Easements

[NWWI]

also, another thing you can do if NOT done yet, is have the easement surveyed and marked with posted signs or painted exactly where lines are on all sides of the easement
then you also will have legal proof of where things are, all the more so if they trespass
as without legal proof of boundary lines, law enforcement will NOT do anything, as they cannot just TAKE your word for things, nor will a judge if it goes to court!
it again will NOT be free to have done, but it will work in your favor if they don;t stay on there easment!

There is a long standing gate at the property entrance so that is not an issue. The easement has been surveyed so that should be covered. I just should talk to a lawyer to see what I have to allow. I’ve let things slide for a long time just trying to be neighborly but I don’t think I have to allow people to walk around without the intent to ingress or egress. There have been a lot of other issues that have made me think people are insincere and taking advantage of things. I look at it as drive in/drive out and there will never be any issues.

 

[bueller]

It may be time to consider other options. Land swap, alternative easement path, or even selling the place and buying a parcel with no easements.

 

[yoderjac]

I was curious to see what everyone’s definition and experience of an easement was. Every definition I see is a documented area for a landlocked property to get from point A to point B. I figured nature hikes, dog walking and using it as a bathroom might not be included in the legal definition.

You clearly need to see what the specific deed says. Most I've seen say ingress/egress at a minimum. Unless there is some other language that limits how that ingress/egress is done, the mode of transport (walking, driving, atv...) are probably all valid. It would be an uphill fight at best. Many easements include maintenance and sometimes utility.

 

[TWIG]

Honestly, if a property owner approached me with a negative attitude about walking on my easement, I'd make it a mission to disrupt their deer hunting for the rest of eternity.

 

[homerj1]

even selling the place and buying a parcel with no easements.

that would be my solution

 

[Tree Spud]

... or even selling the place and buying a parcel with no easements.

That's what I did, lead to peace of mind.

Problem now is that land prices are at obscene highs.

 

[MRBB]

again until you known what the legal status is, your going to be dealing with things, and the stress its adding to you!

if you DO plan to talk to an attorney about things, I would also suggest maybe looking into what the possibilities are of maybe moving the easement to a location it bothers you less how they use it,as am guessing it now separates your property into halves or like, where its at now.

so possibly if in a different location, it could be less distracting top you !

I am sure it will costs some money to move IF POSSIBLE,
but some times spending some money that makes life less stressful or likes, is money again well spent in the big picture, yes it still sucks, to have to spend it, but, in the end , it may bring you more enjoyment ion what you have!
so foor doe thought for you on this!
and I'll add this too,

just cause a gate is some place doesn;t mean its legally there( and not saying the one you mentioned isn;'t legal, as I have NO clue on its status)
BUT~!
I know a few locations like this,
I actually live near one
a local gun club owns the land, but there is a County owned road way that runs thru the property, back in the 40's and 50's the road was used, but its NOT been up kept since the 60's
the road since then runs to a dead end(even has a official county sign saying dead end) but the legal road still goes thru a tract of forest about 2 miles long, surrounded 100% by private owned land, a local hunting/gun club, they own a few thousand acres it runs thru!
but the road itself, ist a country road right away!, classified still by the country as such and cannot legally be blocked!
mostly due to in case of an emergency
should the gate or it being blocked cause a slower reaction by rescue workers, the people who put gate up could be liable!, if you follow!
any how!

the gun club got tired of folks trespassing there property using this road, so they put a gate up in the early 1980's(and I get there point, they had trash being dumped all over and didnl;t blame them for adding the gate)
but a Local guy knew the rules and status of the road way! ( had a grudge against the gun club as he lost his place to hunt and such when they bought the land he used to use in the 80's)

as it was and still again is a legally owned township road and cannot legally be gated!
even if road ran thru private property owned by the club!
he complained, and they were forced to remove the gate!
they dealt with trash and trespassing till about 4 yrs ago, when the original guy that complained passed away! , HAHA
now they have a gate again, or until someone knowing better complains again! that is gated!
as it is an Illegal gate!, yet no one would question it due to its on what seems like private property
so, again, just due a gate being some place doesn;t mean its legally there!

 

[Turkish]

You say “using the bathroom.” Do you mean peeing? Or are they taking a dump and leaving the ground littered with toilet paper? I can almost guarantee that the easement requires some sort of upkeep or damages clause that requires them to clean up any trash.

But you should know exactly what the easement allows. Is it not recorded at the courthouse? Did you give that a look before buying?

 

[NWWI]

Honestly, if a property owner approached me with a negative attitude about walking on my easement, I'd make it a mission to disrupt their deer hunting for the rest of eternity.

I’ve never said a word about anything. I give people the benefit of the doubt that they will be respectful. The people using the easement were upset that I closed down the ATV trails through the rest of property. I let them use them when I first bought it and all that happened was things were getting torn up and beer cans were everywhere. Maybe I should have taken a more proactive stance at that time but what good would that have done for neighbor relations.

 

[NWWI]

You say “using the bathroom.” Do you mean peeing? Or are they taking a dump and leaving the ground littered with toilet paper? I can almost guarantee that the easement requires some sort of upkeep or damages clause that requires them to clean up any trash.

But you should know exactly what the easement allows. Is it not recorded at the courthouse? Did you give that a look before buying?

I have a copy of the deed and the easement simply states it’s for ingress and egress. That’s why I’m seeing what other peoples experiences are with easements or if I am out of line wondering if I have to let others randomly walk around on it for purposes other than that. To me I see it as a way for the people to get from the road to their property not walk halfway down have a beer and stand around.
I haven’t caught them taking a dump yet but many times they can’t wait the extra minute to get to their property to get out of the vehicle to take a leak. They did it one time in front of my daughter. The cigarette butts and beer cans are endless. I always thought if it was me I would treat others property like it was my own.

 

[Tree Spud]

I’ve never said a word about anything. I give people the benefit of the doubt that they will be respectful. The people using the easement were upset that I closed down the ATV trails through the rest of property. I let them use them when I first bought it and all that happened was things were getting torn up and beer cans were everywhere. Maybe I should have taken a more proactive stance at that time but what good would that have done for neighbor relations.

If it only states ingress/egress, there is specific legal definition to that type of language. Essentially they can only use the easement to walk back and forth to access their property. A lawyer will help clarify that, and they may also have some recommended actions to pursue.

Again, I would get to know the owner so that you know him and his family. Legally only the deed holder is entitled to ingress/egress. I don't believe he can allow others to use unless he accompanies them. Any one else on the easement that you don't know, I would call the sheriff and have them ticketed for trespassing. Tell the owner that is your intention ... make sure you follow through.

You are exactly like me when I first bought my property with the easement. I tried to be the good guy and trust peoples word. I let the old guy "Ed" next store use my property to rabbit hunt after deer season with his beagle. That was a mistake. He let his 4 sons on the property and they hunted my duck ponds and sat in my stands, he let local guys to come on and "squirrel" hunt. The last straw was when I came up to the property and there were 2 guys target shooting on my property. Said they had permission from "Ed" the owner. Once the Sherriff came and handed out tickets, and they went and talked to "Ed", things started to change. Ed and his boys felt entitled because the farmer always let them hunt there. Once on my property, they would also trespass onto my neighbors from my property so they were just basically low life trespassers.

Unless you push back, they will keep walking all over you.

 

[NWWI]

If it only states ingress/egress, they is specific legal definition to that type of language. Essentially they can only use the easement to walk back and forth to access their property. A lawyer will help clarify that, and they may also have some recommended actions to pursue.

Again, I would get to know the owner so that you know him and his family. Legally only the deed holder is entitled to ingress/egress. I don't believe he can allow others to use unless he accompanies them. Any one else on the easement that you don't know, I would call the sheriff and have them ticketed for trespassing. Tell the owner that is your intention ... make sure you follow through.

You are exactly like me when I first bought my property with the easement. I tried to be the good guy and trust peoples word. I let the old guy "Ed" next store use my property to rabbit hunt after deer season with his beagle. That was a mistake. He let his 4 sons on the property and they hunted my duck ponds and sat in my stands, he let local guys to come on and "squirrel" hunt. The last straw was when I came up to the property and there were 2 guys target shooting on my property. Said they had permission from "Ed" the owner. Once the Sherriff came and handed out tickets, and they went and talked to "Ed", things started to change. Ed and his boys felt entitled because the farmer always let them hunt there. Once on my property, they would also trespass onto my neighbors from my property so they were just basically low life trespassers.

Unless you push back, they will keep walking all over you.

That story sounds all too familiar. No good deed goes unpunished. It always starts with permission for one to the landowner doesn’t care.

 

[MRBB]

I have a copy of the deed and the easement simply states it’s for ingress and egress. That’s why I’m seeing what other peoples experiences are with easements or if I am out of line wondering if I have to let others randomly walk around on it for purposes other than that. To me I see it as a way for the people to get from the road to their property not walk halfway down have a beer and stand around.
I haven’t caught them taking a dump yet but many times they can’t wait the extra minute to get to their property to get out of the vehicle to take a leak. They did it one time in front of my daughter. The cigarette butts and beer cans are endless. I always thought if it was me I would treat others property like it was my own.

I will give you my experience with having an easement on land I controlled/managed
we honestly let them use the ease meant any time they wanted, as the fight to stop them at certain hours or from using atv's and foot traffic for us was not worth the hassle or time,and costs to even ry to curb it
legally they had access to there land, if they wanted to CLAIM, they FORGOT something and only walked half way and came back out
it would be impossible to prove they didn't
if you follow
I doubt you will have much luck stopping there hiking in out, walking a short distance in and leaving or likes
too many ways they can explain WHY they didnl;t go all the way in to land/
so proving they just are walking back and forth , will be hard, when a excuse will be hard to prove away IMO!

littering, will be easier to prove

but again you have to have things determined legally before you can do anything if anything!

as for the remark " I always thought if it was me I would treat others property like it was my own."

the reality of this, is sadly, you are NOT them, and they are NOT you
what they view as OK< you don't
as what there doping to them is FINE< littering and such
but ist NOT to you
so, reality is, they are treating your land like they would there's

Not saying its right, just saying!
we all view things differently!
and many times it how they were raised as to you!
I caught many father son, grand son's trespassing and got the same BS from them all, duue to they werre all raised it was OK to do!


and just in general, far to many folks trespassing is not a problem, they almost feel entitled to do sol when they live next door to land,,or lands they USED to have access or. a ton of excuses they come up with
trust me, I spent more hours and time, chasing trespassers than I care to recall and heard it all!! even had folks tell me they owned MY land, and wanted to throw me off my own land!

worse yet, most cops don;t give a crap about rural trespassing, or not in my state in the several counties I have managed lands in!

so, what you or me might feel or how we would treat OUR land
doesn;'t mean everyone else feels the same way
I know some land owners that have never throw trash any where but on the ground, and dont; care if it blows away onto someone else's land
they refuse to pay for trash pick up
have piles all over there property
to them, this is FINE and NORMAL, which is where issue's happen between neighbors!

I also believe in being neighborly, but I learned a long time ago
Don't let them do something on day 1, you DON"T want a yr or 5 later
the longer you allow someone to do something the more entitled they feel to be able to KEEP doing it!
I DON"T let folks ATV on my lands, nor ask to do so on there's unless its mutual !
I DO allow them, to recover game, IF they let me know there coming onto my land, if not, NO, access, and so on
its NOT being a BAD neighbor, IMO< its being a GOOD neighbor and being honest from day one on HOW I feel
so they know what there getting
and not having some nutty neighbor that say OK today BAD tomorrow or a few months, weeks yrs later!
which is how a lot of folks view things when you suddenly STOP them from doing what you once allowed!
they DON"T get it, even if its there fault from litter or abuse other wise
they will always blame YOU, or IMO, 99% of the time they will turn things on you being the bad guy!
being honest from day one, always worked out better from my experience, with new neighbors, or future neighbors
been able to talk to several potential buyers, and some moved on due to my ways, which I think helped both of us save some stress and exaggeration!

 

[bwoods11]

I have a 33 foot easement to get to a small property I just bought. Ingress/Egress. It means I can go in and out . Foot, ATV etc.. and clear a trail ? We probably could make a road? If I did that I’d consult with the owner ?

That should be the extent of it.

 

[MRBB]

also, I almost forgot about this place
a 250 acre property I managed a decade or more back, had a 1/4 mile easement thru another land owners property, that allowed for us to access the back side of the farm
we legally had a GATE put up at where the easement meet the county paved road
and we locked the gate, the LAND owner that our easement went thru, tried many times to get a KEY to our gate, and legally we NEVER had to give him one.
as he had NO rights to USE the easement, it was OURS NOT his!
he was NOT very happy about things, but it was all done legally
I will also add, he was a regular jerk prior to us putting the gate up, liked to park things in the road way blocking our access, or cutting down tree's and having them land and block the road way!

so, again, before you could add a gate and give them a key, if that is on your possible list of what to do!~

As that may not work out as you hope, and could end up with a gate there and you locked out of using the easement(that is if you do use it now, I have NO clue either way if you do or don't use it )

also, at a later date the LAND owner wanted to timber his land, and USE the easement for hauling out timber, as to having to make a new road thru his land
we ended up getting PAID to allow him to use the road
had he been a little nicer to use, we would have let them use it for free, LOL
I think he weighted the costs of building a new road first before coming to offer use money of use it! HAHA

but thought you may find this useful?

 

[yoderjac]

When we looked at our small retirement property it had an easement across a neighboring property. It went right past the window of a house. The owner of that property did not realize there was an easement when he bought the house. Needless to say, he was irate when the previous owner of my retirement property and it surveyed in preparation for sale. The last thing we wanted to to was to move into a neighborhood and piss off the neighbors. To make a long story short, I ended up cutting a deal to purchase an easement from another neighbor as part of the land purchase. Rather than trying to coordinate two transactions, I made the previous owner an offer contingent on his purchase of the new easement. It all worked out for the best.

This doesn't shed any light on your situation, but trespass on our pine farm may have some relevance. When we purchased it, some locals tried to bully us into giving them access. We said no, posted signs and it took 5 years of vigilance, reporting, and prosecution to get the message out. Many of the trespassers were kinds riding ATVs. They felt like "something was taken from them". After about 5 years, that generation of kids become interested in girls and cars and such. Our vigilance kept the next generation of kids from getting started so they never felt like something was taken from them. Trespass has almost vanished, but it did take 5 years.

 

[bjseiler]

Previous owners of the two properties I now own fought over the easement between them. Land owner tried suing the easement holder and it backfired on the land owner. I think he had to pay defense costs and it cemented the easement whereas before it was a bit fuzzy.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I owned a farm in southern MN and the neighbor needed to cross our land to access some hay ground, there never was a legal easement, but it was something he always did. The neighbor died, and willed the land to his kids. They started to hunt the access for pheasants, and start using it on a regular basis, I put up a gate, they got a lawyer, and the judge granted them access to and from for ag purposes, because it was “always” that way. Then they basically created a 20’ wide gravel road through a different area to get to their land, that got them into a little trouble, and in the end, I ended up buying their 20 acres of hay land, for a fraction of what land was going for, because of the easement issues.

When I was shopping for hunting land in NW WIsconsin I found a 40 that was land locked by a field, only access was through the field, and it could only be accessed after harvest season, and until spring thaw. The land was selling for like 400 an acre, and was on the market for a couple years. I didn’t buy it, and it showed me that without actual access, land is worthless, and not worth the hassle.