Neighbour and community (comunidad de propietarios) mediation in Spain: resolve without a lawsuit

What neighbour mediation is

Mediation is a negotiation guided by a neutral person. The mediator does not impose the answer, and either party may leave without signing an agreement.

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A derrama is a special levy approved by the owners’ community for a particular expense. Payment or the dispute can be mediated, but the mediator cannot replace the owners’ meeting or the majority required by the Horizontal Property Act.

Since 3 April 2025, attempting an adequate dispute-resolution method (MASC) is generally a precondition for many civil claims. Mediation is one available method, not the only one, and legislation exempts specific matters and procedures.

For community-fee debts, article 21 of the Act expressly allows mediation, conciliation or arbitration without removing the special payment-order route or its document requirements.

Who it helps

• Anyone in a conflict with a neighbour who does not want a lawsuit — but does not want to keep putting up with it either.
• A comunidad de propietarios with an internal conflict that blocks meetings or splits the building.
• Anyone sharing a wall, yard, roof or boundary who needs an agreement that lasts.
• Anyone who wants to resolve it fast, in private, without the whole neighbourhood learning about the dispute.

Why it works

• It can avoid some of the stress, time and cost of court proceedings when both sides participate in good faith; outcome and duration are not guaranteed.
• The parties build the agreement themselves, so it may be more likely to be honoured than an imposed judgment.
• The process and its documents are confidential, but whether the parties attended and the subject of the dispute are not; the law also sets specific exceptions.
• A properly documented request can interrupt limitation or suspend an expiry period on the statutory terms. Never assume that every deadline has simply been extended.
• It can preserve a continuing relationship: the parties will still share a wall, roof, yard or owners’ meeting.

When it fits — and when not

• Mediation is voluntary: no one must stay or conclude an agreement. When used to meet the pre-court requirement, Ley 5/2012 limits the mediation attempt to three months from the mediator receiving the request.
• Do not delay urgent protection for violence, risk to physical or psychological safety, imminent damage or occupation. Some summary possession claims and interim measures are exempt from prior negotiation.
• A challenge to an owners’ meeting resolution generally expires after three months, or one year if the resolution is contrary to law or the statutes. The challenge does not itself suspend the resolution.
• If negotiation ends without agreement, keep the evidence and calculate the court filing date: LO 1/2025 allows one year for that attempt still to satisfy the procedural prerequisite, without erasing other applicable deadlines.

What to prepare

• A clear chronology: what happened, when, who was involved and what outcome you seek.
• What you already tried. A burofax is a delivery service that can prove receipt and, if content certification is purchased, what was sent; it is not the only valid way to invite negotiation.
• Meeting minutes, community rules, invoices, photographs, messages and any relevant technical or noise report.
• Your room for compromise and, if you act for the community, the meeting resolution or authority that allows the community to be bound.

How it works with RightNOW

• Define the dispute and first check safety, limitation, expiry and any need for urgent measures.
• Invite the other side in a provable form and identify the same subject that a later claim would cover.
• The mediator explains cost, process and confidentiality and records the initial session and closure.
• The mediation agreement is drafted to reflect what you agreed — clearly and in enforceable terms. If it binds the community, first confirm the owners’ meeting had the necessary authority and majority.
• A public deed is a document authorised by a notary, not merely a signed private agreement. The notary checks the statutory requirements and legality; if mediation began during litigation, the parties may seek court approval.

A real case: 22 years of litigation ended in a solution avoiding about €60 million

Common mistakes

• Letting the conflict fester for months until no one is willing to talk any more.
• Going straight to a complaint over something that talking would have solved — and staying enemies for good.
• Confusing mediation with “being right”: it is not a trial, it is an agreement that works for both of you.
• Leaving the agreement oral: it may be valid, but proving its terms and enforcing them is harder, and it is not itself an enforceable title.
• Assuming that if the other side does not cooperate there is nothing to do: there are other routes, and sometimes the proposal alone unblocks things.

The agreement and its legal force

• The signed agreement is binding. To use it directly as an enforceable title, it is formalised in a public deed; if reached during pending litigation, the parties may ask the court to approve it.
• Not everything can be agreed: the notary checks legality, and mediation only covers rights and duties the parties are legally free to dispose of.
• Proof of the MASC records identity, dates and subject. An invitation shown to have been received with access to its full content can also evidence the attempt.
• Confidentiality still applies, but attendance and subject may be proved. Disclosure is limited to an express, reciprocal written waiver by all parties; a challenge to the assessment of costs or a request for exemption or moderation, solely for that purpose; a reasoned criminal-court order; or public-policy protection, especially of minors or physical or psychological integrity.
• An agreement between two neighbours cannot replace an owners’ meeting resolution where the decision legally belongs to the community.

Related guides

Common questions

Official sources