Let neighbor use my brand new road

[MX5000]

You're right about this. I'm shock to learn that there's no easy way to let anyone use any part of your property. Especially a "neighbor".

I just learned an actual case of a couple being nice people and let their neighbor use the road on their remote vacation property. It was fine a for 12 years until the neighbor got a new girl-friend and wants to develop the property. Their supposely "nice" neighbor sued to take the strip of land by adverse possession. 100' wide for the entire length of the road and "lock" them out from accessing their own property and threaten to tear down the barn that is along the road. The couple eventually won the case but costed them 10's of thousands of dollars on attorney fees. The scary part was that there are many of cases adverse possession prevailed.

Why the heck in this 21st century we still have a crazy law like that? What happen to private property rights?

Because lawyers pretty much run the country. There is no reason for them to fix such stupid laws. They'd make more money arguing in court. It keeps both lawyers on each side of the argument working. Worse yet, forces you to hire a lawyer to protect yourself from another lawyer. Not too many jobs have jokes inspired by such hate as lawyers. Look in the phone book, there's tons of them. They thrive on your misfortune. No question on how I feel about them eh???


Howard

 

[tallyho8]

Why the heck in this 21st century we still have a crazy law like that? What happen to private property rights?

You live in California.
Louisiana USED to be the state whose laws were different from the other states.

 

[AlanB]

It may be in this 5 pages but it probably deserves saying again.

Go read that post about easements from mdbarb on this forum.

It makes me nauseous just thinking about it.

Too me, it is one of those things where it starts out somewhat "minor" and then look what the outcome was. Everything progressed just one step at a time, and from all the posts I read, I cannot see how I would have acted half as well as mdbarb did, but he still got the VERY short end of the stick at the end of the deal.

Man, I would have to just politely decline, and if you feel like you should help the folks, offer to help them get their road improved.

 

[3RRL]

Tom,
I just did that regarding my two "nice" and good looking neighbor gals.
Their road was pretty crappy and muddy so they started using my driveway to avoid a crummy spot on their road. When told me (after I found out already) I offered to repair their "crummy" section. I told them it would be better NOT to use my driveway because the ruts from their truck was causing undue erosion to my road and it could cause a problem for both of us. They camp there on weekends like we do and I wanted to address the problem before it became unmanageable. I also rough graded their entire road which was only 1000' long which made it a lot nicer.
They are VERY grateful and don't use my driveway anymore. But they got the point in the end.
(NO, not THAT point for those of you whose minds are in the gutters)

 

[BTDT]

Something else, like someone has said, what if she/they have a medical emergency, fire, etc, now you've got emergency vehicles traveling down your drive. Maybe, maybe not. I would tell her, sorry, no can do.

 

[Superduper]

........Why the heck in this 21st century we still have a crazy law like that? What happen to private property rights?

There once was a time when a man's handshake was as good as his word. You could bank on it. Times have changed and attorneys are a big part of it. Laws that were simple are now convoluted. I would guess that of all the civil award settlements combined, attorneys probably get a full 25-33%. That is a staggering amount for any profession. No wonder the law lobbies are so much against tort reform. Simplifying laws and reducing litigation makes their golden goose less prolific. In fact, attorneys have been known to manufacter their own business. While there are certainly legitimate class actions suits, I have seen many class action suits benefitting primary the legal team with the principals getting a token award. Companies pay these suits for the sole reason that it is cheaper than a costly defense and almost invariably settle without admitting fault and the primary focus on satisfying the plaintiff counsel.

In any event, the very real threat of legal consequences has consipired to create a paranoid society fixated on either covering their a-- or taking advantage of nice guys. I mean the term "nice guys finish last" has to come from somewhere, right?

 

[N80]

There once was a time when a man's handshake was as good as his word. You could bank on it.

True, but I think there was a hidden corollary to the 'handshake' which was that if you broke your word, or double crossed someone, you might die for it. At least in our early history, particularly on the frontier, you might get shot for breaking your word.

I'm not advocating violence, and in fact, if the lawyers keep us from killing each other over land disputes and shotgun weddings, well, I guess we'll have to give them some credit.

But there is still a little devil on my other shoulder that wonders, usually in private, if the threat of violence, even if very remote, might not be a good thing. (The rational and reasonable answer is NO.) But consider a guy who breaks into your home in the middle of the night looking to take your life's savings which is hidden under your mattress. This guy has to think long and hard about whether or not you have a gun in the bedside table drawer. Now change gears and consider the guy running WorldCom who has also decided to take your life's savings (read: pension plan). Not only is he going to steal your life's savings, potentially ruining your life and all your plans, but he's going to do the same thing to all your friends at the same time. And I'll bet, as he's planning this it never crosses his mind that one of you isn't going to ruin his life but in a sudden and non-judicial sort of way, or even that all of you are going to drag him out of his cell and string him up. Just food for thought. I know all the reasons why this is a bad thing. But that's quite a luxury that world-com guy enjoys. I'm pretty sure I have more respect for the guy who at least has the guts to come and try to take it out from under my mattress.

 

[Dusty]

stumpfield........ just say NO..... Don't mention going to an attorney, because that might put ideas into her head. If you were to go to an attorney and have an agreement worked out, and there was a problem, who is going to pay for the attorney then? If she pays for the attorney, then the attorney works for her and it is his/her job to protect the person that is paying for the services. I won't go into the details of the land problem that I had, but it took over $25K (1982 $$) to resolve. It took another 4 years after the court gave the decision and I won, to get the settlement implemented. Then they just went back to violating the terms of the court implemented settlement for the next 20 years. I finally got the issue resolved last year, and hope that it is finalized forever, but I doubt it. Once you open the door, it is next to impossible to close it. I suggest that fences make good neighbors, and that you keep your fenced property for your own use, and let them do what is necessary on their own property for access. Once the dispute gets started, even if you win, you will have lost all the $$$$ in legal fees that are not recoverable. Think about this senerio... you are thinking of purchasing the land, and the agent tells you that someone has been driving over the land for an unknown amount of time, and they might have a prescriptive easement on the land. Would you still buy that parcel knowing that you might not be able to use all of it?? I know that I wouldn't. There rarely is any situation that becomes more passionate than who owns or has the right to use land. Once you give permission, it is next to impossible to take back. I suggest that you change the lock combination and then give her the bad news.... your land is yours and that you will help her to fix hers, but she can no longer use your land, not even for a fee, not even for one more day. I would also put some logs on the side where she enters onto the driveway, so she can't try to come out that way. You might also want to notify the local police of the situation in case she decides to get vicious. Nothing as bad as a scorned woman.
Dusty

 

[Kubotasrking]

I've noticed a lot of lawyer bashing in the thread, and I suppose to some they've earned it. I have been left on the short end of the stick , and it was due to an attorney being smarter than mine. I paid dearly (in many ways) for the mistake.

I'm hopeful that reform will come. Maybe the next generation will be smarter than the 2 previous?

 

[Kendall69]

One word Liability. As nice as it all sounds now, and it’s great to be warm and fuzzy to a neighbor, the minute things go south your neighbor will own your property.

Since you “maintain” the road you are liable, plain and simple. If your neighbor comes home drunk and gets in an accident on YOUR road, you will get sued - bye bye property.http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif

I’m not Lawyer I just play one on TV.