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I want to end a driveway easement

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Laurieann26

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Illinois
I bought my house in October and my neighbor was apparently granted an easement by multiple previous owners to access his garage. He was an elderly gentleman and I told him I would maintain the agreement. His grandchildren have since put him in a home and have been the worst people possible. They block the driveway, and they have started work on their property and have placed a huge dumpster half on the driveway without giving me fair warning.
There is no easement recorded in the office of deeds and the previous owner signed the paper that says there are no easements at the time of my closing. The garage is in awful shape and should be torn down for health and rodent reasons, but they are simply doing a new roof and siding instead. They are crying easement so I won't put up a fence across our property line.
Do I have a leg to stand on?
 


FarmerJ

Senior Member
get your property boundrys surveyed and then take the survey to see a real estate atty and discuss your options .
 
S

seniorjudge

Guest
FarmerJ said:
get your property boundrys surveyed and then take the survey to see a real estate atty and discuss your options .
And while you are there, ask the lawyer if, in fact, all you did was grant a license (rather than an easement).

To go along with the survey you take to the lawyer's office, get a title report from a title company.
 

Laurieann26

Junior Member
I was given the survey at the closing, and I also have the document that the previous owner signed that says there are no easements.
What exactly am I getting from the title company?

I asked them in January not to rebuild their delapodated garage since I did not want to allow them access to my driveway anymore. I since have sent two other letters and they have proceeded with the repair of the garage. To this day they have made no effort to speak to me civilly about this
 
S

seniorjudge

Guest
Laurieann26 said:
I was given the survey at the closing, and I also have the document that the previous owner signed that says there are no easements.
What exactly am I getting from the title company?

I asked them in January not to rebuild their delapodated garage since I did not want to allow them access to my driveway anymore. I since have sent two other letters and they have proceeded with the repair of the garage. To this day they have made no effort to speak to me civilly about this
Q: What exactly am I getting from the title company?

A: It will be a report showing easements, ownership, liens, etc. on your property. Go fully armed. If, obviously, no easement appears on the title report, you will be in even better shape.


P.S. If you find out how to make people treat you civilly, let me know...I could use it.
 

Shel77

Member
If there is no recorded easment, putting that fence up would probley be the best idea to stop all of this. Just showing them that they have no right to use that area and asking them to keep off may not work but a fence would.
 

Laurieann26

Junior Member
In talking with real estate agents (who are friends) they are saying that the easement will probably be granted to them since they have no other way into that garage. But my arguement is that the garage is useless and my agreement was with someone who no longer resides on that property. PLUS, the county has no recorded document, and the previous owner signed a paper that says there are no easments.
I don't want to put up a fence and all of the sudden they slap me with a lawsuit over some imaginary law that no one wants to enforce
 
S

seniorjudge

Guest
Laurieann26 said:
In talking with real estate agents (who are friends) they are saying that the easement will probably be granted to them since they have no other way into that garage. But my arguement is that the garage is useless and my agreement was with someone who no longer resides on that property. PLUS, the county has no recorded document, and the previous owner signed a paper that says there are no easments.
I don't want to put up a fence and all of the sudden they slap me with a lawsuit over some imaginary law that no one wants to enforce
In talking with real estate agents (who are friends) they are saying that the easement will probably be granted to them since they have no other way into that garage.

As real estate agents, these folks would make great hamburger flippers.
 

Shel77

Member
So this area on your property they are using, is actually Your driveway? I am trying to understand what the are using, you said blocking the driveway yet mentioned that a fence could be put up.
 

Laurieann26

Junior Member
Yes, they usemy driveway to get to their garage. Our garages are in the back of our houses. There is no fence along the property line so I was going to put on up along the dividing line blocking the entrance to their garage through my yard. I would also put a gate at the front that only my family would have the key to.
I was under the impression that an easement is generally granted just by it being understood. I cannot get a concrete answer, ye or no,either way.
 
S

seniorjudge

Guest
Laurieann26 said:
Yes, they usemy driveway to get to their garage. Our garages are in the back of our houses. There is no fence along the property line so I was going to put on up along the dividing line blocking the entrance to their garage through my yard. I would also put a gate at the front that only my family would have the key to.
I was under the impression that an easement is generally granted just by it being understood. I cannot get a concrete answer, ye or no,either way.
Q: I was under the impression that an easement is generally granted just by it being understood.

A: No. There are generally two kinds of easements: prescriptive and granted. A prescriptive easement is where someone uses part of your land to, for example, access his own land but there is nothing in writing. A granted easement is one that is set out in a deed or other instrument.

It sounds like your neighbor is wanting a prescriptive easement which is gained by adverse possession. However, if you gave a license (saying, okay you can drive over my land but no one else) then the possession by claim of right (the first element of adverse possession) never arises.

Whether bad neighbor has an easement or not depends on many facts; thus, your previous advice was to seek legal counsel, title report, and survey.

I think, just from the sparse facts you posted here, that bad neighbor has a license and not an easement.

But my opinion does not count.


http://www.escrowhelp.com/articles/20031104.html
 

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