Articles on Property Rights
Is it Possible to Withdraw From Having an Easement?
Currently, the only people who use the easement are neighborhood children, many of whom ride their bicycles (and on one occasion, a gasoline-powered motorized scooter) through our front yard, past our house, through the backyard, and into the trees beyond. Our lawn is suffering serious damage because of this. Is it possible to vacate the pedestrian easement, and if so, how? I bought my property in October 2008 and I was told at signing that I had lot 14 and 14a. I have the lot 14a on my deed and then when i was putting up a fence on the opposing side of my ditch I ran into a conflict with my neigboor about this. I called the deeds office in the county and they say that the deed shows 14 and 14a as mine but it is an easement. What does this mean? Is this portion of land of 14a mine? They damaged my water line, causing damage to inside plumbing of house. They then came out of easement and installed cable on other side of my property, where there is no easement. Am I entitled to payment from the cable company for using my property for financial gain (charging neighbors for cable service while illegally using my property)? We built our home and the City dumped a large pile of dirt and broken up concrete and the end of the paved road so that we could not use the dirt road to get to our house. They said the road is not maintained and therefore we are not allowed to use it. If we have an emergency or a fire we are out of luck since a firetruck or ambulance will not be able to get to our house. Please help. We recently purchased a 5 acre piece of property. Unfortunately we did not have access to the language of the document when we purchased the property. This is what was “told” to us about the easement when we purchased the property. Our neighbors have recently brought to our attention that we were mistaken about the extent of the length of the easement. They have stated that they intend to put a road the entire length of the easement– nearly 400 feet. Do they have the “right” to do all of these things? I own a home in an Arizona subdivision with an HOA. Recently, the HOA amended the CCRs to redefine the common area to include the sidewalks. Can the HOA legally claim ownership of the sidewalk on my property? Can government entities explicitly grant Easement by Necessity to private landowners, particularly if the government entity may have created a landlock situation? How do we now establish access/egress to our lot? Do we stand a chance of convincing the Bureau of Reclamation to explicitly grant us use of the easement, which should satisfy the permitting requirement for the other bridge? Years ago a Water District acquired a residential parcel for construction of a water tank. The residential property has an easement for ingress/egress to an private road shared by over twenty other residential properties. The Water District (public utility) now is permitting a cellular company (private business) to apply for County permits to construct a cellular antenna facility on the property. Can the Water District give permission to the cellular company to use the private road to install and maintain the cellular facility when all of the other easement holders are in opposition? I own a 70 acre parcel of zoned farm land. Which was a farm for 75 years. The town notified me 4 years ago and said that I had to remove my cows from the property because the cows were affecting a near by natural stream I got rid of the cows. Now the town is charging me a 1,000.00 per day fine saying my cows contaminated the stream. Can they do this to us? What about the farms they had all these years elsewhere? I have 3 3/4 acres of land. Approx. 2 acres are in a 15 acre manmade pond. Once in awhile, a trespasser rides down the road and decides to throw a boat into the pond ignoring the “No trespassing” signs. Once in awhile, they challenge the ownership by saying, “You can’t own water.” and we have to call the Police. The Police have always asked them to leave and there has never been a problem, until recently. What should we do? I am one of seven owners of a private pond. It is not on the list of Public Waters owned by the state. We each pay taxes on the land we own under the water. About 25 feet of the pond comes close to a town road. Can the town give public access to the pond using their right of way that falls to each side of the road? For past few months, My neighbors (12 people) are now constantly using their basement door and my driveway as their main door, even their guest use it as a entrance door even though they have their front door and it is becoming extremely difficult to use my driveway where I park my cars(because of their constant presence, sitting in the driveway, children playing in the driveway etc), when I ask them to stop sitting or playing, they apologize, but keep repeating, them blocking my driveway with their cars is also becoming a problem. How to solve this problem, Is their a legal way? Can I stop them from using my driveway? There are 2 condo’s in the building, only. I own the upstairs condo. I need to construct an egress stair from my upstairs unit to provide it with a second means of egress as required by the State Building Code. The downstairs unit owners said they will not allow the rights to the use of the rear yard for the proposed egress stair, Can the owners override the State Building Code. My daughter’s boyfriend was sleeping over my house after attending a party earlier in the evening. At that party, her boyfriend apparently had gotten in a fight with another boy. At around 5:00am in the morning two state police knocked on the front door of my house. They asked her where her boyfriend was and when she told them they proceeded to go upstairs into her bedroom and seize her boyfriend. This all happened while I was asleep in my bedroom. Further, they didn’t just enter the house, but proceeded to go upstairs and enter the bedroom of a minor without my consent or knowledge? What action can be taken if any, and what impact could this have on the arrest and the case? My question is that my wife’s uncle , who resides in Texas, gave only verbal permission to some residents who were landlocked, next to his property, to use his land to get to theirs. What if anything can we do to get rid of them short of selling them property or an easement? We have always been aware that our property extends roughly 20′ feet past the perceived boundary marked by a row of boulders (our deed is very specific to our property lines and there are no easements). Recently the town has started a survey of this property line the surveying company seems to be dragging their feet and is unwilling to talk with me. I believe it is because they were unaware of the actual property lines. My question is should I stake out my property lines before the survey is complete? What should I do to protect myself? There is an access easement on my property so that my neighbor can access his yard (they use my driveway). I am wanting to build a fence on my property line which would cross a small portion at the end of the easement. I would not be hindering his access to his backyard, but he is against my building the fence. Would I legally be able to build the fence as long as I am not keeping him from getting into his backyard (egress and ingress)? An easement through an unincorporated HOA community in Yavapai County, AZ allows access through the community to landlocked abutting Property. Easement metes and bounds describe a route somewhat different from existing roads. Owner has unfettered access. Adherence to the described easement would require demo of some existing construction and construction of new roads. What are respective rights of community and easement grantee (Property owner)? For example, does the law allow the Property owner unrestricted rights to treat the route of his described easement however he deems necessary irrespective of the current use of that property? My house (primary residence) is on a lot without well defined borders to my neighbors. The grassy yard flows right into my neighbor property and there are some trees that act as a division but according to the plot plan my property runs well past them. Her lawn service cleans part of my lot (the part after the trees) and I worried she might think her yard is bigger than it is. How do I make sure after time she does not claim rights to the part of the yard she cleans? Recently, we had an issue where a tree died in a homeowner’s back yard. The tree was actually on the property that the HOA (Home Owner’s Association) owns. The homeowner cut the tree down due to the fact that it was a hazard to him and anyone in the lake in that area if the tree should have fallen. This homeowner has asked for reimbursement from the HOA for the cost of the removal of the tree due to the fact that the tree was on HOA property. Would the fact that lakefront owner’s have “property rights” to the water’s edge affect the legal responsibility of the HOA to pay for the removal of the tree? I have an Easement on my land that specifically states for ingress and egress purpose to a land locked piece of land. The location of the easement lies in an area that one can only access the land locked land by foot. My question is, what can I do and what can I not do with that land that belongs to me? Can I erect a building, On the Easement, that dose not hinder the travel to and from the land locked land or can I not? I live in Maine and have house with a deeded right of way through someone’s property to get to my house. My deeded right of way is stated as 50 ft. My driveway is very narrow, only about 8 ft. wide. Could I tar the rest of the 50 ft. if I want? What are my rights? I received a letter from a man (I’ll call Mr. Smith) who purchased property owned by a descendent of mine who owned the property in the 1800’s and died in the 1890’s. Supposedly there’s a missing document and there’s no deed showing this property transferred out of my descendant’s estate. Mr. Smith bought this property from someone who had a flaw in the title. He wants me to “release and grant all my right, title and interest in ANY real property in which my late descendant held any right, title and interest at her time of death. Do I have a case to sue for damages since he’s withholding information and misled me and my relatives. The city came in today and painted the curb in front of my house red as well as stuck a big “no parking” sign directly in front of my house. I was never made aware this was going to happen and it now draws away from my house, possibly devaluing it. I am a Board member of a private swim and tennis club. We were recently sent a letter from the local sewer authority requesting that we sign the attached right-of-way agreement and grant of right-of-way for an existing sewer line on our property for the sum of $1.00. The letter states that they have entered into a consent order with the local health department and the state department of environmental protection to eliminate sewage overflow into waterways. We were recently sent a letter from the local sewer authority requesting that we sign the attached right-of-way agreement and grant of right-of-way for an existing sewer line on our property for the sum of $1.00. Should we do it? After this new owner had his land surveyed he realized that I, and my neighbor, drove across a ~ 250 sq. ft piece of land in the nethermost corner of his 93 acre holding. This small piece of his adjoining property has been used continuously as a driveway entrance to our properties since their development 40 years ago. I purchased a lot about 12 years ago and all I received was a Quick Deed (quick claim deed) from the seller. We have a 10 foot easement on the back end of our land as likewise do the owners of the field in the back. They would have to cut down 2 30 (foot) trees that are in our yard to do this. They told me at a meeting that if I did not give them the right of this easement through my property that they would condem that part of my yard and use it anyway. My father purchased land in California in 1977, he had my mother’s name added to title also. My mother deeded the property to me a few years ago and now, she wants to take it back. If the land is in my name, in California, am I the sole owner of this property? I was asked to sign a deed immediately following surgery. I don’t remember signing this deed, but it gave half of my house to my mother. Now out of the blue I have just put my house on the market and an attorney for my mother has notified my real estate agent that she does not agree with my selling my house. What can I do? My neighbor has planted a tree next to my pool wall. The tree will have a minimum width of 25 feet. It will shed leaves and nuts into my pool, and will also shut off my sunlight. What can I do? What happens when you can’t afford mortgage payments and have to move out of the home? My husband and I bought a home about a month ago. We haven’t signed the mortgage papers yet but he wishes to have his name off the mortgage and I would like his name off the house as well. How can we do this? My mother’s will stated that when she died her house would be sold and the profits divided between me and my sister. My half was to go in a trust fund for me and my sister gets the other half outright. My question is: Can I buy out her half and obtain the property for myself? My husband’s grandmother gave him $25,000 of his ‘inheritance’ as a down payment on his first home. This also placed her on the mortgage and the deed in the state of TX. Now we need to relocate due to my husband’s job and his grandmother refuses to cooperate, and allow us to sell the house. What can we do? Can we force a sale of the house (known as “partition”)? y brother asked our parents to sell their home and move in with him so he can provide any care they may need in the future. They immediately listed their home for sale. Once our parents sell their home, all their equity will be used on the large down payment for my brother’s house. How can we protect their assets and financial interests? My sister and I co-own a home. She wants to take out $25,000 in home equity for personal use because she is unemployed. She told me if I won’t sign, she will force me. Can she do that? My village took some of my property. They advised me to get a survey to challenge it. Now they have eminent domain proceedings against me for that property; can I get my expenses for the survey back during the proceedings? James and Mary own 70+ acres in Wyoming. Son notarizes note for $75,000 for this property to be paid to James and Mary. James and Mary die, and Son inherits the property. Does Son still have to pay back the note to James and Mary’s estate? I am trying to sell some property, and the neighbors keep claiming that they own the property (they don’t), and scaring off prospective buyers. What can I do? I have a question about who is responsible for property damage due to a neighbor’s retaining wall that fell down on their property and caused my fence to partially collapse. My family has some property located in TX that we all have a divided interest in. One of the family members has informed us that they wish to sell their divided interest, and they are giving us 30 days notice. Can they do this? My mother wants to quick deed (quit claim) her house to me. Do we need a lawyer to do a quick deed (quit claim deed)? If you have paid a neighbor for use of a strip of land can they put a 4 foot high post at the corner of it, even though you were very clear that you were going to use it for a drive for your cars? Someone has built a house down the block from us and has decided to put a dock 20 feet from us, and instead of making his own access to his dock he has decided to use ours. What can we do? Several months ago I decided to put my fiancé on the warranty deed to my house. Then I found out that he is involed in some illegal doings, and changed my mind. The deed had not yet been recorded, but the lawyer said that she would not stop it because my fiancé was the one that wrote the check to pay for the deed to be written and recorded. But it’s my house. What can I do? I have lived with a man for a year, and have contributed a lot to the household. Can I take anything when I leave without getting into trouble? Can I do anything to get something back that I gave to someone, since they have ended the friendship? “How do I claim heir to the property?” What should a tenant for commercial space do when the landlord refuses the tenant a pre move-in walk through, and refuses to provide proof of permits and other documents for work which was to be done before move-in? If two people co-own a home, and one has abandoned the home and paid nothing toward the mortgage for months, then comes back but still pays nothing, does the other have the right to kick them out? Just because a deed is in the name of “a married person, as their separate property” doesn’t necessarily mean that the property is really their separate property. Generally speaking, co-signors have no property rights, but a lot of responsibility. When a non-married couple splits up and both people are on the lease, what can they do and what are their property rights? And when one of them threatens the other and pins them down, that meets the definition of domestic violence.
