Property Dispute Leaves 3 Dead, 1 Injured and 2 In Prison, Maybe For Life

[Jstpssng]

It‘s a recognized legal principle that land can not be landlocked. I’m not surprised a judge granted a right of way.

I believe that varies by state. It doesn't apply here, and even if you have town access to your lot that entity can be petitioned to abandon the road. There are a lot of discontinued roads in this state and nobody knows the legal status of many of them.
Lastly, if the above was the case "Corner Crossing" on public lands out west wouldn't be necessary.

 

[mapper]

This is an interesting thread. Our property has a sixty foot easement down the south boundary that is for access to one six acre lot on our west boundary. We had some issues with the previous owner of that lot, he had not built any sort of driveway back to his property, just drove along the edge of the pasture, so during the wet seasons it would turn into a giant mud hole. He would then start driving farther out into the pasture to get around it. He would also leave vehicles parked at the end of my driveway (about 400' from his property). When I spoke with him about this he said he had the right to do this as long as it was within the 60' easement.
I was reasonably sure that having the easement that was granted for access and utilities only did not give him the right to create a sixty foot wide mud pit.
So we consulted our attorney about this problem and his opinion was that the neighbor did not have the right to turn it into a mess, that long term parking was also not allowed. What he had the rights to do was build a driveway of reasonable width along the easement and bring utilities back to his property.
I let him know what my attorney had told me.
(The previous owner of our property had filled in a low area along the easement to help alleviate the swampy area and hauled in a considerable amount of fill to create a 3'-4' berm along the track that was being used to access the neighbor's property. This was not working, building a dam on undisturbed native soil with foil dirt still allows water to seep through and turn the ground soft.)
I had him help me to use the fill dirt in the berm to build up his driveway path and install a temporary culvert under it so it would stay dry.(I am not an a-hole after all just didn't like having my property getting torn up)
He never did put in a proper driveway, but sold a few years later. The first thing the new owner did was put in a proper driveway (but in the thirty years she's lived there has never contributed a single penny or labor to maintaining the 400 feet of shared driveway, but that's another story)

 

[two_bit_score]

For all our Texas members please be aware of the great resources at tag based on what is being viewed. We filter the output of wp_title() a bit - see agriflex_filter_wp_title() in functions.php. --> <title> Updated Handbooks & Holiday Sale! - Texas Agriculture Law

Not intended to be legal advice but very helpful with updated general information to help rural property owners. You can buy a bound copy or use a pdf version online for free.

 

[two_bit_score]

https://agrilife.org/texasaglaw/files/2023/10/Owning-Your-Piece-of-Texas.pdf

 

[two_bit_score]

In Texas it’s not easy to obtain access to landlocked property and YES, you can be landlocked.

“Obtain an express easement. Likely the easiest way to obtain access to landlocked property is to obtain an express easement from a neighboring landowner. As noted above, this easement should be in writing, signed by the grantor, specifically identify the property and details of the allowed easement use, and filed in the county deed records. Some neighboring landowners may grant this type of easement without requiring compensation, while others may seek some sort of payment for the right to cross their land. If a neighbor refuses to grant this type
of express easement, a landlocked owner will likely be forced to look elsewhere for access.”

see link in comment above for source

 

[two_bit_score]

It‘s a recognized legal principle that land can not be landlocked. I’m not surprised a judge granted a right of way.

That is not accurate in Texas. I am very familiar with a landlocked tract where the parcel is basically surrounded by a large hunting lease with no access. The owner had verbal permission from the surrounding property owner to cross for access but that permission was revoked and the landlocked owner cannot access his property.

 

[two_bit_score]

So, sometimes, Easements don't show on a deed, especially if property has been divided or combined over the years, or originally easement docs weren't recorded at court. Still can 100% be enforceable, it's just a real challenge to track down some of this stuff 70+ years later.

Not necessarily. Probably more often than most people think, it’s basically, “No Tickie, No Laundry.”

The “Tickie” being a recorded deed or easement.

 

[paulsharvey]

Not necessarily. Probably more often than most people think, it’s basically, “No Tickie, No Laundry.”

The “Tickie” being a recorded deed or easement.

That's probably one thing that can vary state to state, however, in Fla, it does not have to be recorded to be enforceable. You would just need the original documentation. It's definitely worth the effort and $50 or whatever to have them recorded.

 

[scootr]

I read that in some states you can petition the court to grant an easement where no access to a property exists.

 

[Torvy]

Thanks, twobit! The biggest takeaway here is that all of this sort of stuff is based on state (and sometimes local) law. Definitive statements about how things are only apply to those places where it is true.

Sound advice for anyone looking to purchase land...sounds like shared driveways can be a risk. Take that into account. I've got 3 different utility easements on my place, but no sharing with neighbors.