Buying Property with a Road Easement? Investigate Before Purchasing!

The real estate market is finally starting to pick-up in Central California. In Fresno County, realtors are complaining of a shortage of housing inventory. There are more buyers than properties to purchase. Are you one of those buyers? When purchasing property, do not forget to investigate road easements thoroughly. 

Easements are a frequent source of neighbor disputes. An easement gives one landowner rights in property owned by another. Most properties have easements that burden the property, such as the rights cable and public utilities to come onto the property and service power poles and lines. But the type of easement I want to speak about today is the right to travel across a property to get another property. For families living in urban areas, this is a rare problem—these folks have public roads that take them to their house. But if the property is in the foothills or on agricultural properties, a road easement from a public road might be the only way to access real property. In my experience, disputes often arise because a property owner misunderstands the easement rights. Sources of confusion come from the following: How wide is the easement road? What kind of vehicles can travel on the easement? Can the easement road be improved from dirt to gravel? How many neighbors have a right to travel across the road? The list of disputes is quite large. These are some good questions to think about when considering purchasing a property accessed by a private easement.

Here are some suggestions to begin reviewing a private easement while in contract to purchase property. Obtain a preliminary title report right away on the property. The report is prepared by the title company. The escrow company hires an investigator to review county records to find recorded easements. The report will provide a brief description. It would not hurt to ask the title company for a copy of the actual easement so that you can review it. If you do not understand the rights provided, talk to a professional. Let me give you an example of an issue that might occur: You look at a property and discover an easement road. The easement road looks to be about 15 feet wide. However, the granted easement provides an easement road 60 feet wide. In addition, review closely the seller disclosures of the property. Sellers of residential property need to complete a disclosure of known issues to the property. An easement would be one of them. Moreover, investigate the physical property. Look for worn trails which might indicate a prescriptive or implied easement. By properly investigating an easement road prior to purchase, you might be able to avoid a surprise and future neighbor dispute.

Ken Jorgensen, California Attorney

www.fresnolawgroup.com

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