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Water Lines and Easements....What are my rights?

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lizbeth7519

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Tennessee

I am having a battle with two neighbors. 14 months ago we purchased a piece of land and had a house put on it. We have been unable to move in because we have no water. Our water line runs across a neighboring property. The water line has been in the ground for 30 years (we got this information from the utility company). One of the pipes that is on the neighboring property is busted. But, the lady that owns that property will not allow us to get on her land to repair the water line. She called the police on us when we went to her and told her that we needed to fix the line. We were just getting her permission at that point. Wepromised to resow her grass and everything. We would have been digging a whole 12 inches in width and 30 foot long. She told us she didn't want anyone living on the land and she wouldn't let us fix our water lines.

Our other neighbor has two fences going across our easement. Our deed states the following concerning the easement, "Said right of way on easement shall be sixteen feet in width. Grantees have the right to construct, maintain and use this easement andsame is a permanent easement which was with the land for the purpose of ingress, egress, and regress to and from Said Road to Lot # (my property).

With my deed stating this, do I not have the right to have the gates taken down. My lawyer keeps screwing around and not getting anything done. Therefore, I am trying to find out my rights on my own. Also, does the grandfather clause not apply to my water lines? Isn't it my legal right to be able to repair my water line without going to court.

If anyone has any information that you can offer I would greatly appreciate it. I'm going into a financial whole because I am paying my mortgage payment and rent on an apartment. I just want to move into my home.
 


CalifAtty-12

Junior Member
lizbeth7519 said:
What is the name of your state? Tennessee

I am having a battle with two neighbors. 14 months ago we purchased a piece of land and had a house put on it. We have been unable to move in because we have no water. Our water line runs across a neighboring property. The water line has been in the ground for 30 years (we got this information from the utility company). One of the pipes that is on the neighboring property is busted. But, the lady that owns that property will not allow us to get on her land to repair the water line. She called the police on us when we went to her and told her that we needed to fix the line. We were just getting her permission at that point. Wepromised to resow her grass and everything. We would have been digging a whole 12 inches in width and 30 foot long. She told us she didn't want anyone living on the land and she wouldn't let us fix our water lines.

Our other neighbor has two fences going across our easement. Our deed states the following concerning the easement, "Said right of way on easement shall be sixteen feet in width. Grantees have the right to construct, maintain and use this easement andsame is a permanent easement which was with the land for the purpose of ingress, egress, and regress to and from Said Road to Lot # (my property).

With my deed stating this, do I not have the right to have the gates taken down. My lawyer keeps screwing around and not getting anything done. Therefore, I am trying to find out my rights on my own. Also, does the grandfather clause not apply to my water lines? Isn't it my legal right to be able to repair my water line without going to court.

If anyone has any information that you can offer I would greatly appreciate it. I'm going into a financial whole because I am paying my mortgage payment and rent on an apartment. I just want to move into my home.

My response:

Another example of why there are Hillbilly Dufus people, and this is why they live in the Southern States!


IAAL
 

justalayman

Senior Member
The water line has been in the ground for 30 years (we got this information from the utility company). One of the pipes that is on the neighboring property is busted
Is this a municipal water system or does it go to a well or other water source?. Is there any other route you can take to get to where you need to go or can you go to a different spot (if muni water)?


With my deed stating this, do I not have the right to have the gates taken down. My lawyer keeps screwing around and not getting anything done. Therefore, I am trying to find out my rights on my own.
Probably but it may take a court fight to settle this.
Also, does the grandfather clause not apply to my water lines? Isn't it my legal right to be able to repair my water line without going to court.
Is there any easement regarding your water line? If a muni water system, the muni may have an easement you are not aware of as well that would help you here.
This all depends upon your specific situation. While the neighbor may have granted a license to allow the waterline originally, a license is revocable. If there are alternate means to get your water, you may need to head that direction.
 

lizbeth7519

Junior Member
First of all, I am not a Hillbilly Dufus. I'm darn proud to be from the South. I didn't ask for smart alec comments, I asked for help on my situation. If you can't offer help on my situation, don't relpy, please. Thank you.

Now, to the other person you replied with some sense. I don't know of any water easements. It is a water line connected to the towns water system. No wells or anything like that. This is the only route of getting water to the property. We have already looked into other options. Our water lines were in place before this neighbor bought her piece of land. So do you think I should contact the utility system and see if there is a muni easement? I appreciate your help.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
lizbeth7519 said:
So do you think I should contact the utility system and see if there is a muni easement? I appreciate your help.
Absolutely.

They should be able to help you. I am sure this is not the first time this situation has arisen. They may be able to assist or at least point you in a progressive direction without needing to head off to an attorney's office.
Now mind you, it may be beneficial to at least speak with an attorney concerning this. The relatively small fee to get at least a superficial review and advice from an attorney may save you a lot of steps and time.

sidenote: do not ignore the other poster totally. When he does give legal advice, it is exceptionally good advice. You just need to wade through his personal enjoyment. He is very "bullish".
 

lwpat

Senior Member
A lot depends on how the property was titled in the past. If the property was all under one ownership at the time the water line was installed you have an easement by prior use but you may have to go to court. See who owned the land and in whose name the meter was originally issued.

You may also have an easement by necessity but this may be harder to prove since you could install a well.

As the other poster noted, an prescriptive easement is going to be hard to prove. But a court is very likely to award you an easemnt by estoppel since the line has been in use so long. My suggestion would be to have a very nice talk with your neighbor and try to work something out before both of you spend a lot of money on attorneys. That will probably cost you more than a well and take three to four years unless you can get an injunction. Explain to her that she could be liable for all your damages in not being able to occupy the house and for the installation of the well.

As for the gates, if they unreasonably interfer with your access, you can take them down but be sure not to damage them or allow livestock to get out. A lot depends on when the gates were installed and how the property was being used at the time the easement was granted.

How did you get the house and by what kind of deed. You may be able to make the former owner take on these legal issues if it was by a general warranty deed. Did you get a home inspection or title insurance?
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
As far as private well goes I would tell you to go to your towns zoning desk and learn if they have ordinances in place addressing new well water wells being put in when a property has had city water in the past. Its possible they wont allow it. Double check records that go with your and your nbrs property to learn if there was any records addressing the water line. Wether the nbr likes it or not knowing that they might get sued could be enough to get them to allow repairs to be done. Go talk to a atty as you were told to have them look at the whole thing , all it might take is a letter from a atty to get this repair done.
 

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