Specific aspects of taking a negatory action to protect the rights of the owners of property in a block of flats

Introduction: the paper analyzes application of the negatory mechanism as a remedy for the protection of the joint shared ownership right to common property in a block of flats. The purpose is to articulate the general approaches to identifying the reason and the subject matter of the negatory action, the fact and means of proof in the respective cases, as well as the proposals to improve the practices in applying civil, housing, and procedural legislation by the court of general jurisdiction and arbitration courts. Methods: the dialectical approach serves as the methodological basis for the research. General scientific (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, system-based approach) and special scientific methods (technical legal, comparative legal approaches) are applied. Results: the paper deals with standard situations which require taking a negatory action to restore the ownership right to common property; the respective law enforcement practice has been examined, different approaches in particular categories of cases have been identified. Conclusions: a court-established fact of using, modifying an object of common property in disregard of the procedure for obtaining approval of the owners of property in a block of flats (prescribed in the Housing Code of the Russian Federation) is a sufficient reason for satisfying the negatory action aimed to stop unlawful behavior of the defendant and to restore the demandant’s violated right. This approach can also be applied in case of such actions taken by one of the owners of property in a block of flats as placing signboards on the facade of the building, installing cable television equipment, communications, Internet lines, as well as in case of situations connected with bringing the defendant’s indoor space in line with the requirements of the current legislation. This approach may only be changed if there is established special legal regulation to handle particular types of exploitation of common property in a block of flats.