A young Greek couple was forced to pay a neighbour 500 Euros each time their children were
too loud while playing, a Greek court ruled. Despina Ontantzi is the mother of two young girls and lives in an apartment block in Athens.
“I and my family live on the second floor of the block of flats and one day we had a family celebration. The neighbour, who lives on the first floor of the apartment house came and rang the doorbell and started shouting at us complaining were being too loud. The truth is that the house is not soundproof but my little girls are very quiet. The whole dispute started very mildly and ended up in the courts. His problem is that he has nothing to preoccupy himself with and making myself and my children his target,” says Despina.
She says she feels as though her private life is being invaded. “This can be ascertained in the lawsuit he filed against us”.
She says that her daughters were terrified when he started pounding the ceiling with a pole. “They were terrified and hid under their beds because they thought it was an earthquake”.
“Sometimes when my husband was out to work, he would call his workplace and tell him myself and my children were making a fuss, and that people were coming in and out of my home, leading to me constantly quarreling with my husband”.

“He was waging a psychological war against me,” says Despina.
She claims the neighbour won the first court battle because he had brought a perjurer who falsely testified he was living with him and had experienced the commotion.
The court ruled the woman had to pay the plaintiff 500 euros each time her children were a disturbance.
The man was also seeking 60,000 euros in damages for distress caused by her daughters.

Despina also filed an injunction in the first hearing.
“I was forced to sell my house, which we had bought with so many sacrifices”, she said. The couple moved to another house and are pursuing the matter legally to annul the initial court ruling.