In neighborhood communities, disagreements of all kinds usually occur: private use of community space, noise or late payment, are some of the examples of the issues that affect everyone who makes up the property. These, if not resolved by themselves, by the community, or with the intervention of the property manager, usually lead to long and costly judicial processes.
From my personal experience as a neighbor and president of the Community of Owners, in which I reside, I have come to the conclusion that in the Communities of Owners countless conflict situations, which are difficult to address and manage satisfactorily. The current mechanisms for resolving conflicts in this area – through judicial means or General Meeting of Owners – are ineffective and the regulatory framework (Horizontal Property Law, Internal Regime Regulations) offers in most cases insufficient responses, causing a conflict in a Community of Owners represents a setback for it and its Administrator, and its management entails a loss of time and money, and almost always the only way out is to go to court.
Given this situation arises the Mediation as a neutral way to resolve these issues. It is a procedure that makes it possible to address conflicts between people through the intervention of a mediator, who acts as an impartial third party, facilitating communication between the parties. It is a process fast and very effective which is attended voluntarily, avoiding facing a long and complex judicial process.
The importance of mediation lies in the fact that those involved in the conflict participate in the solution of their own problems, and therefore it has a special attraction in the area of the Communities of Owners, since those affected are forced to maintain a viable subsequent coexistence. .
Next, the main advantages of Neighborhood Mediation will be described:
- Time: this type of conflict is resolved in a short period of time (between two to six sessions).
- Economical, since it is a methodology that offers solutions without judicial costs.
- Mediation Agreements help maintain future relationships, communication and understanding are improved. They are durable over time, since the involvement of the parties and the assumption of responsibility in the process produces a long-term effect.
- The agreements satisfy all parties, covering individual and collective interests, which leads to an improvement in neighborhood coexistence.
Property Administrator the ideal professional to intervene as Mediator!
The Property Managers have a close relationship with the Neighborhood Community. The community trusts these professionals to manage conflicts and they have a very important role in proposing to the parties that, when conflicts have worsened, they choose to go to Mediation before going to Court.
Therefore, it is necessary for the Property Administration professional to be educated and trained in techniques and tools that are used in mediation, to address this work more successfully and of course adds a – plus – of professional competitiveness to your service.
