Do I need to get an easement or is written permission sufficient?

[jmb23007]

Location: Unincorporated Pierce County, Washington state

I'll try to provide as many specifics as possible since more information usually seems to be better than less.

My wife and I bought a piece of land from her sister in late 2008. Her sister and her husband had owned two lots, one undeveloped, and one on which their house sits.

When we purchased the lot their home and their driveway were fully built / developed (we'll get to this later).

Since we purchased the lot with an intention to build, we hired a surveying company to come out and help us pull property corners so we could build within some of the zoning requirements for the area we live. At that time, the surveying company found that my sister in law and her husband had most of their driveway on our property. The contractor had incorrectly pulled a property stake on the cul de sac to the front of our house and thought it to be the property boundary between our two lots. The surveying company recorded the survey, noting that there was an enroachment on the property for from the driveway.

We discussed the issue with the relatives but ultimately nothing was acted on. Now 4 years later, they're looking to sell.

Before they do, I'd like to resolve the driveway issue with them. I've been researching online pretty extensively and have seen two statements / avenues presented:
A) File an easement. I found a free form online some place that seems to do a decent job of spelling out a standard easement.

B) Written permission. Some other forums seem to indicate that a letter, acknowledged by my in laws, giving them and whomever purchases the home a right to use the driveway is enough.

Which of these two approaches is correct? If I need to file an easement, who do I submit it to? Do the banks get involved (lenders on mortgages)?

 

[FarmerJ]

If your going to grant a easement before you do, Id like to ask 1 is there anything that would have prevented the driveway from being built further down onto the sisters own land ? 2 have you read some of the problems people have come to this forum with due to easements that were just too simple ? I suggest you decide if you want to grant a easement that has conditions tied to it, EG should that owner of the lot have to widen or have to do alot of repair to the driveway then would you want to require that to be the time they must move the driveway to property that they own? could a new neighbor who say wanted to run a business and have business related traffic that could damage your property ? ( so would it be better to have it written into the easement that ANY business use of the driveway would become a reason for you to be able to end the easement ? ) I would suggest you speak to a local real estate attorney to learn what it would cost to have a easement drawn up that does not go on for ever and ever but has clear limits and reasons that will require the neighbor to move this driveway.

 

[justalayman]

the problem with simple permission (granting a license) is that it can be revoked. A purchaser is going to be (or should be) concerned that they have no rights and are at the whim of the grantor of the license.

Your bank, if you have a mortgage, may be concerned with the granting of an easement. It encumbers the property which they have a security interest in and could devalue the property such that it is a concern for them.

an easement would be the appropriate mechanism if you wish to make the allowance permanent.