better to give permission than easement?

[flutterby_di]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WA

Hi all,

We have a bare piece of land behind us that someone has bought and wants to build a home on. It is a landlocked piece of property and the only way they can get to theirs is via going through 2 seperate lots of ours and then adding onto our driveway or going through another neighbors drive. The new neighbor has approached us and asked for an easement (no money offer) and we havent told him yet but we really dont want to burden both of our properties with this especially for free and even if they were to offer money I am not sure we would do it.

We are thinking of just giving him written permission to use it which can be revoked at any time or something along those lines. I dont want to be a jerk neighbor but I also dont want to devalue my properties. It seems there has to be some sort of answer that isnt as drastic as an easement but yet still helps out our new neighbor without the possibility of them laying claims to our property or being able over time to actually get easement because we let them use it. Would giving written permission to them prevent them from possibly gaining an easement autmatically eventually?

Any suggestions?? They are wanting an answer tonight.

Thanks
Flutterby

 

[HuAi]

In order to build a house the gentleman will require a permit from the city, which will require him to obtain an easement for access and utilities. Without this (even with permission) he will not be able to build.

 

[Ozark_Sophist]

Written permission would not be acceptable. You could try it that way, but as soon as you attempted to revoke, you would find the neighbor continues to get use (after a costly, lengthy court battle). Offer a written easement with an amount for each of your lots the easement will cross. Plus costs to include surveys, title work, lawyer costs (draft easement grant deed), and maintenance.

 

[FarmerJ]

A atty can help you by drawing up a very well written easement. Ideally the best thing would be if your not able to set it up for him/her to buy strips of land would be to locate this easement road on the edge of your property and have it written into the easement (if any part is shared a percentage of maint cost addressing things like gravel additions , surface repairs, snow removal ETC based on the shared footage) Other wise if the nieghbor to the rear had a easement wich was located on the edge of the property and did not share any portion of the driveway with you then it would be easy to address things like requiring them to maintain it BUT they could not change, widen, blacktop etc it with out your written consent. Do your self a favor , learn from zoning how wide easements must be to service property that other wise is landlocked and what other rules they might have.

 

[woodyga]

I agree with farmerj

flutterby_di,

I agree with farmerj. You state that the neighbor is land locked. He will get an easement one way or the other you cant land lock him. So you can sell him and easement and spell out and be very specific what you want in the easement like farmerJ said. Or he will sue you and win his easement probably more on his terms than yours.
Save yourself allot of headache and expense and contact a good real estate attorney quick and get the ball rolling. Maybe you should talk to the neighbor first and tell him you will give him an easement and he pays all associated cost , example survey, attorney, recording fee,ETC.
You should probably get the estimates for all the costs before you approach the neighbor so he will have an idea of the cost of doing it your way versus suing you for the easement which i'm sure he will also check out. I know I would if I were him.

If he sues you, your looking at $3000 - $4000 or more in cost to defend yourself and you will lose anyway. Unless there is a path to the nearest road for him that is closer that does not have to cross your property (no easement is better for you)

Hope this helps,
Woody,