Waking From a Property Tax Nightmare

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The problem is the man thinks he can do anything that he wants to the easement. The easement is a beautiful piece of land with native oak trees. I maintain the easement by trimming the trees and cutting the grass. My attorney said all I have to do is make sure that the man can get from point A to point B. The easement is passable. Since buying the surrounding land, he has developed a mobile home park which increased the traffic on this easement. Now, the easement was only intended to the parcel of land behind mine and not the whole parcel around mine. Is this legal? What responsibilities does this man have to maintain the upkeep of the easement, like laying road base, cutting the grass, etc? Can he cut down trees on the easement that belong to me? Can I put up gates at both ends of the easement? I have a fence that runs down both sides of the easement. His parcel is considered to be commercial and mine is still considered to be rural. I do have horses and livestock on my parcel.

I know I have asked a lot, but if you have information or answers to my questions I would appreciate it. This has been a nightmare ever since I bought this parcel of land.

—John C. Rank Salado, TX

Because easement laws are generally arrived at by each state's legislation and case law, there will be no black-and-white answer forthcoming in this column. But easements do follow the same general pattern in every state. Here is an overview of easements in regards to your particular situation: it sounds as if your attorney is absolutely correct. You may not block the easement against ingress and egress but generally you have no obligation to maintain the easement road in any way. The easement user may cut trees or clear other obstacles, but only if they are blocking the actual ingress and egress. If they are simply somewhere else on the easement and not on the roadbed or so close to it as to be interfering, he does not have the right to cut them. If trees must be cut to allow passage, they belong to the owner of the land, not the easement user. If livestock is roaming freely on a larger parcel with an unfenced easement through it, the easement user(s) must keep the gates closed. In your case the easement is fenced on both sides and to put up gates will probably be considered a nuisance.

What is troubling about your problem is the fact that even though the easement is described as serving one parcel only, the easement user has acquired more land and is accessing it through the easement. This is usually not an acceptable practice with easements even though the new acquisitions may be contiguous land. As you have found, easements are a gray area and each case may hinge on points specific to the situation. Contact a title company, or a busy realty firm that sells a lot of land. Ask them to recommend an attorney who has extensive easement experience. You must deal with it in a timely manner with this type situation or you may lose your right to do so. Best of luck in finding the right attorney and securing your easement burden against wrongful use.

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