Anyone else get an easement request? (East Ridge: rental, HOA, how much)

[ericacamp2]

I got one for my rental property in East Ridge. I am not sure what I think of it yet. Any ideas?

[MountainAire]

As far as I know, it means someone wants to use a portion of your property to get back and forth to another destination. You should contact an attorney before making that kind of decision.

[An Einnseanair]

Basically, someone wants to purchase some of the rights to your land. You still own the land (and pay taxes on it) but you would be giving up some of your rights. Maybe they want to build and maintain a road across your property, like what MountainAire said. I have property in the country and I have an easement for a road across a neighbor's land. They own the land, I maintain the road. Or a utility wants to dig a trench and bury electric, water, gas, sewer, (etc.) lines. LOTS and LOTS of people have these type of easements already present on their property, but just don't know about it. Or EBP or TVA wants to purchase air rights to build an above ground transmission line, which is a much bigger deal.

Either way, you should get compensated for the loss of access/use of your property. If someone builds a road, that means you can't build a parking lot there, or a shed, or plant a garden or tree, etc. You've lost the rights to your property. If it's an underground utility you've lost less. You still can't put a building on it, and you will likely be limited on digging, but otherwise no issues. Again, you probably already have underground utility easements on your property somewhere that were already there when you bought the property. Air rights for above ground electric is the worst because it's so visible and can adversely affect property values, but it can be hardest to get adequate compensation for.

Finally, if it's a utility, they will pretty much always get the easement in the end. The only issue will be how much they compensate you for the rights. If you try to fight they'll use eminent domain and take the rights anyway in court. Maybe you'll get more compensation if you fight, but if it's a small amount of land the extra compensation will not come close to paying for a lawyer.

[ericacamp2]

Sorry- I should have included more details. That what happens when you try to post while taking care of kids.

It is from waste water treatment association. They want an easement for the lateral line that runs between my home and the main sewer line. The letter said something about EPA and fines and storm water making its way into the sewer and treatment plant causing higher costs, etc.

Basically they want the right to repair the line whenever there is an issue. The letter claims they will only own the line, not the property above it. But I am worried I may not be thinking about all the potential issues.

The letter made it sound like just about everyone would be getting a letter like that.

[An Einnseanair]

Originally Posted by ericacamp2

It is from waste water treatment association. They want an easement for the lateral line that runs between my home and the main sewer line. The letter said something about EPA and fines and storm water making its way into the sewer and treatment plant causing higher costs, etc.

Basically they want the right to repair the line whenever there is an issue. The letter claims they will only own the line, not the property above it. But I am worried I may not be thinking about all the potential issues.

The letter made it sound like just about everyone would be getting a letter like that.

Wastewater treatment plants have to treat every drop of liquid that passes through their lines as if it's raw sewage. Any leaks where rainwater gets into their pipes can drastically increase their costs. If a LOT of rainwater gets in it can overwhelm their system and cause an accidental release of raw sewage into the environment. This is where the EPA and fines come into the picture. Hamilton County has had some problems with this in the past.

I'm assuming the letter you got was related to the Private Service Lateral Program (PSLP), and is very similar to THIS ONE. Most likely everyone in the county on the sewer system will eventually get one. I'm on septic, so no letter for me.

Basically, they want the right to enter your property to 1) if required, install cleanouts for access to the line, and 2) inspect the line and 3) if required, repair the line. If I understand what you said correctly, they also want to own the sewer line from your house to the street (currently, I think, you own the line from your building to the edge of your property line).

The good part is that if the city owns the line they have to pay for repairs. Forget what I said earlier about compensation, because they aren't going to pay you for the right to repair the sewer lines that are already in the ground. Actually, you are already paying them. There should be a surcharge on your sewer bill for (I think) $8 to cover this program.

The bad part is that they can do a lot of damage to your yard and landscaping while doing the repairs. Repairs may require work as extensive as digging large holes and trenches. I recommend taking pictures now and before any repair work commences (they should send notice before this happens, if it ever happens).

[ericacamp2]

Thanks JWkilgore. Your explanation is a lot better than the one in the letter they sent. It is indeed the PSLP.

I wonder if they decide my system needs upgrading if that mean I will have to fork out money for all the plumbing under the house since the easement will only exist up to the boundaries of the house. My house is old and has the old cast iron sewer line.

[Tinkydrums]

Ok, we just moved into our New house last week and now have been told a company want to build a drainage easement right next to our property line!
Our HOA keep turning them down but at some point they are I am sure going to accept the money they are offering and then we are stuck!
Any advice?