Help! I need legal advice re: easements

[phantom309]

Good luck mdbarb-

You've got a lot of guys pulling for you here. You're fighting the bad neighbor that we've all had to one degree or another.

Mark

 

[riptides]

Interesting - At the most basic point of legal stuff..... Is not Ingress and Egress passage through something. And if that passage is already present then what recourse is there to expand or improve upon it?
Is not expanding or "improvement" placing a burdon on the land/owner?
I would be most interested in your outcome. Good luck.

-Mike Z.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color=blue>...Is not Ingress and Egress passage through something. And if that passage is already present then what recourse is there to expand or improve upon it? ...</font color=blue>

The neighbor only has rights to go from point A to B & from B to A across property that does not belong to him by way of an easement in his deed. This neighbor can not move a speck of dirt on someone else's property.

If this neighbor doesn't like the already narrow 10' wide passage on his 20' easement rights... tough! He has essentially stood on his rights all these years accepting this narrower passage up until now...

You just may have to put up a multi-strand barbwire fence along this easement path (on both sides) to protect your animals you plan on getting someday... /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

While you're at it... you might as well run barbwire around that one section of property to prevent any further "junk/abandoned" vehicles from destroying/polluting anymore of your property... /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

<font color=blue>"Anyone can claim adverse possession by…being open (for the whole world to see, can’t be secretive), exclusive (only that person, no one else), continuous (the clock cannot be broken or the time starts over)and hostile and notorious (ex.-that person posting “No Trespassing Signs” on your property), and under claim of ownership for the statutory period of that state… (again…winning is another issue)"</font color=blue>

John, it's always been my understanding that a part of "open, continuous, hostile and notorious possession" included paying the property taxes and any other assessments which become due and payable on the subject property. Absent that stipulation, virtually any squatter could claim ownership of parcels deeded to absentee owners.

Obtaining or codifying an easement is one thing. Getting legal title is quite another.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color=blue>...Anyone can claim adverse possession... Getting legal title is quite another...</font color=blue>

Absolutely Gary... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

You must cross all the "t's" and dot every "i" to gain adverse possession and even then a judge would be reluctant to relinquish one's property to another... It's very very hard to accomplish... and normally the odds are against one succeeding...

One main problem is false hope is given to the neighbor, thinking they will "get" this "free" "unearned" land by some legal maneuverings... the money is constantly pumped into the legal system to "win" for both sides... "a tit for a tat", constant flow of legal briefs back and forth, a few years of wasted time, a few ulcers, and mostly many dollars spent later... you're back at "peg 1" where everyone started, everybody signs a release discharging all claims and you think "what was exactly accomplished?..." /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

 

[heehaw]

from what i understand, a gate can be installed that the person has to stop and open to do the egressin and ingressin; the other option, i have been told, the only one that can cancel an easement is the one that gave the easement, unless it was purchased?? thats why the local power co. always gives a dollar for an easement??
heehaw

 

[mdbarb]

This is exactly what I see coming down the pike.
We have filed so many papers back and forth that I don't even know what we are doing right now.
It's frustrating reading some of his comments in his complaint i.e. that he has paid taxes on this grassy knoll area - well he hasn't. I paid taxes on my parcel and he on his. How he can constue that some of his taxes also went towards some of my land baffles me. He states they always assumed this portion was theirs"based on comments from the seller's agent" ! Who would consider any statements by a sellers agent to be fact?
Also he states we never use this area and DON'T NEED this area! Like that means he should get it.
Now he has taken to peeling out right after each speed bump but he quickly has to slow down as the speed bumps are 50 ft apart, then he peels out again at the next on. This should get old for him pretty fast. This guy is 69 but is acting like a juvenile.
The latest letter from his lawyer: He wants us to remove the speed bumps and install a parabolic mirror at the corner of our barn. Like a mirror is going to slow him down when speed bumps don't. I guess he feels if he sees no one in a glance to the mirror he can take the corner fast. Also for a week or so he would stop at the barn corner aabout 75 ft from my living room and honk his horn then proceed. This was supposedly to alert anyone to get out of his way. I asked him to stop and he did. Now the lawyer says our "refusal to permit honking significantly increases the danger of this roadway and places their crossing of it for any purpose in the realm of assumed risk"
i am new to the ways of the system but i find it absurd that we are spending thousands of dollars discussing things like honking horns< when we should simoly be determining exactly where the easement lines are

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I have no idea what CA law is like on the RV issue, but around here (Indiana) it's a fairly simple process to have a vehicle declared abandoned and then towed by the municipality. We simply call the municiplaity stating there is what appears to be an abandoned vehicle on you property. They come out and tag the vehicle (really ugly bright orange sticker) announcing to whomever it must be moved within a certain period of time (thirty days on the complaint of the municipality, seven days on the complaint of the owner of the real estate). At the end of that period, if the vehicle is still there the municipality tows it to their impound and the impound fees begin. Twice a year they auction off unclaimed vehicles.

I would think even a state like CA would have something like this, especially with all the vehicles they must have abandoned. I'd also think your attorney should have already addressed this with you.

If nothing else, call some area shopping centers and ask them what they do with abandoned vehicles on their parking lots. It can't hurt to learn a little that way. Maybe then you can at least ask your attorney why their method wouldn't work for you.

Good luck to you in this. I've been in litigation for over a year now on a deal with a neighbor and I know it's no fun.

 

[TimSullivan]

I have read your posts and wonder if California has the equivalent of the New York frivolous litigation statute? An attorney in our area just got nailed for a 1.9 million dollar judgment. The attorney has to pay because he should have know better and advised his client not to go to court time after time.

Maybe that is why your neighbor now has a new lawyer. Your lawyer might want to point out that you have already been to court on very similar issues to the new lawyer for your neighbor. If he files again then he cannot say he, the lawyer, did not know about the past court rulings.

You have more patience then I do. I told my son, the attorney, about the problem and he wanted to know what is up with the judge and the lawyers involved. This is not an issue that should be before a court but negotiated between the parties or mediated by a third party. The law is clear as are the facts, weather your neighbor thinks so or not. I do not have to tell you that court time is expensive and the issue is not difficult or complicated. You own the land and he has the right to pass through on the right of way. That should be it. The right of way is the road not some wandering line that a surveyor paid by your neighbor put to paper. I know one lawyer in my family that would love to get that surveyor on the stand to explain the survey and how it follows the law of the State of California.

A good mediator will find in your favor and not look to find some 50-50 settlement. The mediator has to follow the law and not take anything from you that is protected by those laws. I will say it again you own the land and your neighbor has the right to cross it at the right of way and that is it.

If your neighbor continues his legal and other harassment, I would sue him for all the legal fees after the next round. You may need to also add punitive damages to the suit but they are hard to collect. He has a perfect defense, his lawyer advised him to sue.

Wow, did I write all that. I guess I got carried away. I hope that you do well and I think I am blessed with the neighbors I have. Your problem makes me appreciate them that much more.

 

[RJohnson]

Well looking on the bright side, I see two things:
1) If this link continues much longer you will soon be a gold member/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
2) Since he is 69, maybe you will outlive the SOB.

Best of Luck!

Randy