Who is Responsible for Maintaining Our Shared Property?


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How can I make my neighbor pay their share of expense toward the lane that we both use to get to the main road. We live at the end of the dirt road and have maintained it for the last eight years. She moved in over two years ago and will not pay for any gravel to go on the road.

Hopefully, you have a maintenance agreement regarding the lane, and you can sue to enforce it. If not, you’ll need to see if your area has an applicable law that you can enforce. Typically, maintenance for roads would be shared, possibly in proportion to use.

In either case, it would be a good idea to work your way up to a lawsuit gradually. After all, you will still be neighbors when this is over. If she is not listening to you, sometimes a polite but firm letter from an attorney is all you need to break the logjam.