In real estate law, the owner of a property must be able to peacefully enjoy his or her accommodation. In court, an owner convicted tenant neighbors responsible for noise pollution because of their prayers.
Living near a place of worship can give charm to a home: living to the rhythm of the bells, hearing the calls to prayer, attending weddings from your window… Some property buyers, whether religious or not, appreciate this living environment. Others, on the other hand, are absolutely put off by the idea of buying a property located near such a building.
This is the case of Gilles, owner of an apartment in Vitry-sur-Seine. For 9 long years, he fought against a religious community established not far from his home. It all started in 2008, when the Evangelical Unity Mission association began renting premises in a complex of multipurpose rooms belonging to SCI Bacchus. Quickly, Gilles and other residents complained to the owner of the premises about the noise pollution generated by the songs, cries and prayers of the evangelists. In 2009, the Departmental Directorate of Health and Social Affairs (DDASS) carried out various acoustic assessments, all concluding that there was an intolerable level of noise for the neighbors and pointing out the faulty insulation of the walls of the complex.
For its part, SCI Bacchus claims to have undertaken insulation work and installed sound limiters on the speakers and microphones of the rented rooms. However, noise pollution persists. Faced with this situation, Gilles decided to take legal action, in December 2013, against the SCI Bacchus as well as the Mission Évangélique de l’unité association. He demanded an end to the abnormal neighborhood disturbance and requested compensation for the damage suffered.
Experts were commissioned by the Créteil high court to assess the extent of the noise. During unannounced acoustic measurements carried out during the day and at night at Gilles’ home, the legal expert noted perfect audibility of the music and songs sung by the evangelist association. The expert stressed that the presence of sound limiters had no effect on these nuisances, mainly caused by the acoustic level of singers and choirs.
Based on this observation, on August 28, 2015, the court therefore ordered SCI Bacchus to carry out the necessary sound insulation work in all the rooms of the complex, within three months under penalty of 80 euros per day of delay. SCI Bacchus and the Mission évangélique de l’unité association were jointly ordered to pay Gilles 20,000 euros in damages for the damage suffered between 2008 and 2014, as well as 7,000 euros in legal costs. SCI Bacchus alone was ordered to pay an additional 2,000 euros for “abusive resistance”.
SCI Bacchus immediately appealed this decision. During the appeal trial, the company claimed to have carried out the work imposed by the first judgment, but did not present any invoice to prove it. The judges also criticized SCI Bacchus for having expanded their complex by building a new room, just after the first judgment, while the soundproofing problems had not been resolved. According to the magistrates, this attitude demonstrated a “reprehensible levity”, the SCI having clearly decided to develop its activity by denying neighborhood disturbances and exposing its neighbors to new nuisances.
By appealing, SCI Bacchus therefore increased its own sentence. In its decision, rendered on November 17, 2017, the Paris Court of Appeal not only confirmed the judgment of the Créteil high court, but also ordered SCI Bacchus to pay Gilles an additional sum of 9,000 euros in damages, an additional 2,000 euros for abusive resistance and an additional 5,000 euros in legal costs. Result: Gilles received 50,000 euros. Proof that silence is golden.
