Help! I need legal advice re: easements

[GLyford]

I didn't find out about the phone company buried trunk line cable easement on our property until the day we closed. Since we were in a legal purchase-and-sales agreement, I don't think we could have backed out if we wanted to...we had clauses to back out for problems in clear title (and did exactly that on a previous purchase on a different house) or in the home inspection, but not for "mere" accessory use of the property. Had I known it was a possible issue, I would have asked our lawyer to add a clause in the PNS.

20' wide completely across the property separating 1/4 of the property, no structures on or wires over. It crosses in the best spot to put a garage/shop/shed/barn. We have managed to work around it, but it would have been a lot nicer without it. I have seen phone company guys exactly once, they were out and marked the cable location the year after we bought it, almost two decades ago. The cable is old, idle, and copper, but they still want to keep the possibility of access.

 

[riptides]

I didn't find out about the phone company buried trunk line cable easement on our property until the day we closed. Since we were in a legal purchase-and-sales agreement, I don't think we could have backed out if we wanted to...we had clauses to back out for problems in clear title (and did exactly that on a previous purchase on a different house) or in the home inspection, but not for "mere" accessory use of the property. Had I known it was a possible issue, I would have asked our lawyer to add a clause in the PNS.

20' wide completely across the property separating 1/4 of the property, no structures on or wires over. It crosses in the best spot to put a garage/shop/shed/barn. We have managed to work around it, but it would have been a lot nicer without it. I have seen phone company guys exactly once, they were out and marked the cable location the year after we bought it, almost two decades ago. The cable is old, idle, and copper, but they still want to keep the possibility of access.

Yes, utility easements and right of ways suck. As they seem to have no time context on what they can do, when. Here, the electric company used their ROW to "upgrade" existing electrical lines. What that "upgrade" was, meant going from a single pole to twin 120 foot high towers. Since it was on their ROW, no one had a legal argument to stand on.

 

[TheMan419]

Threads like this are always my counter argument to people who 塗ate lawyers. I did not read the thread but I bet if OP talked to a lawyer first things would have come out differently.

 

[riptides]

Threads like this are always my counter argument to people who å¡—ate lawyers. I did not read the thread but I bet if OP talked to a lawyer first things would have come out differently.

He ended up in court if I recall correctly.

The jury thought and ruled and sided with the original posters neighbor. Hence a serious loss for the original poster.

 

[MossRoad]

Threads like this are always my counter argument to people who 塗ate lawyers. I did not read the thread but I bet if OP talked to a lawyer first things would have come out differently.

On some cold, rainy night, make it a point to start reading this thread from the beginning. It's quite the story and quite the lesson. Just awful.

 

[kenmac]

He ended up in court if I recall correctly.

The jury thought and ruled and sided with the original posters neighbor. Hence a serious loss for the original poster.

he lost a case where the neighbor sued him for some mental distress the entire issue caused him. A California jury sided with the neighbor and awarded the neighbor some $400,000

 

[kenmac]

That is the best way to handle that situation.
Sell them the strip of land, redo the deeds and survey's and put up a fence.

No more hassle for you and easier to sell if you need to in the future.

In Al. there is a law stating a person can't be land locked. You either have to deed them legal access to their property,or sell them the land so they can access their property. I met with the guy before he bought the property behind me and discussed where his access would be.
He wanted me to sell him 20ft. I told him that if he ever wanted power to his property, the power company here requires 30ft ROW. He insisted only on the 20 ft. So I sold him 20ft where my property joined another person's property.
Not right through the middle of my property

 

[Midniteoyl]

Those rules are really only ONE rule!

If you mess with his wife, she will file for divorce. He will loose his wife, his real estate, and his money, and she will take the dog just for spite!.

Pick one, the others follow..

 

[Sigarms]

There is nothing wrong with reasonable easements. In California, the power company has an easement along power lines so they can do trimming which, in turn, prevents wildfires. No easement = a lot more fires. We have irrigation ditches that deliver water to us and neighbors. There is a 10 ft easement along the property boundary so people receiving the ditch water can do routine maintenance like unplugging a stoppage, etc. I've owned many properties with easements and they have all been ho-hum boring and not a problem at all.

An HOA, on the other hand, is sort of like the nuclear bomb of easements. If a few "leaders" get in power, it can be miserable for the rest.

Never new California was reasonable

News flash, when it comes to the power company, it's called eminent domain. The reality is EVERYONE is susceptible to the government needing land for whatever reason, and at that point, reasonable or not, you're probably screwed because you'll have no choice.

The issue at hand isn't easments with a ultility company, but another landowner. THAT'S where it can become a cluster.

 

[tractorshopper]

This thread was wrapping up shortly after I became a member if I remember correctly. I read it with high interest.

As others, I found it astounding based on the information we were presented and the OP seemed like a really stand up guy in light of it all. He really tried to keep his sanity and along the way and even after. I must say that I felt terribly sorry for him, still do, and genuinely hope that things find a way of coming around for him and his family twofold in the positive direction. I don't think he's posted in years now and maybe he's quit because it was bringing up hard memories.

I will say that I am very grateful to him though for capturing this whole saga here for others to learn from. I know if I purchase another property, I'll be fencing or marking boundaries immediately upon possession even if with a single strand of barbed wire fencing, or better yet, if the land I'm looking at has any kind of neighbor's stuff encroachment from any direction or some strange easement not directly already along a property line, I'll probably just keep looking for something else.