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Real estate and business law can be some of the most confusing legal areas. If you find yourself involved with a suit in California, you simply must have an experienced legal professional on your side. I am Robert Levy and I have years of knowledge of all types of cases involving business and real estate. The lawyers with my practice have one goal - to get you the results you are interested in and to help make your case go as smoothly as possible.
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What is an equitable easement in California? How can I get one to access a piece of property?
How can I get one to access a piece of property? An easement is a property interest. It’s a non-possessory interest in property that is owned by someone else, and it’s generally for a specific party. Easements may be public or private. Most easements are for road access to property (i.e., the right of a person to cross another’s property in order to get to a road). However, there are a number of different purposes of easements, including for utility lines, hunting, or scenic views.
How can I get one to access a piece of property? Easements can be created in a number of ways. Express easements are easements that are agreed to by the parties and are put in writing. Prescriptive easements are easements that are created based on a continuous and open use of land for five years or more. Implied easements arise from the inferred intent of the parties upon conveyance of title under cases of reasonable necessity. Easements by necessity are created to allow the use and enjoyment of property that is landlocked. A final type of easements in California is equitable easements.
How can I get one to access a piece of property? In some situations, courts in California may award easements simply because it is fair and would cause a hardship if the easement was not granted. These are called equitable easements. Equitable easements are granted for the long-time use and/or improvement of land, which cause little harm to the property owner, but would cause irreparable harm to the user if the easement was cancelled. This is an easement that may be created, even though on traditional grounds, the user would not be entitled to an easement. In awarding an equitable easement, a judge will look at the rights of the parties, and will decide whether there should be an injunction to prohibit the trespassing, or whether the trespassing should be allowed and converted into an easement.
How can I get one to access a piece of property? Equitable easements are awarded by California courts if three circumstances are proven by clear and convincing evidence: - The party which needs the easement is innocent (e.g., not willful or negligent); - Adverse possession rules or prescriptive easement rules do not apply; and - The hardship to the party needing the easement is greater than the hardship that would be suffered by the other party if the easement were granted.
How can I get one to access a piece of property? Some examples of situations in which equitable easements may be granted include when a person mistakenly purchased a landlocked property and needs access to a road, or allowing a person who had accidentally built a fence on another person’s property to leave it there. Obviously, it would be an extreme hardship for a person whose property was landlocked to not be able to leave the property, or for a person who built a fence to be forced to tear it down. Courts will weigh these hardships against the inconvenience to the other property owner if the easement were granted.
How can I get one to access a piece of property? An equitable easement case starts when one of the parties, either the property owner or the person using the property, sues to enforce his or her rights in court. Each party will present his or her case in court about the use of the property, and a judge will decide the case. Easement cases in court are not quick, easy, or inexpensive. Therefore, in many cases it will be in the parties’ best interests to settle the case if possible.
How can I get one to access a piece of property? If you own or are considering purchasing a property, and that property either uses, or is subject to the neighbors’ use, for any reason, you should make sure that the easement is an express easement, which either appears in a deed or a title report. If you do not have a signed, recorded agreement, you may be at risk of a lawsuit for an injunction, or for a quiet title action. It’s better to speak with an attorney before a lawsuit is filed. Generally, the sooner you can deal with easement issues, the better.
How can I get one to access a piece of property? If you believe that you are entitled to an equitable easement, or if an adjoining property owner is attempting to assert an easement over your property, it’s critical that you seek the services of a qualified real estate attorney. Cases involving real estate in California are not easy, and it’s highly likely that you will lose your case if you attempt to handle them yourself.
How can I get one to access a piece of property? Instead, if you are in the Oakland-Walnut Creek area, and you need the assistance of a real estate attorney, call Oakland-Walnut Creek real estate attorney Robert Levy at 510-465-0025. He works with clients on a variety of real estate issues, including equitable easements, as well as other types of easements. Call today to schedule your consultation.
