Definition of an easement

Vermonster · Nov 8, 2001

First and foremost, I'm not a lawyer.

Having said that, I might suggest you consult with one. It will likely be money well spent. An competent attorney should be able to give you an informed opinion on what you can and can't do based on the rights assigned by the easement. An attorney may also be able to recommend a series of steps you could take "privately" now that would be looked at favorably by the courts should it ever be necessary to take things to that level.

From your description, it doesn't sound like having her sign a piece of paper will have a material effect on her driving habits.

Good luck!

pdxman · Nov 8, 2001

You know what Vermonster, the more I thought about it today the more I think your recomendation is probably best. I did not send the letter, mainly, I want to be sure it doesn't backfire on me adversely. As I have been going thru the past title information on the involved properties, some uncertainty has come in. Mostly, back to the main reason for this topic...the easement. The title paperwork and property descriptions are written in a manner that should be properly conveyed to me by a professional. As I read this stuff, I'm not so certain anymore that I actually own the real property of the easement. At one time, the real property may have been deeded to (god forbid) the crazy woman and her husband. I don't think so, but until I know for certain I may just hold off. The reason I am not so cerain anymore is some verbage in my property description. It states "Property also includes a non-exclusive road easement as defined as..." This is the same verbage that appears on my brother-in-laws property description. I would think that if I was the real property owner, it would be stated otherwise. Anyway, I start thumbing the yellow pages for an attorny and hope the $ isn't too much.

ERNIEB · Nov 8, 2001

I have been involved in two easement disputes. The first ended up in court the second did not. I highly recomend seeing an attorney. Not just for the reasons you stated, but also because easements as written up on deeds are often vague, and so are the laws concerning easements. When I would ask my lawyer, "can I do this or can I do that?" Often he would say " Well, the law doesn't say you can, and it doesn't say you can't"
The other thing I would say is, think it thru, because quite frankly, your going to make an enemy. Is what you hope to gain worth having a crazy woman for an enemy living that close to you?

Ernie

Anonymous Poster · Nov 9, 2001

Also go down to county records and get a copy of the woman's property deed...

It would help to do a property title search and go back in time to the original property as a whole before it was split off in pieces to determine the original intent of the easement and the actual owner of the easement property in question...

Remember, only one property owner who pays the taxes owns the easement property {also check county tax maps and drawings}, while many property owners may have legal rights of use to that property...

butzkeg · Nov 9, 2001

pdxman, you can find darn near anything you want on the internet. I just went to www.ask.com , then I asked the question, "what is an easement?". My answer is posted above.

I would have to agree with the posts above that you should go talk to a lawyer. Handle it properly up front and have all your bases covered.

My house is on an easement as well, but it's owned by my parents. My sister also lives there, and communication for us has always gone well.

The original intent, description of and the use of the easment would have been laid out when the land was first split. I would believe that information is what would be the legal contract to follow. Something a lawer could explain the best.

Good luck to you, as a bad neighbor can be a real hassle.

dummy · Nov 9, 2001

If you look on your copy of the plat, find the engineer that signed off on it. That person should be able to tell you everything that you would want to know about your easement(definitions, where to's, etc.) Might still need a lawyer, but these guys are the experts for this stuff.

woodmills1 · Nov 10, 2001

the reply from john miller is really on target, wether you get legal help or not. if you do the research all the way back to before the separation of properties that required the easment you will have the knowledge of how it was created and for who's benifit. certain types of easments do not go away unless specifically deeded away. by doing this research you will also save tons of money if you do hire legal help because the majority of the time consuming paper trail will be done. i did this for a 60 acre parcel i bought 10 years ago. i did the research at the registry of deeds then sought legal opinions from two lawyers. both were relativeley inexpensive, considering the enormous hourly charges of lawyers. and both came to the same conclusion. i then sent the info and opinions to the affected property owners, who had their own lawyers look at it and give them the same opinion. i ended up getting much more than i though was possible by negotiating with the property owners and avoiding the huge costs of a protracted legal battle. if your registry of deeds is computerized you will get good at research in no time. reading old english however will take patience and a magnifying glass. it took my wife and i days to figure out that a previous owner we though was whosoever really was someone named Grosenover. imagine the legal charges at 300 bucks an hour for that! we even found an old deed that described our street, now known as bush hill road, as the road leading over berry bush hill. i also found a deed from 1860 that was notarized by the purchaser of the property, and you thought fraud was a recent invention.

James "woody" Mills

pdxman · Nov 19, 2001

Met with a real estate attorney this morning. Heard some things I wanted to hear and didn't want to hear. The easement property belongs to me. But this does not entitle me the right to impose rules for the driveway. These must be agreed upon and can be included into the joint maintenance agreement of the easement. Then recorded into the county records. Most of my options include costs that I feel may exceed the value of what I expected to gain (in writing) but may have no affect on the outcome (safety). The simplest and probably most effective advise the lawyer gave me was to either talk or write to the offending neighbor about their driving habits and my concern for childrens safety. It is a very reasonable issue and no one should hold that concern against me.