Duration of easement

[tadelrio]

What is the name of your state? California

I have a deeded exclusive easement for ingress and egress with rites of maintenence, repair and replacment over my ajoining neighbors property(we share the road and it is his point of entry as well). I am not land locked however it is the only road to my residence. I have owned the property for close to three years. Since I have lived there I have encountered numerous problems with using the easement which I consider distasteful, unfair and hostile and harassing on his behalf. The problems are many which have led to me consideirng biting the bullet of spending the money to put in my own road. So my questions are....

1. If I put in my own road, what happens to the deeded easement? Do I need to keep using it regularly?

2. The easement is a value to my property and as I read on another thread, that the deed lives with the title of the property - is this true? And even if I aquired another entry does that effect the easement deed in any way - poistive or negative?

3. Can I sell the easement back to the property owner? Does the mortgage company have to OK something like that?

4. Can the neighbor sue me for shared costs of the road maintnence? (I have rites of maintenance- I am not required to maintain).

5. If I aquire another access to my property can the neighbor prohibit me from using the easment because I have obtained another access? Such as locking the gate to the easement without giving me a key.

I want to make the right decision about the whether to invest in the new road, or put up with a crazy neighbor. The cost of the new road with all the fine points of detail is around 40K.

To litigate the issues would cost as well....

 

[Caterina82]

Hello,

Take a look at your deed and the language that is used regarding the easement. If there is nothing alluding to a temporary nature, then this should 'run with the land', which basically means it's a permanent situation. To vacate a permanent easement legally would typically require notarized documents signed by all parties involved and recorded. Regardless of whether you frequently or infrequently use the easement, it should not affect it's existance.

You could offer to sell the easement back to the property owner, for say...the cost of installing your own road?? It's worth a try, but the true value of the easement may just be the value of a piece of land that size. (which could be more or less than the $40K you quoted.) An appraiser would best answer that question for you.

The neighbor legally cannot block off the easement with a gate or disallow you from use. Not unless you both agreed to vacate (do away with) the easement.

What may soften the neighbor's attitude is a maintenance agreement between the two of you with you offering to do or pay for some of the maintenance. That may be the crux of your problem, honestly. I might be a bit cantankerous myself if I not only had to give up my land for another's benefit, but also became their free maintenance guy. Just a thought. He may be nasty one way or the other, but no one should expect to have access over someone else's property and not be responsible for helping in the maintenance. JMHO. This would also likely be the cheapest route to solving your current problem.

Good luck!

Not an attorney, just work in the real estate industry.