private drive vs. deeded access road

[Michelle_F]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Mexico, San Juan County

I need to know if my understanding is correct. If a rural road is designated as a private drive, the property owner through which it passes can deny others access. If it is a deeded access road, they may not deny access to the adjoining property to which access is granted by deed. Correct? This is how I am interpreting it from internet seaches and the discussion with the clerk who helped me at the county recording office this morning.

A little more detail about the current issue-
We purchased our property 1 year ago. It is not located directly on the county road. There is a 1.5 acre parcel between us and the county road to the west. The access road runs beside the utility easement (also deeded) and is deeded to two other properties to our northeast and runs through our neighbors land to the north. When we moved in, there were two drives, but one had obviously not been used in a while. We used a drive that came through a good portion of the northwest corner of the neighbor between us and the county road. That neighbor had expressed interest in fencing off his property for horses and asked if we could go back to using the deeded entrance. No problem. We finished it up 2 weeks ago. We had to place a culvert pipe for natural water shed and to accomodate the drop off that was now there due to road build up and easement washout within the utility easement area. This morning, the neighbor to the north had placed a t-post dead center of our deeded access with a note claiming it is a private drive and he denys us access. (He is not even the property owner. His father in CA is.) We had already been to the county records office and were told the NE corner was the deeded access in January, but I went back today to make sure there were no miscommunications. It is clear that our access is out of that NE corner and our title further states that we are granted a "Twelve (12) foot wide access and uility easement whose centerline is described as follows:
BEGINNING at a point which is South 08 57'26" West 13.04 feet from the Northewest corner" and further goes on to describe the length of access road we have ("437.59 feet to a point on the East right-of-way line of an existing County Road and the end centerline") The other two properties NE of us have similar access wordings and there is a documented survey from 1977 when all 4 properties were one 6.61 acre lot that lists the drive as an "access road" as well as another survey from 2006 of the neighbor furthest up the hill stating the drive is an access road. The records office could not find our recorded survey, but until the 90's, they were not required to be filed with the county and we have not formally had one in the time that we have been the owners.

(my apologies for the length of my explanation)
That said, does the neighbor to the north making an issue of our deeded entrance actually have any right to deny our access?

 

[drewguy]

I think "private drive" means different things in different places. I think the only general statement that can be made about a "private drive" is that it is not owned by the government (town, city, county, state) but rather is owned by a private party or several private parties. What rights people have to drive over that private road is determined by whatever the relevant deeds say--it could be by easement, or it could be a road controlled by a HOA. The possibilities are numerous.

"deeded access road" typically means that rights to use a road appear in a deed, usually in the form of an easement. This sounds like what you have. You'd have to check with a lawyer that in your case the survey and deed are enough to make it clear, but it sounds like it probably does. If so, then your neighbor has limited rights to prevent your use of the road. Basically you can use it and he can't interfere with that use but there may be some reasonable limits such as a cattle fence/gate that he could place on it depending on the law of your state.

 

[154NH773]

Your description of the problem and the location of the "deeded" roadway are difficult to understand, but it sound like a surveyor could locate and mark the actual "deeded" right of way.
The fact that your deed describes a right of way is only legal depending on who and how that grant was made. You will have to do a little more searching through the deeds to determine whether the person granting the right of way actually had authority to do so. A title company, or your title insurance company could assist you in that determination.
You should then have a surveyor lay out and stake the right of way in its proper location. That is the right of way you should be using, regardless of what other people are doing, or where the previously traveled way is located.
What people call the road (deeded, private, etc.) is immaterial. You will determine the legal status of the road through your, and other, deeds.