Easement Issue-Tresspass

[CanyonHermit]

What is the name of your state (California)
*I edited this post to shorten it- it is still long *

Our property is located in a very rural and mountainous area. We have a 3/4 mile long driveway that extends from the main road to our house. It is the only way in or out. There is an easement recorded that gives us 60' ft of access at the beginning of the driveway (at the road). We have tried several times to find out who owns this small 2 acre parcel that adjoins the property, but it is deeded in a family trust (bank) since 1977. It is totally unusable land. The language regarding the easement is pretty vague and simply says we "have the right to reasonable access", for 60'. We have owned the property for about 2 years. The easement was recorded in 1977, right before the house was built.

Our driveway and the entrance to the driveway are not clearly visible from any roads. It is a sheer cliff on either side of the road and driveway and we have a locked gate at the entrance. This weekend, there was a mudslide and a large boulder had fallen into our driveway, I'm not sure if that boulder technically landed on our physical property or the easement. We could drive around it. Once the rains subsided, we went down to break up the boulder with sledgehammers- we did not want to drag it with a truck because we were concerned with damage to the driveway.

The boulder was gone. We left the gate open for about 3 hours that day, we rarely leave it open. Someone had apparently dragged the boulder down our driveway and across the road, about 100 ft. The driveway is now damaged as the rock carved through the asphault. It also damaged the road that is maintained by the county. We are concerned that we will be considered liable for the damage to either the county or the adjoining parcel owner.

We suspect that we know who did this. There is a man who lives in the area that considers himself the keeper of the common areas of the roads. I'm not even sure where to go with this. I sent him an email last night asking if he removed the rock, but I have a few concerns:

Supposing he does, in fact, own the property which the easement sits- does he have a right to freely access the driveway for whatever reason he chooses? No one should have reason to be on that driveway. Is there some implied responsibility of the parcel owner to maintain the easement?

If he did have the right or responsibility to remove that rock, is he liable to fix the driveway?

I feel very uncomfortable knowing that this man, or anyone, took it upon themselves to walk up our driveway for any reason- he could not have seen that boulder from any road. So, what was he doing there? This may seem like a petty concern, but we've had issues with him removing brush and vegetation that was both a security and privacy factor. AND, the driveway is now damaged considerably.

In case he uses the argument that he is the owner of the land (which I doubt he is), would he have a right to patrol the driveway for that 60 feet for maintenance or any other purpose? I believe that the boulder was farther in than 60ft. I have large dogs, 2 children and it makes me very, very uncomfortable to think that someone was so close to our house. The gate entrance is clearly marked "private property, no trespassing". The closest neighbor is about a mile up a twisty, canyon road above us. His property is even farther up, on the other side of the road next to our driveway. If I ask for him to show proof of property ownership, is he obligated to do so? Is it possible the title company missed something? I compare this action similar to me taking a walk, noticing that a nearby homeowner has a tree limb down along side the road, going home to get my chainsaw and cutting it up. Worse yet, this part of the property is not visible to anyone passing by or nearby.

Thanks, and I apologize for the length. I just want to get a better feel for how to handle any arguments.

 

[154NH773]

We are concerned that we will be considered liable for the damage to either the county or the adjoining parcel owner.

Since you didn't do anything, you should not be liable. It would be up to someone to prove you actually did move the rock.

Supposing he does, in fact, own the property which the easement sits- does he have a right to freely access the driveway for whatever reason he chooses?

If he owns the property, and you do not have exclusive rights to it, then yes, he can come and go as he pleases (on his section).

 

[CanyonHermit]

Thank You

Thank you. So, I guess my concern with liability was that it would be "implied" that we removed the rock and caused the damage because we are the only ones with use of that driveway. It sounds like someone would have to prove that we did it in the same manner that we will have to prove who (actually) did it to recoup cost of fixing driveway...I went down and measured the area where the rock was removed from and it is actually located about 75 feet from the bottom of the driveway, 15 feet into our property. The damage won't be an issue until we have another year of extreme cold temps.

This now makes me consider the placement of the gate, which has been recorded as being present since 1989. If the property owner should have access to the driveway (although I cannot imagine why- there is not usable area or land, nor are there houses anywhere nearby), then our gate may be violating his or her access. The landowner is a trust, located in a city about 4 hours away- we assume it was an investment purchase, there is no use for the land, it is mostly rock wall and roads, driveways to other properties. None of the neighbors we spoke to previously know who owns the land, nor have they ever heard the name listed as the landowner.

Considering the rock had fallen within our property boundaries, I can see that *someone* had trespassed, and as well-meaning as it may have been, it's still trespassing and they damaged our driveway considerably.

Thank you for your answers, I'm going to have to figure out "who dunnit", so that we can discuss their reasons for being on our property and how they would have even been aware of the boulder.

 

[CanyonHermit]

I should also mention that this driveway is a narrow, steep incline that curves along the side of a mountain. Not that it probably matters, ownership is ownership, I'm just trying to give more info regarding how unnecessary and strange it is that someone was or has been on our driveway. When we found that man cutting brush from the edge of our driveway on the cliff, I had pulled up, unlocked the gate, locked back up and proceeded to drive up- I almost hit him because he was just standing there with headphones on. That's how we met him. He actually had cut brush to maneuver around the gate, prior to that it was thick sage and a cactus which prevented someone from walking up the driveway- and even afterwards, it's a heck of a climb. When I pulled up that day, I assumed my husband had done it and was ticked off. Turns out it was this guy who lives like 2 miles away and straight up the mountain- the property he lives on does not adjoin our property of the 2 acres which the easement is on. He claimed to own the land at the bottom of the driveway, but I don't understand how. I'm simply speculating that it was him, not sure who else would have done it. We probably won't be able to find who did it or get financial help repairing the driveway, but now this seems like more issues could come later.

 

[justalayman]

as you have stated several times: the owner is the trust. A trust can own property. If you do some research, you should be able to locate a trustee for the trust or possibly an attorney that represents the trust.

If the property owner should have access to the driveway

unless the easement has granted you exclusive use, the owner has the right to enter their property anytime they wish to. They don't need a reason other than that is what they wanted to do.