right-of-way

[rjv918]

I purchased my house 7 years ago and the title referenced a Right-OF-Way through the driveway, over railroad ties and across a sloped area, through a fence to a business in the back of my house. The holder of the right-of-way called to say he wants to exercise his right of way so that he can have 2 access roads to the street. The right-of-way was put into effect back around 1920 since the owners of the estate needed access to their business out back. I have parked my car there for 7 years, the prior owner parked there for 9, and the prior owners parked their cars here before that. I live in Mass and would like to know what the laws are regarding 'rights-of'way' and adverse possession. I have parked there for 7 years, have maintained and developed the back half of the yard (it was brush and 12 foot weeds when we moved in), I own the land and pay taxes on it every quarter. What are my rights? And what can the holder of the right-of-way do?

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rjv918:
I purchased my house 7 years ago and the title referenced a Right-OF-Way through the driveway, over railroad ties and across a sloped area, through a fence to a business in the back of my house. The holder of the right-of-way called to say he wants to exercise his right of way so that he can have 2 access roads to the street. The right-of-way was put into effect back around 1920 since the owners of the estate needed access to their business out back. I have parked my car there for 7 years, the prior owner parked there for 9, and the prior owners parked their cars here before that. I live in Mass and would like to know what the laws are regarding 'rights-of'way' and adverse possession. I have parked there for 7 years, have maintained and developed the back half of the yard (it was brush and 12 foot weeds when we moved in), I own the land and pay taxes on it every quarter. What are my rights? And what can the holder of the right-of-way do?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It appears that the owner of the right-of-way has a claim to the area given in favor but no claim for adverse possession. The right-of-way holder will never own the land but was given a right to use it for purposes of egress/ingress. You remain the owner of record. In your case the user did not use the right-of-way, but if recorded on title, the right to use still runs with the land even do to non use all these years. It is hard to talk about specific rights without reviewing the documentation and title.

 

[rjv918]

The land which the right-of-way runs across is 70% lawn that existed when we bought the house. The 20 feet of this was a mound that we planted some flowers in. I have maintained this land for 7 years now and the prior owners before that did the same. I was referring to my Adverse Possesion Claim. Can I claim this right-of-way as non-existant since the owners of my home going back over 40 years now, have always parked their cars in the driveway, have always used the right of way as a back yard, and no exercising of this right-of-way has taken place in that time. I live in Massachusetts.

 

[Prairielaw]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rjv918:
The land which the right-of-way runs across is 70% lawn that existed when we bought the house. The 20 feet of this was a mound that we planted some flowers in. I have maintained this land for 7 years now and the prior owners before that did the same. I was referring to my Adverse Possesion Claim. Can I claim this right-of-way as non-existant since the owners of my home going back over 40 years now, have always parked their cars in the driveway, have always used the right of way as a back yard, and no exercising of this right-of-way has taken place in that time. I live in Massachusetts. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

HomeGuru is right about someone needing to review the documents before being able to give you any opinions. I think you have a real problem with this, irregardless of your use and the prior owners use of the property. You were on notice of the right of way when you purchased and it may not matter how the land was used.

Adverse possession may not be applicable in that the possession was not adverse. If someone was not trying to exercise the use of the right of way, the fact you were using the land as you did may not matter.

At this point, you just have to sit down with good local real estate lawyer. You can find a lawyer here at Free Advice or on our site in our Find a Lawyer Directory. In an effort to best serve our users we affiliated with lawyers.com, a service of Martindale-Hubbell, a data base of 420,000 lawyers and the definitive guide to American lawyers.

Law on, Kevin

[This message has been edited by Prairielaw (edited July 25, 2000).]