The flow of rainwater on the neighboring land creates an easement.
This is the response provided by the Court of Cassation on May 25, 2023, a resident who asked that the rainwater from the neighboring house be channeled.
During a dispute between neighbours, one of the two demanded that the other install a gutter in order to channel the water from the roof which was spreading over his land. But the owner of the roof refused, explaining that the water had always fallen to the ground, for more than thirty years, without being collected, which had created an easement for his benefit to the detriment of the neighbor who therefore had to bear the flow. Servitude, like property, can be acquired by maintaining a position in full view of all for more than thirty years.
The thirty-year prescription can only create a right if the servitude is apparent, visible, so that everyone is aware of its existence, argued the plaintiff to imply that he could have been unaware of it.
But the roof having remained for more than thirty years without modifications, the neighbor was necessarily aware of the existence of the flow of water, given the configuration of the premises, concluded the judges to definitively reject the dispute. This neighbor can therefore not demand the change of what has existed for more than thirty years for the benefit of his adversary.
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