit of land that needed géomètre to establish boundaries for the sale. There was one stretch where existing fence was a bit out, but géomètre basically said that if we and neighbours were happy then just leave it where it was.
Thank you for the response. I’ve owned the property for about one year. I’ve never met these particularly neighbours because our gardens meet at a small point. I don’t know their name and have never seen them. I’m really confused.
It was the wording of the letter that led me to believe that it was a boundary dispute. The word “summoning” is used. Which sounds a bit ominous to me. But after reading everyone’s replies, a property sale does seem more likely. The letter is rather vague.
Did they really use the word “summoning”? In a letter written in French??
If the neighbour needs to undertake this formality for the sale, the neighbour will be paying
In which case, I’d suggest you go back to the Notaire who handled the purchase for you. They will have researched any queries in connection with title (it’s their job) and will be in a position to advise.
This thing happens when someone wants to split up their land for sale, for example, in the case of a surviving spouse that has surviving heirs of their deceased partner, and who have forced the claim for settlement. The géomètre will, on behalf of the requestee, issue a summons (convocation) to be present to all of the neighbouring property owners. You don’t have to be physically present and can delegate this to someone else to represent you, but they will have to sign in your stead and make any observations or objections known to add to the findings of the report. Generally, if the requestee has initiated the survey, the other land owners don’t have to contribute to the costs (but one should be wary that they don’t try and play that card). On the day, the géomètre will see if everyone who is supposed to be there has turned up, and then go about their business of attempting to reconcile Napoleonic boundary setting with modern day precision technology, and they will place yellow markers (bornes) at the boundaries of the properties. You will be sent in due course a report which you will be asked to sign, date and send back, with any comments, observations, objections, etc. If there are no objections and every one signs, then the report gets sent to the land registry. If there are objections, then you can take your case to court to officially contest the findings.
Most géomètres are also court appointed experts, so they generally do not take sides with any of the parties, they are there to carry out their job as objectively as possible and try and manage the somewhat heated exchanges that can ensue.
I should add that once the “bornes” have been placed (usually hammered in), you are not allowed to move them, as you can be criminally liable for doing so.
The letter is titled “convocation en bornage”. I had to look up the meaning of the word “convocation”. I believe the word means “summons” in French. The English definition is a formal meeting. Have I got the wrong end of the stick? Reading through the letter again with the information @Mat_Davies gave, I think it may be due to a property sale. An “immobiliére” is mentioned. Initially I thought that was referencing the developer that built my neighbour’s home.
Jackie… is it possible for you to scan and post the letter here on the forum. Blank out anything private, but give us the content… then we may be able to really get to grips with what is going on.
(I get convocations for every committee I am a member of… every time they have a meeting, they send out a convocation… it’s a notification/invitation to attend.)
You said earlier that it is about “division parcellaire pour plans de vente” - vente means sale.
There is nothing sinister about a convocation in French. It is simply asking you to attend a meeting.
Here’s a copy of the letter. I couldn’t seem to decipher whether the letter was referring to the sale of land or a property. However after reading through everyone’s replies, I think it’s referring to my neighbour’s property sale. I think they just want to confirm the boundaries?
