An easement by a neighbor on your property can devalue the property. An application for easement that has not yet been established can also devalue your property. Even if it doesn`t devalue the property, a servitude claim for your home can make it difficult to sell, as potential buyers may not want neighbors (or other people) to use their land. Potential owners may fear future liability claims or other possible lawsuits arising from the unwanted use of their land. An easement is a legal right to use property that you do not own. A common form of easement is the right to use a driveway that runs through your neighbor`s property. This type of easement can sometimes be called a «right of way». However, you don`t have to be a neighboring landowner to get an easement. For example, you may want an easement because a person`s property provides easy access to water.

To obtain an easement, you must negotiate with the landowner whose property you want to use. Next, you need to draft an acceptable legal document and submit it to your document recorder. There are practical issues, and then there are legal issues. On a practical level, your neighbor will let you know that he has erected a fence. Did he really erect a fence that would restrict access, or is it a door that you can open at will so that you can continue to use the road? A property easement agreement creates clear and precise boundaries and sets out the purpose of the easement and any restrictions on its use. This is crucial to avoid future misunderstandings or disputes, especially since easements have often been in effect for a long time and can last long enough that the parties no longer remember the original terms of their agreement. This document works for all types of real estate, whether rural or urban, commercial or residential, as long as the person granting the easement is the owner of the property. After entering the required information, the agreement will be printed and signed by both parties and then retained by both parties for the duration of the agreement and for a reasonable period thereafter. The agreement reached must be submitted in accordance with local rules, which vary from county to county. For example, in Philadelphia, an easement had to be filed with the City Clerk of the Courts of the Department of Deeds. Contact the local district registry to find out which government agency should receive the easement to be filed and registered before returning it to the parties. Have you discovered that the house you want to buy has an easement on the property? It could be a good thing, a bad thing, or a completely neutral thing.

Learn what easements are and how they affect your property rights. Q: I live in South Carolina and I share a private road with my neighbor. The neighbor owns the first hundred feet, then I own a little more, then he has a little more in the back. My neighbor just told me that they intended to set up a fence. This fence would block my access to my property. Can I legally prevent them from erecting a fence? Can I install a fence on my part of the road to prevent them from using my stretch and getting to the back of their land? It can be complicated and confusing to find easements and rights of use under the law, which is why you want to consult a lawyer who not only specializes in real estate, but also has experience in this particular field. I am often asked to draft easement agreements. It is not uncommon for a residential or commercial owner to want or need to enter into an agreement with the neighbouring owner regarding the use of one or both properties.

What neighbors usually don`t take into account, however, is that an easement is a concession of an interest in the land. Transferring an interest in a property is important and should receive the diligence and discussion it deserves. If you`re buying a home with an easement, you`ll likely have to abide by the rules of easement – as they`re often not set up lightly. Let`s say you bought land on the beach and the only way for neighbors to reach the public beach is through a path in your garden. They should legally get them to use it because they have the right to access the public beach. Similarly, if a utility company has an easement to access a pipe under your backyard, there`s not much you can do to change that. Although we eventually solved the problem and they were finally able to build their workshop, it was a long and expensive experience for my clients. The easement agreement for drainage was clearly stated in their landlord`s title insurance policy, but unfortunately they did not read their title policy or easement agreement before buying the empty land. Prescriptive servitude: Prescriptive servitude describes how an easement is created. This is when someone regularly uses an owner`s land for a certain period of time (established by state law) without being restricted by the owner.

This is commonly referred to as «squatter rights». If you do not have the knowledge to review title work and easement documents, it is recommended that you hire an experienced real estate attorney to help you. I was representing a client who had purchased a vacant lot next to his house. They wanted to build a workshop in the countryside. Years after the purchase, they were ready to build, but their application for a building permit was rejected due to a drainage easement in the middle of the plot and the easement prohibited the construction of a structure in the easement area. After being denied permission to build on the empty lot, they hired me to solve the problem. Once you`ve tried to talk to your neighbor, understood the reasons why they installed the fence, and you`ve failed to convince the neighbor to consider your right to access your property, you`ll likely need legal help. Normally, private roads are regulated by easement agreements. An easement gives a person or business the right to cross or use someone else`s property. A common example: the local energy company may have an easement that allows it to access its electric pole on its private property.

Legally, sellers are required to disclose easements on their property during the sale, so you need to know if there is an easement if you have a purchase contract, if not sooner. But if you`re buying a house owned by a bank that sells as is, you should do a little more research yourself. Your real estate agent can help you decide if there is reason to believe that a property could have an easement, but contact the city to find out for sure. Find out exactly where and what kind of servitude it is. Some easements, for example, remain after the purchase of the house, but others do not. If you are planning to build a new home or annex, it is especially important to know if there are easements on a property before you buy. You can find out by going through their files. You will find easements on the deeds, plates and other documents of the owner. For example, if your neighbor has received an easement to ensure a view of a lake, you will not be able to renovate, enlarge or even plant a tree that would block the view of your neighbor. Don`t worry if you can`t find an easement agreement between you and your neighbor for the use of the roadway. You may still have the right to use the road. Sometimes there are roads that have been in continuous use for many years.

In these cases, the law may involve the continued use of the roadway by its existing users. In other circumstances, the way a roadway began and the way the different parcels of land existed may have created a right of servitude for later use of the roadway. When buying residential or commercial real estate, do you check the easement agreements mentioned in the title commitment? Almost all properties will have easement agreements that affect the property, and it is important to check the easement document to determine, among other things: whether the easement favors or encumbers the property or both; the place of servitude; which party has maintenance obligations; whether the easement can be terminated; which events are considered by default and may therefore have legal effects on you. To find out (unless you already know the response from previous interactions), you should ask your neighbor why they decided to set up the fence. Is this a simple misunderstanding that has gotten out of control? Or is it the solution the neighbor has chosen to solve a completely different problem, like deer eating the neighbor`s entire vegetable garden? Another protection against a future application for easement is a «permissive use notice.» In many states, a notice of permissive use can be registered on one`s own property. This will prevent future conflicts over the type of access allowed or unauthorized. An easement is a legal right to use someone else`s land for public or private purposes. Although many easement agreements are recorded in property registers, this is not always the case. Some easements can be obtained in other ways. In your case, we suspect that there is an easement that gives you the right to continue using the road.

The easement probably also gives your neighbor the use of the road. Sometimes private road agreements appear on the signs of the subdivision. Or private road agreements appear on transfer deeds – when an owner sells the land and creates the agreement on who could use the road.. .