Selling land that has neighbors' grandfathered gas lines crossing it but no easment

[KYErik]

I bought a 15 acre hay field next to my house/field about 8 years ago (it is outlined in red in the drawing). It was a great place for the wife to ride her horse, but now the horse is gone. The local farmer who has been cutting hay off it for the last 15 years has been very anxious to buy it and row crop it (he owns the adjacent field and wants to annex this field) and I am serious about selling over the summer. The issue is that there are two private natural gas lines running across the property and no mention of an easement in the deed (I knew about the gas lines when I bought the property- they are blue dotted lines in the drawing). This property is on a little spur road (black line along the bottom of the drawing) so it was my understanding that the gas company just placed the meters along the road (see drawing) and required the owners to run their own connecting lines the rest of the way. I have attached a crude drawing.

My field, house A and house B were all part of a larger family estate- that is why the private gas lines seem to cross property lines- it was all owned by the same family member so they used the shortest path possible to run the gas lines. When I bought the property from my neighbor B's daughter, neighbor B told me that many years ago it had been row cropped and once a farmer was chisel plowing deep and hit his gas line (where the blue X is on the map). With it just being cut for hay while I owned it, I wasn't worried about the gas lines.

The original Neighbor B has since sold his house and moved into town. New neighbor B is a lady that can get excited about things going wrong- but I work on her lawnmower from time to time when it breaks down and this spring I used my tractor/4 foot tiller to till up a small garden spot in her yard at her request, so I have a good neighborly relationship with her.

Neighbor A's gas line is no longer hooked to the gas meter.

As I sell this property, I know that ethically/legally, I need to at least verbally disclose the presence of the gas lines- especially since I know that the farmer plans to row crop the field if he buys it and so there is potential for him to hit the active gas line to neighbor B with tillage equipment and someone could get badly hurt if there was an explosion (best case scenario is that there would be a large gas bill and a large repair bill for patching the line on short notice).

6-7 years ago, when I placed a fence along the property line in front of house A and beside the gas meters, I called the utility locating phone number. They were able to accurately locate/mark the private gas line across the field to house A, but they couldn't track the gas line very far across the field toward house B (they could only ID it for 150 feet or so)- I could just tell that it went diagonally across the field taking the shortest possible path.


Which option do you think is the best?

Option A: Simply verbally tell the prospective buyer about the gas lines and declare it in writing in the sales contract (knowing that I will need to give a reasonable amount in price to make up for his possible future expense at moving it)

Option B: Preemptively pay a contractor to bury the gas lines extra deep/move them to the edge of the property line before the sales contact is even written (about 400-500 feet worth of lines- anyone know the typical rate per foot to do this? there will be 50 feet or so of sandstone but nothing a backhoe can't dig through)

Option C: Since neighbor A's line isn't even connected to the meter, just offer to pay neighbor B $4-6K to abandon their gas line and put that in writing. They would need to have their furnace, water heater and possibly cook stove switched over to electric so maybe $6K wouldn't be enough...


What are your thoughts? I guessing that someone here has been on either end of a similar situation...

 

[greasemonkeyok]

How about D) notify the buyer in writing the lines exist, you don't know exactly where they are, and let him decide whether he wants you to deal with the owners. He may want to handle matters himself, or he may want you to.

It may not be a good idea to give him your map just in case the lines are not where indicated. If you do show him the map, mark it clearly that this is just your guess as to the location of the lines.

 

[brin]

How about D) notify the buyer in writing the lines exist, you don't know exactly where they are, and let him decide whether he wants you to deal with the owners. He may want to handle matters himself, or he may want you to.

It may not be a good idea to give him your map just in case the lines are not where indicated. If you do show him the map, mark it clearly that this is just your guess as to the location of the lines.

I agree, Kye, you mentioned the farmer who has been cutting hay of your parcel is now " Very Anxious " to buy it....Now based on that that information if it were me....I would simply say nothing to him at all...I would write into the sales contract a simple sentence disclosing the existence of a gas pipeline and leave it at that...my understanding is all you are required to do is disclose a fact to all parties...If you get all hyper about it and make it a big deal he will get excited too...and the whole thing can get blown out of proportion...If he wants the land bad enough let him pay to correct anything....why should you discount your price up front...wait and see what he says...Keep in mind the gas company buries those gas lines very deep, especially in agricultural areas ...they know the land is being plowed etc....:2cents: Good Luck.

 

[Dr Dave]

I would contact the gas company first, ask them what is required by you, during the sale.

Dave

 

[brin]

I would contact the gas company first, ask them what is required by you, during the sale.

Dave

Why would the gas company have to be involved...? I hate to see him turning over rocks that don't need to be turned..one of them will surely have a snake under it....Disclosure is all I would do...Just one line in the contract and let it go at that....All buyers have a due dillegence responsibility...and your mention of a gas line is fine and gas lines commonly run all over this country in pastures , in subdivisions and under streets...no big deal unless you make it one...Your choice.,I would also include the drawing you posted here as an exhibit to the sales contract...

 

[joshuabardwell]

If you want a definitive answer as to what you are required to disclose, either ask a real estate lawyer, or maybe ask a realtor. The gas company, the folks on TBN, and your cousin Earl who sold some property with a gas line on it this one time, are not authoritative. IMO, of course.

 

[orezok]

I would contact the gas company first, ask them what is required by you, during the sale.

Dave

Typically the lines beyond the meter are private and the gas company usually will not get involved due to liability. Just notify the buyer in writing and let him deal with it if he wants.

Remember, No good deed goes unpunished! Don't take on the liability of future gas line problems.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

The gas line that is disconnected is not a gas line at all, just a buried pipe. I agree that you should just disclose the existence of the lines, IN WRITING, at the time of the sale. Verbal disclosure means nothing. Let the new owner deal with it as he sees fit. At best, he may just need to avoid running a subsoiler knife in that area, which would mean very little if anything,

 

[RickB]

Option E: Notify neighbor lady and request that her gas line be removed from your property, abandoned, or provide evidence of an easement allowing it to exist.

 

[brin]

Option E: Notify neighbor lady and request that her gas line be removed from your property, abandoned, or provide evidence of an easement allowing it to exist.

:thumbsup: Nice Rick...E is a great option as well...