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I don't know about the OP but every lot in our area owns either all of the road or some of it. My property 'owns the road'.
So yeah a 1,000 ft of 'road' in my subdivision is owned by me.
Maybe things are different in your area/city/state, but in FL homeowners do not "own the road" it is either owned/maintained by the local gov't (city/county/state) or if it is an HOA it is collectively owned/maintained by the entire community and not a single owner. Posting of real estate signs is primarily enforced by the local zoning office and the if in an HOA the rules for sign posting should be listed in the Codes and Covenants of the community. Before taking any action yourself, consult with an attorney. Never assume you have rights that may not be available to you.
I own homes in 2 different HOA's and I have no individual ownership of a single inch of those roads in either community. They are collectively owned by the entire community and I don't have any right to alter those roads without permission from the board of directors. Clearly you are assuming too much.
Maybe things are different in your area/city/state, but in FL homeowners do not "own the road" it is either owned/maintained by the local gov't (city/county/state) or if it is an HOA it is collectively owned/maintained by the entire community and not a single owner. Posting of real estate signs is primarily enforced by the local zoning office and the if in an HOA the rules for sign posting should be listed in the Codes and Covenants of the community. Before taking any action yourself, consult with an attorney. Never assume you have rights that may not be available to you.
I own homes in 2 different HOA's and I have no individual ownership of a single inch of those roads in either community. They are collectively owned by the entire community and I don't have any right to alter those roads without permission from the board of directors. Clearly you are assuming too much.
I've lived on smaller lots where the HOA owned the road. This is not that. There is no HOA, it's a small subdivision with covenants. The portion of the easement (a few miles) that is on my land is owned by me and no one else. Neighbors are only allowed ingress and egress and have zero ownership of the road on my land. Just like I have zero ownership on the portion of the easement that I use, that is on their land.
Just to put the record straight, no one in the neighborhood is disputing who owns the road. The previous owner of my property was there infrequently as they lived in another state, 1000's of miles away. Obviously the last owners didn't care, or couldn't do anything about all the trespassing. Basically everyone just continued to use my land is if it hadn't changed ownership. They never even asked. They refuse to read any legal agreement and feel that they should be allowed to do as they did before.
Maybe you have a case, maybe you don't, but I'm fairly certain you're making mountains out of mole hills here. What sort of sign, a directional arrow pointing the way to the property that's actually for sale? That's good since you're so protective against trespassers.
What is the big deal if someone parks on the side of the road and walks down the road to the house for sale? There's no law that says the road must be travelled by car. Whether they drive or walk down the road, that's the easement for access. Why do you care if they travel by foot or automobile?
Over 100 incidents in 18 months? It sounds like you go looking for problems. Your posts support my theory. Just back off and hope you get a good neighbor.
Maybe you have a case, maybe you don't, but I'm fairly certain you're making mountains out of mole hills here. What sort of sign, a directional arrow pointing the way to the property that's actually for sale? That's good since you're so protective against trespassers.
What is the big deal if someone parks on the side of the road and walks down the road to the house for sale? There's no law that says the road must be travelled by car. Whether they drive or walk down the road, that's the easement for access. Why do you care if they travel by foot or automobile?
Over 100 incidents in 18 months? It sounds like you go looking for problems. Your posts support my theory. Just back off and hope you get a good neighbor.
Why should OP allow parking on his property when the easement is only for ingress/egress?
Maybe you have a case, maybe you don't, but I'm fairly certain you're making mountains out of mole hills here. What sort of sign, a directional arrow pointing the way to the property that's actually for sale? That's good since you're so protective against trespassers.
What is the big deal if someone parks on the side of the road and walks down the road to the house for sale? There's no law that says the road must be travelled by car. Whether they drive or walk down the road, that's the easement for access. Why do you care if they travel by foot or automobile?
Over 100 incidents in 18 months? It sounds like you go looking for problems. Your posts support my theory. Just back off and hope you get a good neighbor.
There is already a sign post directing people, it just doesn't have anything saying the house is for sale or the realtor's name. I built the sign and put it in the ground myself. I let the realtor put a sign out the front of my property on the public right of way, but not on my land.
The easement agreement specifically states no parking on the easement. So yes, it is a big deal if someone goes into the sale thinking they can just park on my land and walk in every time there's too much snow for their FWD car!!
Do you call having someone cut down a 500 year old tree and stealing the wood, looking for problems? What about someone cutting a fence and building a short stretch of road on my land that joins my main road? Is that me just looking for problems? What about the time I had a neighbors dog bare it's teeth and lunge at me, all while I'm on my own property. How about the time I caught a neighbor (on camera) from outside the subdivision (no easement rights) riding an ATV on my land (not just the easement), tearing it up. We have crypto soil here so any damage is permanent. A few weeks later, the same neighbor (who has no easement rights) appears on my camera again at 2:35am with what looks to be a prostitute. Yeah, it's just me looking for problems
Why should OP allow parking on his property when the easement is only for ingress/egress?
Exactly! If the realtor had of called me (she has my cell number) and asked permission, that would have been different. That way I'd know that the "potential buyer" knows there are rules to be followed when using the easement.
A "colorful" neighbor in our rural subdivision has moved out and now their house is for sale. I've had trouble with their realtor putting up signs on my roads, having their clients park on my land and also falsely representing what can be done on the property that's for sale (in breach of the subdivision covenants). While this neighbor has easement rights to pass through my land (it's a big property, 100's of acres and miles of roads) it's for ingress and ingress only! No parking!
Initially the realtor was understanding and we had a civil discourse, but the second time round she refused to take down the sign and was extremely unprofessional (basically giving me an earful about how I should be conducting my business on my property). The next time the realtor came, she let her client park on the easement (my property) and they then walked on another mile to the house for sale. I don't want potential buyers thinking the easement is "community land" like my neighbors keeps trying to convince everyone. To be clear I've had massive problems with people ignoring the laws and trespassing on my land. This is no petty complaint! Dealing with this crap is a part time job. I've had over 100 incidents in the first 18 months, some involving law enforcement. I'm not even including roaming dogs in that total - that's still a daily problem.
It's been a massive effort to get things to where they are now (maybe one violation a month), and I don't want to go back to how things were with a new neighbor, that's been mislead about their easement rights & the covenants rules.
What recourse do I have with this realtor if they keep this crap up? Do they have an ethics board I can voice my concerns to, or should I call their boss?
A lot of people put up a gate with a lock for easements that cross their property. They're only required to give access (a key or gate code) to people who have legal access to the easement. (this varies depending on location/situation). If things got difficult (like you describe) the owner of the gate could require the parties with easement access operate the gate. That means no realtors etc unless they were there to provide access and (hopefully) follow whatever fair access rules exist.
There is both the state licensing dept, probably a board of some kind, and the realtor's association if she's a member. Both have enforcement mechanisms and the ability to warn, sanction, and fine members.
I am not sure that will bring you the best result though, unless you can prove that the listing agent is giving bad directions and instructions to those who come to look at the property. If the property is being shown normally, the listing agent isn't present when these people are coming to look. They're following directions they're given, sometimes correctly, sometimes not. It would be on those buyer's agents to follow the instructions and convey the covenants to the prospective buyers. They may only show the property once. They're not going to be as educated on it as you may want, if the situation is complicated.
So you can go after the realtor(s) if you want, but that doesn't actually solve the problem, it doesn't get the correct information into the heads of the next buyer.
You would probably get the best actual results with the next buyer if you posted an informational sign, perhaps with flyers that potential buyers could take and read, with correct and pertinent information about the ownership of the road and the lands and the details regarding the easement and use of the land and whatever other information you think is not being shared correctly, with your contact information on it in case they want to chat or ask questions.
Post it at the head of the road.
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