When/whether to complain about easement encroachment?
My neighbor and I share a driveway (with recorded easement). Unfortunately the narrowest width is 78” and it seems impossible to fit modern day cars. He wants to build a little fence or patio that would be placed on his half of the driveway. Should I “let” him? Is there a statute of limitations? If I don’t complain now, would it be much harder for future owners of my house to complain 50 or 100 years down the line? (All of a sudden typical cars get smaller… but no flying cars invented yet.)
I feel a little bit bad complain about a distant “maybe” but also afraid of losing property value…
Would that be a “lawyer” question? Any recos?
Many thanks!
ning
in General Discussion 5 years ago
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8 replies
stevecym | 5 years ago
i am not reading everything everyone else says, so sorry if i repeat. my family had a house in nassau county that had a shared driveway dating back to the 1940’s. it was not a deeded easement but one of “prescription” or need. as we were in the process of parting with the house in the 1990’s, the new neighbor alongside this place told me he was going to fence it off and we would not be able to use it. realizing this would entangle the property in a legal mess right when my father was moving to sell it, i immediately put a boat trailer in the back yard. i would have put a car in the yard if i had one to spare. if you can fit a small car in there and leave it, i would do it. I did this as my way of stating to the other owner that we needed the access and were not relinquishing it. i would do something before this person puts a fence up because once he does, the clock is ticking (maybe it is not ticking as hard though as you have a deed, but still).
these issues are more prevalent in rural areas. my wife’s father went through this in another country wit h laws similar to the US. someone ran a fence over the access (not deeded but through need or prescription) and the clock began ticking and the lawyer told them, once it starts ticking, everyday it will get harder to remove. the lawyer told him “you should have ripped the fence down the day they put it up”.
the other thing is, this can impact your property value. perhaps you wish to let him do this but you can negotiate something. i would never allow someone to take away any deeded easement to my property without them “buying” it off me.
go read about this and the cases that have occurred over the years. once you do, you will know what you have to do to protect yourself.
restorationcontractor | 5 years ago
You need to consult with a real estate attorney, maybe send a letter advising him not to do it.
If you allow him to do it and say nothing down the road he could potentially claim adverse possession and still have use of the easement on your side.
Like the others have said it will come up on a survey during a sale and most definitely will be an issue affecting title insurance, financing etc.
FYI a smart car is 65 1/2″ wide!
Guest User | 5 years ago
you and your neighbor equally share the full width of the driveway, there is no your side and his side of the driveway. perhaps you could work together to figure out a way to change the paving on the driveway so it is more conducive to lounging – paving stones instead of asphalt? you could even go in on a movable planter with a trellis in it, plant some fast growing vines on the trellis, put the planter in the middle, and agree to share the space that way until such a time as one or the other of you chooses to use the driveway for its original purpose.
i don’t know the ins-and-outs of real estate transactions but I would guess that your neighbor would also have problems selling his property if he were to build something connected to his property that occupied a portion of the easement.
Guest User | 5 years ago
you and your neighbor equally share the full width of the driveway, there is no your side and his side of the driveway. perhaps you could work together to figure out a way to change the paving on the driveway so it is more conducive to lounging – paving stones instead of asphalt? you could even go in on a movable planter with a trellis in it, plant some fast growing vines on the trellis, put the planter in the middle, and agree to share the space that way until such a time as one or the other of you chooses to use the driveway for its original purpose.
i don’t know the ins-and-outs of real estate transactions but I would guess that your neighbor would also have problems selling his property if he were to build something connected to his property that occupied a portion of the easement.
greenworks | 5 years ago
If you have a recorded easement anything permanent he builds on it will be considered an encroachment and thus the problems at sale.
Your drive is only slightly narrower than ours (we’re 80 at narrowest) and you’d be surprised at the number of modern cars that fit btw. We just got a new Subaru Forester 73” wide, mirrors folded, and our 1999 beater car was fine too. There were a number of new cars we considered, none wider than 73 – you might want to go a little narrower but there’s plenty of choice.
ning | 5 years ago
Thanks for the real estate transactions reminder! So a refinance or sale may stall if a “discrepancy” is found?
resident2 | 5 years ago
This is not a “distant … maybe” problem. It will be a problem as soon as you ever want to refinance or sell etc… it will not pass muster with a survey inspection.
Also as more & more people will be buying smaller cars… I will be buying an Electric Smart as soon as reasonable priced used ones or something similar are available on the market.
It also blocks peoples access to there Garage? or workshop / storage rights.
No it is not alright with you….. he can sit on the driveway, even put a table & chairs on the driveway, but no fences, decks etc.
yudashasom | 5 years ago
He can’t do this, and you have every right to say no.