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Easement for landlocked lot

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jvogel

Member
What is the name of your state? California

I own a 1.25 acre landlocked undeveloped lot in Palmdale in Los Angeles County. There is one other landlocked undeveloped lot between mine and a lot which has street access. How do I obtain an easement for a driveway to my property? What is a reasonable price to pay my neighbors? Should the price be based on a percentage of the property values? Is it feasible to work jointly with my landlocked neighbor to obtain a single easement from the owner who has street access? Should the County or any other government agency have required easements when the land was originally subdivided? If so, do I have recourse with the County?
 


nextwife

Senior Member
jvogel said:
What is the name of your state? California

I own a 1.25 acre landlocked undeveloped lot in Palmdale in Los Angeles County. There is one other landlocked undeveloped lot between mine and a lot which has street access. How do I obtain an easement for a driveway to my property? What is a reasonable price to pay my neighbors? Should the price be based on a percentage of the property values? Is it feasible to work jointly with my landlocked neighbor to obtain a single easement from the owner who has street access? Should the County or any other government agency have required easements when the land was originally subdivided? If so, do I have recourse with the County?
certainly review your title and consult a RE attorney to review the situation to see if there may be some options he can suggest. I once worked with a homeowner who created rear lot access by purchasing a narrow strip of county parkway land running behind three houses from a side street.

You must have known it was landlocked when you bought it. You purchased it KNOWING it had no access and accepting the implications of that, likely at a bargain price. The other adjacent owners have NO obligation to sell any land at all for an easement, but certainly might if you make it financially worth their while - so indeed team up with the other landlocked owner.

Without knowing the history of the parcel, WE cannot know why it is now landlocked,, nor whose responsibilty it was to secure access. But the landlocked status was likely created by prior owners of this parcel in selling off other parcels, and they assumed the risk that they would depreciate the value of the remaining parcel in their other land sale decisions. You had every right to walk away from purchasing a lot with no legal access.
 
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jvogel

Member
8/16/04 Thanks. I should have known it was landlocked, but didn’t. It was 12 years ago when I was naïve about such things. I’ve no idea whether the landlocked status was figured into the original price.
What is a reasonable price to pay my neighbors for the easement? Should the price be based on a percentage of the property values and/or the percentage of land needed for the easement?
Can an easement be obtained without using a lawyer, i.e., by working with the City or County and the neighbors? If so, is this safe?
 

nextwife

Senior Member
I'm guessing you DIDN'T use an attorney when you bought it? Have you carefully reviewed your title policy to be certain there is no provision in title for access?

Do this RIGHT. Get a REAL ESTATE attorney. You need a properly drafted, unambiguous easement, and likely a maintenance agreement. The price would be whatever it takes to get the owner to agree. Start with the land value. You may have to pay them for the "inconvenience factor" that having someone else driving across their land creates. Read the archives to get a sense of possible problems neighbors with easements face. The City/County cannot do this for you - you NEED an attorney.
 
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