Locking an easement gate

[EddieWalker]

I realize this doesn't help, but reading this thread sure does reinforce my feeling that when buying land, NEVER have an easement to get to that land, or have one through that the neighbors can use. My brother has been looking for a place here in East Texas for over a year. There have been some great deals that he's come across, but they all had easment issues. It was the one thing that I really voiced a strong opinion on and talked him out of.

In the end, he found a great deal without any easements through the land. I think that if you are buying land to live on, or retire on, it's more important to buy land that will have the minimum amount of stress with it. Easements are stressful. Even if it's all good today, it's just a time bomb waiting to explode when trying to sell the land, or when somebody else buys the land with the easement.

I hope it gets all worked out, but by the sound of things, there's already bad blood flowing. Now it's probably only going to get worse before it gets resolved.

Eddie

 

[jbos333]

The situation at my land is similar, but there is no gate and I am the user of the easement; my neighbor actually owns the easement road. It is about 1/4 mile long log road that allows me to (more easily) access about 30-40 acres of my land that is kind of otherwise blocked off by a steep rise. I don't NEED to use the easement road, it just is the easiest, especially on a vehicle. On foot, I generally use the road on my side of the line.

So, I guess the reason I mentioned this is that I'm the "other guy" in this instance, and I try not to abuse the right to use the road. I will eventually be doing some logging in the future up on the hill and don't want to cause any problems that would prevent me from using the road. Of course, it's the right thing to do anyway.

 

[dmccarty]

Progressive Farmer Magazine has a legal column. Easement issues are covered over and over and over again.

One of the recent columns mentioned that if a parcel has multiple ways of easement one of those easements might be able to be removed. But this is a question for the local lawyer to answer.

Later,
Dan

 

[KermitWC]

Progressive Farmer Magazine has a legal column. Easement issues are covered over and over and over again.

One of the recent columns mentioned that if a parcel has multiple ways of easement one of those easements might be able to be removed. But this is a question for the local lawyer to answer.

Later,
Dan

I am checking into that. My hay guy today told me that since he was able to get to his land via other ways, that I could lock him out. I will ask a lawyer though.

 

[blueriver]

JUST FENCE BOTH SIDES OF THE EASEMENT !! a whole lot cheaper than an attorney ....

 

[Ronbo]

I would tryto just fence along the existing fence. You only have to put up one fence that way, unless the easment says that he can go across the middle of the pasture. If so, I would try to make some kind of mud hole, say feed the cattle right next to the easment.

Ron

 

[dave1949]

I realize this doesn't help, but reading this thread sure does reinforce my feeling that when buying land, NEVER have an easement to get to that land, or have one through that the neighbors can use. Eddie

Ditto that. Deeded right of ways are much clearer if there is an access issue for your land or a neighbors. You get surveyor's pins and dimensions.

Dave.

 

[MossRoad]

The immediate problem is your animals getting out. Tell the guy you are going to lock the gate with a chain with two locks because vandals are letting your livestock out at night. Put your lock on one end of the chain to a fixed point. Put his lock on the other end of the chain to a different fixed point. Make sure there is no way for him to lock the chain and bypass your lock so he cannot "accidentally" lock you out. You can do this by using a chain that runs the full width of the gate. Let him use the more convenient end by the gate latch. Tell him to buy his own lock and you will pay him for it. That way he is the only one that will have a key to his lock and he cannot accuse you of unlocking his lock. Have him meet you out there and he can install his lock himself.

Once that is done, then see if you can open a discussion about buying out his easement, or at least moving it to the property edges, even if it means giving him a longer easement around the edges of the property.

Good luck with this. Do not take it lightly. Get legal advice. Read this thread if you want to read a real horror story about easement legal troubles.

 

[JRobyn]

All this sure makes me grateful for my GOOD neighbors!! Our land shares a "common use access easement" road with our neighbors that is the boundary between the properties. Since my neighbor has only unimproved land and uses it only for occasional hunting, I do all the road improvement and maintenance. Whenever I have done anything involving the easement, I've explained to them in advance what we will be doing, and why, and asked for their approval. We installed a gate and gave them several keys. All has been "no problem".

- Jay

 

[blueriver]

All this sure makes me grateful for my GOOD neighbors!! Our land shares a "common use access easement" road with our neighbors that is the boundary between the properties. Since my neighbor has only unimproved land and uses it only for occasional hunting, I do all the road improvement and maintenance. Whenever I have done anything involving the easement, I've explained to them in advance what we will be doing, and why, and asked for their approval. We installed a gate and gave them several keys. All has been "no problem".

- Jay

It has been said ... your neighbors are only as good as you are a good neighbor. Truly I have never had neighbor problems.