The law and Easements?

[45Frank]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NC
We have an easement that's 30 feet I believe as well as Restrictions. We have one neighbor who has broken nearly everyone since the day she moved in. There were originally only 4 folks included but due to subdividing (some done illegally) there are now nine. When any work on the road was done over the first 20 years my relatives did the work and always divided it by roofs and asked for the money but rarely was ever paid, next I did it for a few years and was always paid by all but 2 owners. Well the women who has one property but 4 roofs (3 illegal rentals) and her x-boyfriend who owns a single property have never given me a penny and owe over a thousand dollars. The neighbor who doesn't pay anyone anything has just been called out by neighbors for stealing money, once I stopped caring for the road a she got some stone and had it spread (spread by her BF). Problem is she never paid him for the stone or spreading it and pocketed the money and he wants all us others to pay him. I recently stopped him and asked what the deal was and asked why he and his GF never paid me. He insists he has always paid her for my cut because they were partners on some of the illegal rentals at one time, he also insists he has never been paid by her for work on the road totaling over a thousand dollars. Now my question. She now calls the local sheriff on many of us neighbors daily it seems for garbage, dogs and such and me for shooting(which I do legally). Some deputies get out of the car and talked to us for 15 minutes about guns and never said a word other then he had a call. Cool! Now she calls everytime she hears a shot. Problem is when we shoot if the wrong officer shows up they just park at the corner of my property until we pack up? Can't shoot towards his car right.
Since this is a private road does the LEO have the right to just sit there for no reason? I know they do not show for accidents on the road because it's a private road.
She also has tenets with kids (illegal) and if the law doesn't show fast enough she sends the kids as young as 3-5 years old to the property corner in front of us so we stop.

 

[FarmerJ]

first thing ? you refer to there being housing thats not legal so what kind of housing is it , mobile homes? campers? stick built ? second have you searched at your county permit desk/ zoning desk to learn how many housing units are on record at that persons address and if there were permits pulled to build them/ add them. You may also want to review records to learn other details like your counties rules for septic systems if your all on private septic & well and to learn if that address only has one septic system or not. As to this road and your comment >but due to subdividing (some done illegally) there are now nine< you didnt say if every property has it written into its title a restriction baring each lot owner from subdivision or not ( if it is written in then the time to have acted on it by any other owner affected by a restriction would have been at the time they began to split off lots. As to the private road from your posting it appears that the original 4 lot owners did not have a written maintenance agreement tied into each homes title ? Years ago many people regularly bought and sold (created ) lots that had shared driveways with each party just trusting that they would come to a agreement regarding maintenance or those with access via private roads may have at the very least in writing had the right to use the private road but failed to have anything in writing for maintaining so if this private road is not covered by any kind of maintenance agreement it would be darn near impossible to get one in place now since it appears you already have people who wont contribute to the roads maintenance. So perhaps re the road you may want to cease doing anything to the road and let it fall into disrepair ( I suggested checking with the county (or city ) re septic and house permits because if these lots on this road were not part of a well and I mean WELL written HOA then the only one at this time who would have the authority to make them comply with zoning rules would be your city/county govt and those rules can include on site sewage treatment, home sizes , number of units like when a lot is zoned only for a single family home )

 

[45Frank]

The restrictions say all cost for road maintenance is to be shared equally by landowners.
The restrictions also say no rentals, period, she has three. One was an old camper which is a no no in the restrictions she sold this with just enough property circling the camper omitting the restrictions but gave the owner lifetime rights to a well and septic. But the new county rules say no campers this one is grandfathered in so once this thing falls apart he has useless land. The new owner is trying to sue her as we speak because he didn't do him homework.:confused Restrictions also says how property is to be sub-divided which she didn't follow. She also took a two car garage and rents it as residences.
I already seen a lawyer about all the above and it's all Civil and they want in the area of $5,000.00 to start because it now encompasses two landowners as well as a bank because my attorney said she did a reverse mortgage and technically doesn't own the property. So that's on hold right now. She is an old retired realtor with a local rep as a thug.
I just want a little peace and do what we've been doing here for years, hence my question!
Since this is a private road does the LEO have the right to just sit there for no reason?
The sheriff's office has been questioned and they say well if he's there he's there. Oh her ex was a sheriff so she ay have some help there.

 

[Zigner]

Since this is a private road does the LEO have the right to just sit there for no reason?

First, they DO have reason to sit there.

Second, have you asked them to move? Perhaps it's time to play nice with the police and not be adversarial. It'll help...

 

[154NH773]

First of all, you've got to separate the neighbor's complaints from the road issue. They have nothing to do with each other. The same with the police sitting on the easement...not relevant.

The easement language should state what each party's legal obligation is for payment and maintenance. If it says "shared by each landowner" then you can't count roofs, you count by each landowner. If property was illegally sub-divided, that is a matter for the town or county to sort out, but if separate deeds exist for each property, each of those property owners are legally obligated to share according to the easement agreement.

If the wording is not ambiguous, and there is no question about who is obligated, then you can sue the non-payers in small claims court. If there is a question over the language and what it obligates people for, then you would have to start a quiet title action in a higher court than small claims, and the court would decide how to interpret the easement language.

The easement language is very important. I have never heard of an easement agreement state what someone may do with THEIR property, such as rentals, but it is possible. It sounds more like a HOA (homeowners association) agreement.

Does the easement say who is to provide the maintenance? Anyone could do some "maintenance" to the road and then try and collect from the others; but, what maintenance is "required" to keep the access open and who has to agree to what maintenance gets done?

 

[45Frank]

First, they DO have reason to sit there.

Second, have you asked them to move? Perhaps it's time to play nice with the police and not be adversarial. It'll help...

Where did I ever say I was adversarial? I have said the one officer came over or we met and talked to us for 15 min. The others just sit there with their window up and would ignore you. What right is it they have? Yet when there was an accident one with a serious injury they didn't show. Told me point blank it's a private road.

 

[154NH773]

What right is it they have? Yet when there was an accident one with a serious injury they didn't show. Told me point blank it's a private road.

It is a private road, an easement having multiple dominant tenants (people allowed to use it). The police can be viewed as "guests" of a dominant tenant (your neighbor who called them), and therefore have a legal right to sit there. It appears to be a non-exclusive easement, so you really have no say in who sits there.

 

[FarmerJ]

As to this private road and your county you know you might be able to learn from your city /county what it would take for this road to become a township road where the township will maintain it as they might any other township road in your area. You wrote > but gave the owner lifetime rights to a well and septic.< so you know that sure sounds like her attempt at a shared well and septic system of which the septic system might be the problem in that each property normally would have to have its own septic system ( it is likely that NEW shared septic systems are just not allowed and this should be in your states on site sewage treatment laws ) years ago shared systems like septic were more common but I sure cant imagine new ones are allowed in your state either. AS to her converting the garage into living quarters this is something your local zoning dept can look into. the road if your going to maintain it in the future then use certified mail and send a copy of the part of the recorded restrictions to the ones who did not pay in the past about each parcel to pay for this and have a civil talk with those who did pay in the past and once its done to divide the cost up and bill them and if your not paid then small claims court I guess is the next avenue but I think that a more clear point is made when you stop maintaining it at all.

 

[45Frank]

First of all, you've got to separate the neighbor's complaints from the road issue. They have nothing to do with each other. The same with the police sitting on the easement...not relevant.

The easement language should state what each party's legal obligation is for payment and maintenance. If it says "shared by each landowner" then you can't count roofs, you count by each landowner. If property was illegally sub-divided, that is a matter for the town or county to sort out, but if separate deeds exist for each property, each of those property owners are legally obligated to share according to the easement agreement. One of the listed things is the EASEMENT for the road.


If the wording is not ambiguous, and there is no question about who is obligated, then you can sue the non-payers in small claims court. If there is a question over the language and what it obligates people for, then you would have to start a quiet title action in a higher court than small claims, and the court would decide how to interpret the easement language.

The easement language is very important. I have never heard of an easement agreement state what someone may do with THEIR property, such as rentals, but it is possible. It sounds more like a HOA (homeowners association) agreement.

Does the easement say who is to provide the maintenance? Anyone could do some "maintenance" to the road and then try and collect from the others; but, what maintenance is "required" to keep the access open and who has to agree to what maintenance gets done?

I did make a mistake! These are titled RESTRICTIONS AND CONDITIONS.
As for the roof counting that's the way it's just been done because she had four addresses on her property so 4 times the traffic. It says exactly "All owners shall be equally responsible with the other landowners of lots for maintenance".
Then there are 11 restrictions in all explaining there is to be no single-wides, campers, how to subdivide and so on. It also says each lot is to have only one residence located on said lot.

 

[FarmerJ]

Even if the original 4 had those restrictions the/ city county would not have enforced them unless there was a city /county ordinance to address it and the obvious , that no one took any action by suing a owner who had subdivided no one being none of the other 3 whose property had those restrictions so at this point its way way to big of a fight to do any thing in civil court like suing the others who did subdivide , NOW just so you know you can get addresses for secondary homes if your state /county has mandated that all residences have to have own address like for 911 services. Up here our property has two addresses at the end of the driveway , one is this house and the land and the other is a second home that we used to own and sold to a friend of mine so we each have our own addresses so even multiple addresses do not mean that a parcel has been split up county records are what tells the truth so again like with the one person you mentioned about the garage apt is her parcel zoned for single family home only or not ( zoned meaning local govt rules not what was written to the title as a restriction)

 

[45Frank]

Even if the original 4 had those restrictions the/ city county would not have enforced them unless there was a city /county ordinance to address it and the obvious , that no one took any action by suing a owner who had subdivided no one being none of the other 3 whose property had those restrictions so at this point its way way to big of a fight to do any thing in civil court like suing the others who did subdivide , NOW just so you know you can get addresses for secondary homes if your state /county has mandated that all residences have to have own address like for 911 services. Up here our property has two addresses at the end of the driveway , one is this house and the land and the other is a second home that we used to own and sold to a friend of mine so we each have our own addresses so even multiple addresses do not mean that a parcel has been split up county records are what tells the truth so again like with the one person you mentioned about the garage apt is her parcel zoned for single family home only or not ( zoned meaning local govt rules not what was written to the title as a restriction)

I have all but given up on enforcing the restrictions, which kind of stinks because some of us paid more then the going price for our property because we liked the restrictions, we didn't want to move to an area where folks could do exactly what this women has done. Basically made a trailer dump of our little community. I will never again let restrictions good or bad weigh in on a purchase price!
As for the LEO's sitting there I had a sit down with a local running for sheriff and explained the entire story about them just sitting there for hours. Well I did some zeroing in yesterday and no deputies showed up. I don't care if they show but it's when they sit in the direction we are shooting. I NEVER call the police but he suggested the next time we are shooting and she sends the kids out there especially alone to call the law for their safety.

 

[154NH773]

I did make a mistake! These are titled RESTRICTIONS AND CONDITIONS.
As for the roof counting that's the way it's just been done because she had four addresses on her property so 4 times the traffic. It says exactly "All owners shall be equally responsible with the other landowners of lots for maintenance".
Then there are 11 restrictions in all explaining there is to be no single-wides, campers, how to subdivide and so on. It also says each lot is to have only one residence located on said lot.

Without knowing all the information, it sounds like a HOA. Are these "restrictions and conditions" covenants in the title of each property, including the "trailer dump"?

This appears to be a civil matter (enforcement of the covenants) and not a violation of local ordinances, so it would be up to the HOA, if one exists, or individual or collective landowners affected by the violation to take the person to court to stop the violations. If you are not willing to do that, then you will have to put up with them.

I don't care if they show but it's when they sit in the direction we are shooting. I NEVER call the police but he suggested the next time we are shooting and she sends the kids out there especially alone to call the law for their safety.

On the other note; Why would you be shooting in the direction of a street, and without proper safeguards against injuring children who may be out and about? How about an NRA compliant range?

Actually, I'm no longer sure what your question or problem is...

 

[45Frank]

Since this is a private road does the LEO have the right to just sit there for no reason?
Was my original question.
I should have mentioned also that where the deputy sits is on my property.

On the other note; Why would you be shooting in the direction of a street, and without proper safeguards against injuring children who may be out and about? How about an NRA compliant range?

As far as shooting the only Driveway/Road that we would even be shooting towards would be my own and I own the property on both sides of the road/driveway so the bullets never leave my property all legal here, safe also unless you run in front of us. I am around 7/10 of a mile off the nearest road. If you read my first post I said SHE SENDS THE KIDS OUT to my property. They are very young (5 or under) and don't know property or guns or bullets. We never shoot when anyone is coming towards my place on my property which you can see a long way being in the mountains.

 

[LeeHarveyBlotto]

"Since this is a private road does the LEO have the right to just sit there for no reason?"

Short answer, yes.

Longer answer, unless you're a mind-reader, you can assume they have no reason, but you do not and can not know that.

 

[154NH773]

Since this is a private road does the LEO have the right to just sit there for no reason?
Was my original question.

I apologize, I thought the first nine sentences about sub-dividing, road costs, etc., etc., had some relevance.

If you read my first post I said SHE SENDS THE KIDS OUT to my property

No you didn't. You said;

she sends the kids as young as 3-5 years old to the property corner in front of us so we stop

Unless you have your property posted, you have no expectation that someone might not walk onto your property in front of where you are shooting.

I should have mentioned also that where the deputy sits is on my property.

Yes, it may be your property, but you are the servient tenant, and if he is on the easement, then you have no right to complain. You did say;

Since this is a private road does the LEO have the right to just sit there for no reason?

So from your account, he is on the road.