A co-owner must participate in the legal costs incurred or suffered by the syndicate of co-owners, whether or not he is personally interested in the proceedings, recalled the Court of Cassation.
Legal costs are indeed, in principle, charges relating to the maintenance or conservation of the building, she recalled, and all co-owners are required to assume them in proportion to their rights in the co-ownership.
It cannot be considered, for example, in the event of a lawsuit against one of the co-owners, that the others would not be concerned and would not have to pay costs.
However, a special case arises in this case of a lawsuit by the syndicate against a co-owner. This was the case in the case judged by the Court, the union claiming arrears of charges from the latter, which contested them.
According to the general rule, the co-owner sued by the syndicate may find himself forced to participate in the payment of the charges caused by a procedure brought against him.
The rule is not easy
However, he is exempted from it when the procedure ends in his favor and the judge rules in his favour. The costs of the procedure incurred by the syndicate are then divided between the other co-owners only.
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But the rule is not simple because it is not strict and, specifies the Court of Cassation in a judgment handed down on March 16, the judge, in the event of a dispute about the distribution of these legal costs, can decide otherwise when considering the fairness or economic situation of the parties to the trial.
This means that the judge, without having to explain himself, can decide that equity dictates that the victorious co-owner bear his share of the costs of the proceedings incurred by his adversary…
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