Reclaiming Lake Access (Lansing, Ionia: assessor, attorney, house)

[visionrke]

10/8/08
I have a dilemma. In 2000, I bought my home. I reside at Long Lake. When I moved here, I had lake access. Back in 2003, I received a letter from the Ionia County Drain Commission stating, we made a mistake, you don't have access, and here's this years weed control refund. Well, that year I found out they took several residents access away.
I live right above the lake. The roadway that leads to the lake is butted up to my property. W Long Lake runs between the roadway and my home. I was told by the treasures department, I believe it was them, that it must be stated that I have access on my deed and to just bring it back to the drain commissioner to reclaim my right. On my deed, it states that I am entitled to all easements and reservations of record.
I have spent about 50 hours down at the register of deeds going through and tracing all of the deeds and surrounding deeds and plats dating back to 1900. Several of those documents state that I have lake access and I have even found a document entitling me to a boat dock. I have all of my supporting documents, I am unsure on what I need to file with either the register of deeds or the court to reclaim what is rightfully mine.
I am a single mom, never received any child support, am unemployed and can't afford an attorney. Last year I filed for a poverty, property tax exemption and was denied by the Orleans Township. I appealed...and won. In the process, I found out that I had been paying for TWO homes on my property-there's only one. My property record card was 60 years old! My home was built in 1997! I also found out that the Tax Assessor will only go back ONE year. It's funny you know, if you don't pay your taxes they'll take your home, but when you over pay, you are just screwed! I feel that I have paid dearly for my lake access and want it back! See, the Assessor has shaved off so much from my property record card, about $40, 000 or $50,000, that I need this access to bring my value back to where it should be. I have made several tousands of dollars in improvements. My assessment is no where near being accurate. The assessor still hasn't made all of the corrections that I had requested on my property record card. The judge specifically told me to make sure everything was accurate on the new card. The assessor said she was working on next years assessments and that the changes would show up on next years assessments. Does she think I'm going to forget about it? NOT!
If you could give me any advice on where I should go from here, I would be greatly obliged!

Sincerely,
Ms Ronnie K Endre
visionrke@charter.net

PS My bay window view is what sold me on my house. There's a lot of motor
action on the lake in the summer. I wish that it was a motorless lake. I
would like to someday be able to buy a very small boat to take out on an
early Sunday morning, when the lake is just waking up and go fishing. And
it would kind of be nice to leave from my own little dock

[Paul Evans]

If you have your answer by now, great! I would like to know the results, so please post!

If not I have a few comments and some questions. First, its not clear to me that the Drain Commission, Treasurer, or Assessor has any authority to legally determine what, if any, lake access is associated with your property.

This determination, as you seem aware, is set up in the property records recorded at the County Register of Deeds. For decades, Michigan Courts have used the same records you have researched to determine lake access. If anyone, the Assessor might have the most knowledge because they read deeds, easement, plats, etc. on a regular basis.

Special Assessments such as weed control are levied to very specific properties, commonly those that abut the lake water's edge.

Just because your property is not in this Weed Assessment District does not necessarily mean you cannot enter the water as you always have. I suspect that under the Weed Control Assessment your property was incorrectly included.

Can you answer these questions for me?
1) Does your property abut the lake water's edge?
2) Presumably the answer to #1 is no. If this is the case, what divides your property from the water's edge?
3) What property, public or private, do you cross to enter the water?
4) Has anyone advised you that you can no longer enter the lake water the way you describe in #3? This is different than how the agencies you are dealing with describe as "lake access".
5) Can you describe to me the name of the documents you viewed at the County Register of Deeds and what they say to lead one to believe you have lake access?

Just so you know, I am a 18 year veteran of township and municipal Zoning, Planning and Code Enforcement, here in Oakland County where we have hundreds of lakes. I have performed title searches, examined legal descriptions, plats, and easements most of my professional career. I probably have more knowledge of riparian (water) rights than most.

[visionrke]

10/23/8
I hit the jackpot my last visit to the register of deeds! Paul I am so glad you replied to my post! I had more luck with the plats than deeds. In the beginning I was searching for a separate document stating my access. I have gone back about 100 years. Theres about 10-12 plats and a few deeds stating my lot boundaries. They state that my property runs to the waters(lake) edge. Back a few years ago, when they came in and "took" several of our accesses away, DNR went and totally redid down by the boat launch. The launch is to the far right, but they took upon themselves to do landscaping, put in a odd house facility-also in the far right corner and even planted trees, which I think is going to over take my great view I am still waiting on the correct property record card from the assessor and she blatenly told me I do not have access. How has the drain commissioner legally been able to do this? In several of the deeds, it states that the road(Long Lake Rd) runs through the northern section of the lot. I have read this again and again. In all of the plats, it shows the specific lots, which are properties closest to the lake, have access to the lake. Now that I have all of this information, I am unsure where to go from here. I am financially stressed and really don't have the finances to hire an attorney. But I am confident if I knew the proper recourse to take, I could. I recently researched, created and filed my own fathers living trust, appealed to the Tax Tribunal in Lansing regarding my poverty property tax exemption and won, and also won an appeal in regards to my eldest special needs child. I am all ears. I also have a friend in the Sumpter Township clerks office and she is quite burdened with a heavy work load and has been unable to afford the time to help. She also has parents that are not well. Could you give me any direction on the necessary procedures to reclaim what is rightfully mine? Am I going to need to conduct a property boundary survey? When I came back to find your post after I was contacted, it took me a while to find it. I am going to recommend to city-data to supply a direct link to our posts in the future to simplify searches. My email is visionrke@charter.net and if you could reply directly, it might be easier and quicker to communicate. In addition, one of the deeds or plats, states mooring rights. I am just a little gal and sometime in the future would like to buy a real small, motorless boat I can take out early on a sunday morning, when the lake is tranquil to fish. It would be nice to have a small dock to keep the boat at during the warmer seasons. Otherwise, I'd have to carry it up and down to the lake everytime I use it. I look forward to your correspondence! Ronnie

[Paul Evans]

You mention several deeds, but the most important deed is the most recently recorded deed.

I took a look at your legal description on the Ionia County Register of Deeds website. I see nothing indicating a lake or water. The legal description on the most recently recorded deed is probably the controlling document, or at least a good start. Ideally, the description on the ACTUAL recorded PAPER DEED should match what is currently on the Register of Deeds website, which shows: COM ON S LI OF HWY 536 FT E OF PT WHERE W LINE OF LOT 6 INTERSEC WITH S LINE OF HWY WHICH RUNS E & W THROUGH N PART OF LOT 6; TH E 50 FT, S 220 FT, W 50 FT, N 220 FT TO POB SEC 3-8-7

Is this what is on your recorded Paper Deed?

The most recently recorded deed should control. Different legal description on previously recorded deeds suggests property boundaries were modified.

Are you the property south of Long Lake Road across from what looks to be a parking lot on the aerial?

Let me know.

Finally, at the top of your original post is "Thread Tools". Click the drop down arrow and "Subscribe to this Thread". You should get an e-mail every time someone responds with a new post.

[visionrke]

i lost everything i just typed anyways, yes it states that on my deed, but it also states that i am entitled to all reservations and easements of record! i have 10-12 plats stating i am lake front, my property runs to the waters(lake) edge and even have a deed speaking of mooring rights. all of orleans townships boundaries and assesments are a mess. so where do i go from here. i could do this on my own but don't want to make any mistakes, cut off my nose in spite of my face. do you think it would be best to hire an attorney? i don't trust anyone in my township at this point-not after they just yanked half of my property rights!
ronnie
visionrke@charter.net