Who pays for maintaining asphalt easement?

[Michael Koo]

California

I own a triplex, which owns the easement which two other apartment buildings use. The two dominant estates (those who use the easement) have agreed to pay for redoing the asphalt, but they haven’t said how much and what proportion.

Essentially, if you are to turn into our street, there is a 300ft driveway with building 1 immediately to the left as you come in. As you keep driving, there is building 2 (my building), and then you hang a left and there is building 3. All three buildings use this driveway to enter the properties, as does the garbage company. Building one does not really use any portion after the end of the 300ft, but I am not sure how far their easement runs.

There is nothing in the escrow docs, or plot maps which indicate an agreement on who pays for repairs. My research states that the dominant estates pay for maintenance. Is this true? Is it true even if I use it as well? Also, can building 1 just pay for the portion he uses, or is it based on where his easement runs? Can I compel building 1 and 3 to pay for all of it themselves? If I have three units, building 1 has four units, and building 3 has two units, can it be divided up by how many units each one owns? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[LdiJ]

California

I own a triplex, which owns the easement which two other apartment buildings use. The two dominant estates (those who use the easement) have agreed to pay for redoing the asphalt, but they haven’t said how much and what proportion.

Essentially, if you are to turn into our street, there is a 300ft driveway with building 1 immediately to the left as you come in. As you keep driving, there is building 2 (my building), and then you hang a left and there is building 3. All three buildings use this driveway to enter the properties, as does the garbage company. Building one does not really use any portion after the end of the 300ft, but I am not sure how far their easement runs.

There is nothing in the escrow docs, or plot maps which indicate an agreement on who pays for repairs. My research states that the dominant estates pay for maintenance. Is this true? Is it true even if I use it as well? Also, can building 1 just pay for the portion he uses, or is it based on where his easement runs? Can I compel building 1 and 3 to pay for all of it themselves? If I have three units, building 1 has four units, and building 3 has two units, can it be divided up by how many units each one owns? Any advice is appreciated.

Its probably not that simple.

Building 1's easement likely only extends to the first 300 ft. Building 3's easement likely extends the entire length. If I were to guess, you all would share the first 300 fit, you and building three would share the middle portion, and building 3 would likely be solely responsible for the last portion.

 

[154NH773]

Essentially I agree with Ldij, but the fairest way in my opinion would be to divide the cost as follows (using the burden of each apartment):

For overall paving of the entire street;

1. Divide the cost by the number of total feet to be paved. This will give you the cost per foot (CPF).

2. Assuming that Building One uses some part of the easement; Divide the length into three segments by determining either how many feet are used by each building, or how many feet in each buildings easement.

3. Determine the cost to pave each segment by multiplying the CPF times the length of each segment.

4. For segment #1; Bld #1 pays 44.4%, Bld#2 pays 33.3%, Bld#3 pays 22.2%.

For segment #2; Bld#1 pays zero, Bld #2 pays 60%, Bld #3 pays 40%.

For segment #3; Blds #1 & #2 pay zero, and Bld #3 pays 100%.

For repairs on a segment, the cost would be divided similarly by the users of that segment.

 

[154NH773]

For further clarification on my statement above;

There are 9 total apartments using the easement, and the burden on the easement (wear and tear) is proportional to the number of vehicles from each apartment.

There are 9 apartments using segment #1, with 4/9 (44,4%) being from Building One, 3/9 (33.3%) from Building Two, and 2/9 (22.2%) from Building Three.

There are only 5 apartments using segment #2, with 3/5 (60%) being from Building Two, and 2/5 (40%) from Building Three.

Because Building Three is the only one using segment #3, that building pays 100% if the cost.

 

[justalayman]

And of course if it can't be agreed upon all of the owners can spend tons of money fighting about it in court. At some point the cost to litigate will likely exceed the cost of the repairs.

And then you still have to pay for the repairs as the court apportions anyway.

 

[154NH773]

Naturally, I would never propose this distribution if I was the last building on the easement...
On my road I am the last house, and the other 6 properties on the easement said, just divide it equally. Saved me thousands, so I just kept my mouth shut.