Easement Laws vs. Right of Way Laws

[Kinman]

Years ago when I bought my current house I remember there being a mention to the fact that Standard Oil owned the northern most 12' of my property and I could not do anything on that portion. For years I parked my truck and camper on that spot just the other side of my shop, stored lumber on it, dumped used oil into a hole dug to "give it back to the oil company" (I apologize for my short sightedness) About twenty years ago we got a letter from Standard Oil that was signed by a bank of attorneys some of who's names I recognized as being famous. They did a survey of this piece of land which stretches from the gas depot completely across this town to the other side, painted a yellow strip on the sidewalk and made a point of notifiying any and all that were encroaching on their right of way. It turns out my shop was built 3.85' over the line, even though it was built with a permit, somebody forgot to measure the line properly and that is one of the many reasons we take out title insurance when purchasing a piece of property. We got a special dispensation which will not pass onto the next owner. We were also told it would be highly unlikely they would ever need to dig up a gas pipeline, but if so there was no guarantee they would not damage my building. My neighbor has an inground swimming pool that is also over the line, one guy had to remove a television antennae array that was right in the middle. The original land owner sold that right of way to Standard Oil for $50 per lot, he made a killing at that time and was very successful, its amazing to see the number of lots, the total length of the line is at least six miles.
My sons father in law owns land adjoining Inland Paper which adjoins a State Park. He and only he has permission to open the gate and ride horses onto the I.P. land and then directly onto State land, its a pretty sweet deal, it pays to have a good attorney. As everyone knows the difference between a good attorney and a bad one is at least fifteen years.

 

[Golddollar]

To make a long story much shorter, situation got bad and I hired a good Real Estate attorney. Not one that just looks at your deed and charges a few buck to tell you all is OK when you purchase, but a attorney you hire if WM want to put up a store next door. Yeah it cost me some decent money but the end result the summer folks were put on notice and have been good neighbors since. Who cares if we do not talk or wave at each other, the silence is quite good.

Good for you. You absolutely did the right thing. Land titles can be very involved and complicated. I was a title insurance agent/title examiner for 38 years. I've always described a title examiner as being part lawyer, part title abstractor, part surveyor, part cartographer (plotting legal descriptions of real property), part code breaker (for reading all those old handwritten documents) and part architect (if you are dealing with condominium plans). At least back in the county where I used to work the people who can cover all these attributes are getting fewer and fewer as the old land title attorneys die or retire.

I was an expert witness in court on a case back in the early 2000s that dealt with a granted right of way that was created in 1870. I had to have the title run back to 1870 for the three properties that were subdivided from a larger farm where the right of way was granted benefiting and burdening the three smaller farms. The default position is that a granted right of way lasts in perpetuity. When I testified, I stated that with the precision that was used back in 1870 in describing the three new parcels of land, when the grant for the right of way stated it was 5 feet wide, that was the clear intent of the grantor of the right of way, and that the defendants were only entitled to use a 5 foot wide lane for access.

This is why you buy title insurance for yourself.

 

[steelslaver]

I suspect that the right of way laws vary considerably from state to state.The only real solid answer you will get is from a lawyer who handles easement disputes in your state. One who is experienced in such disputes being every bit as much of a qualifier as the in your state part.