Negative action

The negative action is the instrument available to the owner of a property right so that his property is not disturbed.

This action is within the catalog of civil actions and seeks not to disturb the property right of a person. This disturbance cannot be possessory, that is, negative action cannot be brought so that a person stops owning a property. For that problem there is the property claim action.

In this case, the negative action is for other types of disturbances other than those of possession.

Characteristics of the negative action

The main characteristics of this action are:

• It is a civil action, that is, it can only be filed in civil jurisdiction.
• Defend property rights.
• It can only be exercised by the owners of the property right (either natural or legal person).
• It is directed against the person who is disturbing the property and has no right to do so. In some cases, the disturbance may be considered, but if it is legitimate, the property owner will have to bear it.
• It materializes through a lawsuit and initiates the judicial process.
• The disturbance must consist of acts done by the person and not facts caused by nature.
• This disturbance must not be punctual but must extend over time.
• Who must prove that you are not unlawfully disturbing property is the defendant.
• The plaintiff has to prove that he has that title to the property.

Types of action

Within the negative action there are two large groups:

• Action for injunction: In this case, the owner of the property right files this action so that the judge paralyzes the disturbance that that person is causing on the property.
• Action for abstentionOn the contrary, in this case, the owner of the property right files this action for the judge to declare the abstention from causing any disturbance to the property.
• Removal action: The owner of the property right files this action so that the judge decides when it comes to eliminating the effects caused by the disturbance.

Examples

To better understand when this negative action is used, we are going to see two examples.

• "A" lives in a condo building and his downstairs neighbor "B" makes annoying noise in the wee hours of the morning. This causes the enjoyment of the property for «A» to be disturbed and therefore could interpose this negative action so that said disturbance would cease.
• «A» has a house and a telephone operator decides to carry out works on its façade to build a communications infrastructure. «A» can bring this action to stop the disturbance in his right to property.