THE LETTER OF THE LAW

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Easements are one of the major causes of contention and hard feelings between rural neighbors, mostly through misunderstanding the nature of the beast. It is interesting to note that easement users often believe they have more rights to the easement land than the actual owner of the land. Some easement users sincerely believe they own the easement land outright. However, in reality there is little basis for this belief.

Easements run with the land. That is, when land is sold the easement is not extinguished; the right to use it goes to the new owner. The easement does not transfer ownership to the land over which it passes, nor does it give the easement user any rights to the land within the easement other than what is spelled out in the language of the easement. Most driveway easements provide for ingress and egress (the right to enter and exit), sometimes include a maintenance agreement, and sometimes also provide for the installation and maintenance of utilities. Unless actually written into the easement description, rights of long term parking and storage are not included. The landowner burdened with the easement (you) retains ownership of the land within the easement and pays taxes on it. You have the right to utilize that land in any way so long as it does not interfere with the described use of the easement, in this case ingress and egress. You may have livestock on it and install necessary gates. Those gates cannot lock the easement user out and in most areas must serve a purpose, otherwise they are considered a nuisance. Easements usually have a specified width and the driveway may meander anywhere within the boundaries of the easement. The easement user may maintain the road but may not move the road onto any other part of your land, nor may the user utilize any more land than is necessary for his purposes no matter how wide the easement description is. You have the right to all production from the land within the easement—crops, for example.

Read a copy of your easement to determine what rights were granted with it. If you have otherwise friendly relations with the new neighbors it might be appropriate to have a chat with them about the problem to keep the situation from escalating into a conflict. If your new neighbors won't listen to reason regarding their use (abuse) of the easement you may want to take a copy of the easement to your attorney (real estate expert, please). Sometimes a letter from your attorney will be all that is necessary to clear up any misunderstanding, but if legal action must be taken you will definitely need his or her advice and help.

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