mrdonsmith
Member
What is the name of your state? MD
The original plat for my property, cited in my deed, contains the following statement: "...streets and/or roads shown hereon are for the purpose of description only and...are not intended for public use. The fee simple title to the beds thereof is expressly reserved in the grantors of the deed to which this plat is attached..."
This same plat shows a "50' R/W easement to be incorporated into individual lot deeds." That easement crosses my property and those of 4 other owners. It bears a formal street name and is viewed by the county as one of several private roads in the same subdivision. None of the individual deeds in the chain of ownership refer specifically to the easement, only the plat itself containing the above language. Can we owners properly assume that since the grantors never specifically deeded fee simple title of the roadbed to the owners that they (now a homeowners association that acquired first party rights and obligations many years ago) still have "control" of the roadbed, i.e., the easement? Our deeds show the property itself as ownership in fee simple, but isn't reference to the plat that reserves the grantor's roadbed title clear on its face that this was never altered?
We all are involved in a dispute in which the association has declined to maintain this right-of-way, holding that it is "private property" for which they have no responsibility. Neither the plat(s) nor any of the deeds mention maintenance. However, the association did record a formal road maintenance agreement in 2000 that lists our plat, but still denies any responsibility for maintenance of this particular road segment.
The original plat for my property, cited in my deed, contains the following statement: "...streets and/or roads shown hereon are for the purpose of description only and...are not intended for public use. The fee simple title to the beds thereof is expressly reserved in the grantors of the deed to which this plat is attached..."
This same plat shows a "50' R/W easement to be incorporated into individual lot deeds." That easement crosses my property and those of 4 other owners. It bears a formal street name and is viewed by the county as one of several private roads in the same subdivision. None of the individual deeds in the chain of ownership refer specifically to the easement, only the plat itself containing the above language. Can we owners properly assume that since the grantors never specifically deeded fee simple title of the roadbed to the owners that they (now a homeowners association that acquired first party rights and obligations many years ago) still have "control" of the roadbed, i.e., the easement? Our deeds show the property itself as ownership in fee simple, but isn't reference to the plat that reserves the grantor's roadbed title clear on its face that this was never altered?
We all are involved in a dispute in which the association has declined to maintain this right-of-way, holding that it is "private property" for which they have no responsibility. Neither the plat(s) nor any of the deeds mention maintenance. However, the association did record a formal road maintenance agreement in 2000 that lists our plat, but still denies any responsibility for maintenance of this particular road segment.