Responsibility for easement

[EightFingers]

The thread about squatters got me to wondering about easements....if you have an easement on your land (say for a driveway to get to another lot) who has to maintain it?

[John S. Rabi]

If there is anything like rock walls, roadways, etc., shared by two or more neighbors than there should be a recorded agreement about the maintenence. (Its' usually shared.)

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John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
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[missydog1]

There should be, but the easement on my last house had zip. The language was as minimal as could be, just that the easement was shared for the common use, written in 1975, and by family member selling to family.

Having had reason to look it up, in absence of a specific agreement, the party benefitting from the easement definitely has responsibility to help maintain it, but that doesn't mean they will.

[TheodoreJay]

Well if its a driveway easement best bet is to keep it passable (no large rutts or trees) then if the neighbor doesn't like the condition, there's your opportunity to say hey chip in. It's kind of like a common fence, depends on who cares about it more as to who pays to maintain it.

[Bob Orts]

You may want to have all your property documents reviewed by a professional. It's not uncommon for someone to claim an easement when in fact no easement exists. Also who is responsible needs to be clarified, as you don't want any surprises down the road.

Couple of interesting items, some easements places the full maintenance responsibility on the person benefiting by the easement. The property owner has no requirement to maintain and easement that they are not benefiting from. The property owner can't interfere with that easement but may have zero responsibility to maintain it.

Another item that pops up is some easements prohibit the development of that easement. So if it's a graded dirt road, the easement users could be restricted to only keeping the grade smooth but can't come along and pave the road.

There are easements that require the user to take specific steps such as a gate across the property, limits on use, and even restrictions on what can be done when using the easement. A vehicle access easement doesn’t mean they can put electrical pole on it or water lines without permission and possible compensation to the land owner.

So, you should find out what the easement calls for, who is responsible, and what rights and restrictions apply.

[EightFingers]

The easement is documented and shown on the property survey map we got when we bought the property. It is a surveyed and staked driveway leading to the lot "behind" ours so we actually have two lots (but one TMK), one about 8 acres and one about 25 acres. I plan to talk to the county and see if subdivision is possible since the lot is really subdivided anyway. Hopefully, get a new TMK and possibly sell the smaller lot. Both parts of our lot front the highway too.

[John S. Rabi]

quote:

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Originally posted by EightFingers

The easement is documented and shown on the property survey map we got when we bought the property. It is a surveyed and staked driveway leading to the lot "behind" ours so we actually have two lots (but one TMK), one about 8 acres and one about 25 acres. I plan to talk to the county and see if subdivision is possible since the lot is really subdivided anyway. Hopefully, get a new TMK and possibly sell the smaller lot. Both parts of our lot front the highway too.

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If you have one TMK than you don't have two lots, you have only one lot. If you want to subdivide it than you need to get a new survey map showing both of the proposed properties. Instead of an easement you might want to consider making the back lot as flag lot. Check your zoning, if you have the zoning than the subdividing is pretty easy. If you don't than you need to rezone the property, that's more difficult.

Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"