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You made a HUGE mistake by not calling the police when he assaulted you. You have a bully neighbor. I'm so sorry about your situation...I won't even consider a property with a share driveway. What a nightmare.
What he did was vandalism,theft and assault in one shot. I would of called the PD and pressed charged, get a TRO, later to be made into a RO.
Now as far as easement, this is what I would do.
You have to give them a road to get to their property. There is nothing saying you have to give them a road running through the middle of your property, you can give them a road on the edge of the property rather than through the property. I would consult with a real estate lawyer, check the laws on easement, the road, the width and the quality you are required to provide. Then I would give them the required MINIMUM amount of access required by law on the outskirts of the property. Then put a swing fence with locking bar across the road leading to your house with a no trespassing sign. Legally notify them which road they have to use. And every time they step foot on your property other than driving to get to their property call the pd
Sorry, I guess I shouldn't attempt to engage brain before caffeine. I'll try to clarify.
I purchased the home I am currently living in 6 years ago. The piece of land that is located behind me was recently sold/purchased. I knew nothing of this transaction until I saw a mobile home being hauled down my driveway and past my house, breaking the limbs off my huge oak tree and tearing up the driveway as it went.
It's been six months since my new neighbors made their arrival, during which time I have tried to be neighborly, but it is clear they have no interest in reciprocating.
Suddenly my very quiet, country homestead has vehicles screaming in/out and at all hours of the day/night. My driveway is centered smack dab in the center of my property and very close to my house, So it's like having a driveway in the middle of your front lawn.
I hated to ask him to slow his vehicle down, but fearing for my dogs safety I did so in the most diplomatic way I could. This seemed to only pose a challenge to him and the opportunity to engage his "legal rights".
Soon after this discussion the speed of his vehicle only seemed to accelerate and soon his entire family joined in, wife and three adult children.
I seriously believe when this "man" hit my dog, it was intentional and malicious. He never even stopped his vehicle. I stopped letting my dogs play outside alone, so I was there to witness this horror.
The day after I brought my dog home from the hospital, I placed pavers across the driveway in an attempt to slow these neighbors from hell down. Several hours later, he drove over them with ease, stopped his p/u truck and proceeded to load his truck with my stones. I witnessed this from my kitchen window, so I went out and ask him what he thought he was doing and began removing my pavers from the bed of his truck. He then pushed me. This "man" (I use the term loosely) is my age, about 52 years old, he weighs about 6'2" and has to weigh close to 300 lbs. a pretty big guy.
I am 5'4 and 120 lbs. so it didn't take much to nearly knock me off my feet. Can you believe he ran to town and pressed charges for assault against me! He obviously was a desperate attempt to get ahead of me because he figured I was going press charges against him. So in return I had him served as well.
All this chaos is beginning to drain me, I have been fighting cancer for over a year now and this is beginning to take too much out of me. it is not in my nature to be confrontational, but it is in my nature to fight for what I believe in.
As long as these speed demons are allowed to come in and out of my driveway with no regulations, we are no longer safe on our own property.
With respect for the solid practical advice you've received as short-term solutions, it sounds like you had the misfortune to be stuck with rotten people, which is much worse than mere ornery neighbors. Not only the man, but his wife and three adult children as well. There's a time to fight for what you believe in and a time to plan for flight to protect your own health and safety. Ask yourself if you're capable of behaving worse toward them than they can be to you.
Shop around for a decent attorney. Do they even have a legal easement over your property? Is there anything about this in your deed?
I know many states have landlocked laws, but that doesn't mean that the easement has to come through your property.
By the way, easement and road are two different things. They may have an easement through your property, but the road will likely be their problem not yours.
I would encourage you to video tape every encounter with your new neighbors.
Sorry for your troubles! Definitely get a lawyer and start documenting everything they do - videotape them (your phone would likely be fine for this and handy) going up and down the driveway so you can calculate speed and have the times of day (and how often) they do it.
Thank you for the information and great your ideas.
When I purchased my property six years ago, my purchase agreement said I was agreeing to the terms already in place. When I asked about it, my realtor said I was simply agreeing to give permission to any future purchaser, the right to use my driveway to access the property behind mine. I've never previously had any dealings with this sort of thing and couldn't imagine why there would be any problem, so I agreed. I loved the house and was excited about the move to a warmer climate and definitely was sporting my thick, bright,rose colored glasses.
I recently went to the city clerk’s office and obtained a copy of the deed, which does state my driveway is the right away to the land behind me.
Trust me, if I had had even the slightest inkling of the impending turmoil, I would have implemented every imaginable legal regulation known to mankind before signing, and made certain there was legal ramifications for any and every single violation in the book…including “picking their nose in public”lol (thanks I needed a good laugh today).
I think building a road that runs along the edge of my landline is a viable option, but if these neighbors from hell stay true to form they'll disagree with any approach at resolution just because they can.
Allowing these people to run me off my own land is something I would never have considered in the past, in fact if anything, would have encouraged me to dig my heels in a little deeper, but I am at a point where I need to prioritize my life and if it means I have to trade my pride for a little peace and tranquility, I had better start conditioning myself now because that’s something that won’t come easy to me.
Many houses set on the market for months…sometimes years, so if I go this route I’ll still need to be prepare for more of his unexpected games of violence.
I did get a restraining order after he pushed me. so anything he tries now will likely be in the still of the night, while nobody's watching. A video is an excellent idea, think I will look into that one tomorrow.
Thanks again for the ideas/support
Last edited by wendy cummings; 05-10-2015 at 01:26 PM..
^^Since the relationship has soured and you now have a restraining order against the neighbor, it's best you let your attorney contact them regarding you creating a different driveway/easement for them to use. If they don't want to do this, you could have your attorney offer you to pay them a $1000 one time fee for agreeing to move the easement.
If everyone agrees, the attorney might need to modify both your deed and theirs, to modify the location of the easement to specify where the new easement is located.
Possibly you can legally do this WITHOUT their approval, if the existing deed only says you need to give access via a driveway. Your attorney would be able to advise. Maybe you just block off access to your current driveway and give them access to the new driveway and have the attorney give proper notice to them to make it legal. Wouldn't that be awesome. Then you use your driveway and they use the new one that is on the edge of the property. This all depends on state law and what is specified in the existing deeds.
I have had the experience of 'giving' an easement. Let me tell you, there was nothing giving about it. There is no legal easement unless there are written legal documents produced that are signed by all parties and recorded at the county register of deeds. Those documents become part of the deeds of both properties. You cannot simply 'agree' to let someone come in. If you do produce a recorded easement you have the right to designate exactly where it will be located, who will maintain it, and as many rules and restrictions as you want to include. For example, you can describe how their driveway (separate from yours) will be constructed, a speed limit, how many residences can use it, etc. You can also include language about whether just the current owner can use it or whether it will remain in force when the property is sold.
An easement is a big deal. By creating this legal contract you are improving the value of the rear property, which may have NO value unless you provide an easement. You should be paid for this, and sometimes the payment is quite hefty. It is certainly worth going to a real estate attorney and stating your situation. Do not be afraid of repercussions, but do be prepared for them. For example you might see the attorney 'secretly' then establish a plan for providing information to the current land owner via a sheriff. And does the person with the mobile home actually own the land? He might just have bullied a relative to let him live there.
By allowing this to continue, you will have severely depreciated the value of your property, and as you are experiencing, this is making your ife miserable. I'm sorry if you think you have no money for an attorney but you sound like you need to find a way out of this.
Oh, and there is no law anywhere that says YOU need to give anyone an easement. They have other neighbors too. (There may be a RARE case where the earlier owner could sue you for an easement based on the history of creating the properties, but if it went to court (even more rare) you would just end up selling an easement with tons of restrictions at the far edge of your property.)
Most likely it's written as she has to provide easement from a carry over from when she purchased and agreed to it. She probably just doesn't realize she agreed to it. But rarely are there properties sold with no easement rights in cases where easement us needed to reach the property. And nothing says the easement must be running through the middle of the property.
I had a friend in Colorado who had a similar situation, he was positioned behind a front property. There was a road that he commonly used for 20 years with the front neighbor approval. The front neighbor sold and the new neighbors completely fenced off the area and there was talk about only giving him access on the far outskirts of the property. They didn't even want him going through their property but he had easement rights and they had to give him access. So now he said they are looking into redoing the road on the literal edge of the property to get access.
I'm a newbie to this site, would someone tell me what OP is?
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