M
mountainmama
Guest
private road and maintenance agreement
What is the name of your state? Pa
2001 we bought a track of land with a private road for access. Our contractor who was also the seller told us that he keeps the road clear and maintained. This road is half a mile up the side of a mountain, it is not your normal road.
At the settlement for buying this property he again reitterated that he gets up early and keeps the road clear in the winter and maintains it. During the closing, at the very end, they slyly slipped in a Road Maintenance agreement. It simply states we, the buyer and he the seller will share in the maintenance of the road. It would be maintained to its "ORIGINAL CONDITION" . We agreed to sign it based on the fact that he assured us that he keeps this road opened and maintained on numerous occassions. We did have the option of not signing but we saw no cause not to.
We did not have our own attorney as we paid cash for this tract of land. We did not have a title search.
As time has progressed, we have learned that he does not keep this road maintained. Yes, he plows it...one swipe up and one down. Period at the end... He has never put an anti-skid material down in the two years we have lived here. Nor, has he "maintained" the road as he had claimed. In the 2 years we lived here we have also had record rains. The run of is outrageous. There does not appear to be any storm runoff control. The road in the spring, summer, and fall is down to a rutted mass of shale and rocks with extreme wash out areas up this road. Our road is death defying, it is so icy in the winter. If we had an emergency up here, emergency vechiles would not make it up.
Our property is devalued due to the nature of this road. We are concerned our insurance company could pull our home owners insurance, which means the bank could drop our mortgage.
The seller has said to me last August he wished we would all get together and form an association, we could hire whom ever we want. He has blamed his dislike of one of the indviduals stating that whatever he would do to repair the road it would not be good enough thats why he's not going to repair it.
He has told all of all various stories. He told me he did not send bills out last year for snow removal because he was afraid to. What crap. This road has caused a lot of bad feeling among everyone up here.
What has gotten my curiosity is the fact you didn't have to sign this Road Maintenance agreement if you didn't want to but, you would still benefit from the maintenance the rest paid for, (if we were billed?!) In speaking to our neighbor a few months ago we learned his bank had requested something in writing stating this road would be maintained before they would agree to give him his mortgage. They did not buy their house/property via the same person we used as their house was on the market from a prior owner. What was given to the bank was 2 lines that states that he, the person who subdivided this land and created this private lane would maintain the road. This is the same agreement he gave to the township in order to have the land subdivided and the road made private. The agreement states that he will "keep Krape Lane maintained and private until such time that it can meet township specifications. Also, property owner's have legal right of way to use Krape Lane, which is stated on the deed."
So now we found out that he never disclosed to us nor is it in our deed that he has an agreement with the township to maintain this lane. When we called the township they said that there is no way they would ever take over this road due to its terraine.
My questions are:
1. What is Pennsylvanias law about disclosure? Shouldn't he
have disclosed his contract with the township instead of making it sould like we all should take over and be responsible?
2. Isn't this fraud? After speaking to my other 3 neighbors, I learned we were all told the same thing, that is, he keeps this road opened. It was the I, I, I, and me, me, me, thing with all of us.
3. If he had an agreement with the township shouldn't they enforce the agreement?
What, if any rights do we have?
What is the name of your state? Pa
2001 we bought a track of land with a private road for access. Our contractor who was also the seller told us that he keeps the road clear and maintained. This road is half a mile up the side of a mountain, it is not your normal road.
At the settlement for buying this property he again reitterated that he gets up early and keeps the road clear in the winter and maintains it. During the closing, at the very end, they slyly slipped in a Road Maintenance agreement. It simply states we, the buyer and he the seller will share in the maintenance of the road. It would be maintained to its "ORIGINAL CONDITION" . We agreed to sign it based on the fact that he assured us that he keeps this road opened and maintained on numerous occassions. We did have the option of not signing but we saw no cause not to.
We did not have our own attorney as we paid cash for this tract of land. We did not have a title search.
As time has progressed, we have learned that he does not keep this road maintained. Yes, he plows it...one swipe up and one down. Period at the end... He has never put an anti-skid material down in the two years we have lived here. Nor, has he "maintained" the road as he had claimed. In the 2 years we lived here we have also had record rains. The run of is outrageous. There does not appear to be any storm runoff control. The road in the spring, summer, and fall is down to a rutted mass of shale and rocks with extreme wash out areas up this road. Our road is death defying, it is so icy in the winter. If we had an emergency up here, emergency vechiles would not make it up.
Our property is devalued due to the nature of this road. We are concerned our insurance company could pull our home owners insurance, which means the bank could drop our mortgage.
The seller has said to me last August he wished we would all get together and form an association, we could hire whom ever we want. He has blamed his dislike of one of the indviduals stating that whatever he would do to repair the road it would not be good enough thats why he's not going to repair it.
He has told all of all various stories. He told me he did not send bills out last year for snow removal because he was afraid to. What crap. This road has caused a lot of bad feeling among everyone up here.
What has gotten my curiosity is the fact you didn't have to sign this Road Maintenance agreement if you didn't want to but, you would still benefit from the maintenance the rest paid for, (if we were billed?!) In speaking to our neighbor a few months ago we learned his bank had requested something in writing stating this road would be maintained before they would agree to give him his mortgage. They did not buy their house/property via the same person we used as their house was on the market from a prior owner. What was given to the bank was 2 lines that states that he, the person who subdivided this land and created this private lane would maintain the road. This is the same agreement he gave to the township in order to have the land subdivided and the road made private. The agreement states that he will "keep Krape Lane maintained and private until such time that it can meet township specifications. Also, property owner's have legal right of way to use Krape Lane, which is stated on the deed."
So now we found out that he never disclosed to us nor is it in our deed that he has an agreement with the township to maintain this lane. When we called the township they said that there is no way they would ever take over this road due to its terraine.
My questions are:
1. What is Pennsylvanias law about disclosure? Shouldn't he
have disclosed his contract with the township instead of making it sould like we all should take over and be responsible?
2. Isn't this fraud? After speaking to my other 3 neighbors, I learned we were all told the same thing, that is, he keeps this road opened. It was the I, I, I, and me, me, me, thing with all of us.
3. If he had an agreement with the township shouldn't they enforce the agreement?
What, if any rights do we have?
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