# sw missouri easement issue



## elliemae75 (Feb 10, 2015)

Looking for advice/suggestions about an easement through my property. Long story short...neighbors were granted easement through my property and it runs next to my home. They have their own driveway on their property and were still granted the easement. They exercise their rights to the fullest and nastiest. Just curious if anyone else has had a similar issue and what you have done or doing to deal with it.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

The easement, the language and the reason it was granted make the difference. I am sure many of us here have easements but each will be different. We need to know more.


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## elliemae75 (Feb 10, 2015)

It's a prescriptive easement and I believe the reason for it being granted is that their driveway was rough.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

elliemae75 said:


> It's a prescriptive easement and I believe the reason for it being granted is that their driveway was rough.



A driveway easement means they have the right of access across the easement to their property.( We have one of those as well as one across our neighbors for our access).

They can not park on the easement, store anything on the easement etc. You can not block their access in any way.

You can put speed bumps etc. and should do that right away if they are causing problems by speeding. The longer you wait the easier they can fight it in court.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

"Prescriptive Easement
A right to use property, acquired by open and obvious use, without the owner's permission, over a minimum period of time established by state law. For example, if hikers have been using a trail through your backyard for ten years and you've never complained, they probably have an easement by prescription through your yard to the trail."

You have already lost one battle in court so you should be documenting everything from now on with regards to this easement and the use of it. I would be setting up cameras and saving the recordings as well.


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## elliemae75 (Feb 10, 2015)

My husband corrected me and the reason it was granted is because they had used it for so long. The previous owners of our property had given them permission for use during bad weather until they could get there's suitable. The only thing we have done is asked them to slow down when coming through. Obviously that got us nowhere. For the past month, with the exception of this week, there has been a ridiculous increase in traffic, also heavy footed, including logging trucks. I do have a camera in place and carry my phone when I'm outside for video. When we went to court we had video then, the judge never seen it, our lawyer didn't present any evidence that was collected nor did he call any witnesses, in which we had folks that would have been helpful to our case.


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## bigjon (Oct 2, 2013)

time for a diff lawyer!


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## elliemae75 (Feb 10, 2015)

We're looking for the right one. We live in good ole boy country...we wasted our savings and some on the other guy...I think we had that neon sign hanging on us that said "suckers" from the git go. We would be perfect candidates for the first time home buyer poster. &#55357;&#56833;


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## stockdogcompany (Jan 25, 2015)

Permission to temporarily use property is legally considered license, and is not an easement. Your lawyers suck.


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## elliemae75 (Feb 10, 2015)

There's a lot more to this...starting with the realtor...flat out lied about it...(first time home buyers not knowing to do homework)...county doing work on our property for the neighbor without as much as a notification, much less asking...multiple times...the constant threats and harassment (pistol included in one incident) when the law arrived I was told he was exercising his rights to open carry and wanted me to show proof of ownership of the property...nothing came of that...the list goes on..


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## Cygnet (Sep 13, 2004)

Funny how laws are different in different places. And how much influence the good ol' boy network can have.

There's an old homestead, 80 acres, up the creek from us. It's landlocked by national forest, and the road to it goes across another neighbor's property. Road's been there since the 1860's. It was a _numbered and maintained _forest service road up until about the year 2000, and was historically used for access to the creek by many of the locals. I have topo maps surveyed in the 1940's that show it as a numbered road, and there's a CCC era low water crossing on the creek up there, and CCC culverts, so it was improved by the feds in the 30's. It's not even an easement, it's a _road_. That ranch has been continuously inhabited and in use since the 1860's, up until about a year ago. 

The neighbor threw up a gate on the road. Forest service and county let him, and he apparently won a legal fight with the locals who used to use that road for access to the creek -- he gave the owners of the ranch a passcode to the gate so they and their staff could get through, so I guess they didn't care. The neighbor-with-the-gate had other people who tried to use the road to cross his property arrested for trespassing back then, and got away with it. (At least one man had been using that road routinely since the 70's for creek access -- the creek is on forest service land.)

Now, the owners of the ranch are trying to sell it, and can't, because the old ranch is now landlocked because there's no "legal" access. The gate has been there long enough they can't get rid of it, and it's the road is for some reason no longer considered a legal road, or easement, or anything. (Even though the ranch owners and their staff were using the gate daily.) I ... fail to understand this. 

It's totally good ol' boy network -- the neighbor who gated the road, well, his family owned that land for generations, and he knows all the right people. The people who own the ranch are actually influential (and wealthy!) developers who were using it as a private compound for their family, but would like to sell now. They still lost against the neighbor-with-the-gate and the local influence. 

I suspect the neighbor who gated the road hopes to drive the price down for that ranch to something he can afford, then he'll resell it (with a legal easement) for much more. At least, that's my personal guess on his motives. Price has gone from 16 million down to a couple million, last I heard.

(If I had a few million -- won the lottery or something -- I'd buy the ranch and then start the legal fight. I strongly suspect, with the right lawyer, and a bit of appealing so that the court case rose above local yokel level, someone could win back the access and/or get the gate removed. It would just take more stubborn than the current owners seem to have. It's a stunningly beautiful property, and it was once a working farm. Be nice to see it put back into production.) 

Elliemae, I wish you luck with your fight. Fights with neighbors are never fun, particularly if they're jerks. And it never seems like battles over easements and rights of way turn out the way they should.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

bigjon said:


> time for a diff lawyer!


 Got to agree. 

Had same problem, except easement wasn't put in writing. They was just using our property to access their property. I put up a Fence Blocking it. 

They wanted to take me to court and all. I told them go ahead. They gave up.

big rockpile


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

stockdogcompany said:


> Permission to temporarily use property is legally considered license, and is not an easement. Your lawyers suck.


Correct, verbal permission to use a driveway is a "*License*." I am very surprised this is being classified a Prescriptive Easement. The latter occurs with regular use over a long period of time. You described the use limited to inclement weather. This wouldn't seem to meet the requirement.


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## elliemae75 (Feb 10, 2015)

ChristieAcres said:


> Correct, verbal permission to use a driveway is a "*License*." I am very surprised this is being classified a Prescriptive Easement. The latter occurs with regular use over a long period of time. You described the use limited to inclement weather. This wouldn't seem to meet the requirement.


Our lawyer failed to call in witnesses and present any evidence to support our case...he did nothing but hand it over and charge us for it


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## elliemae75 (Feb 10, 2015)

Cygnet said:


> Funny how laws are different in different places. And how much influence the good ol' boy network can have.
> 
> There's an old homestead, 80 acres, up the creek from us. It's landlocked by national forest, and the road to it goes across another neighbor's property. Road's been there since the 1860's. It was a _numbered and maintained _forest service road up until about the year 2000, and was historically used for access to the creek by many of the locals. I have topo maps surveyed in the 1940's that show it as a numbered road, and there's a CCC era low water crossing on the creek up there, and CCC culverts, so it was improved by the feds in the 30's. It's not even an easement, it's a _road_. That ranch has been continuously inhabited and in use since the 1860's, up until about a year ago.
> 
> ...


I figure they've been trying to run us off and pick the place up in foreclosure for next to nothing...within the first month of being here, the woman stopped and told me how upset they were..she told me they wanted to buy it but didn't know it was for sale...even though there were signs at the driveway and had been for a couple years...it didn't make sense back then...I guess it still doesn't...never had to deal with such nasty people..


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## elliemae75 (Feb 10, 2015)

big rockpile said:


> Got to agree.
> 
> Had same problem, except easement wasn't put in writing. They was just using our property to access their property. I put up a Fence Blocking it.
> 
> ...


These folks are members of the "good Ole boy" club...the commissioner got up to testify and flat out lied..he wouldn't even look at either one of us..


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

Did the former owner disclose the easement? Did the realtor ? If it was hidden from you, you may have grounds for reversing the sale or having the former owner pay for getting it removed. If it was disclosed and you bought it anyway, it's your problem. This is why you don't give anyone an easement, or buy a place with one. Sooner or later it will be a problem.


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## elliemae75 (Feb 10, 2015)

Molly Mckee said:


> Did the former owner disclose the easement? Did the realtor ? If it was hidden from you, you may have grounds for reversing the sale or having the former owner pay for getting it removed. If it was disclosed and you bought it anyway, it's your problem. This is why you don't give anyone an easement, or buy a place with one. Sooner or later it will be a problem.


The former owner gave permission...property went into foreclosure...realtor told us they were using it because no one lived here and their road was in bad shape...after we bought it is when they took us to court and were granted the easement...according to the title company it was an access of necessity...after the county fixed their driveway the title company said it was no longer a necessity


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## elliemae75 (Feb 10, 2015)

Molly Mckee said:


> Did the former owner disclose the easement? Did the realtor ? If it was hidden from you, you may have grounds for reversing the sale or having the former owner pay for getting it removed. If it was disclosed and you bought it anyway, it's your problem. This is why you don't give anyone an easement, or buy a place with one. Sooner or later it will be a problem.


Had we known any of this we wouldn't have even taken a second look at the place


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

Will the title company protect your title?


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## elliemae75 (Feb 10, 2015)

Molly Mckee said:


> Will the title company protect your title?


The gentleman I spoke with at the title company said he would testify just needed our lawyer to call him to court...our lawyer didn't call anyone..


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