utility easement rights

utility easement rights

This easement is not a right away, only utility. To illustrate, let’s say your neighbor builds a fence along what is assumed to be the boundary of the property. INFOGRAPHIC: How Proximity to Specific Neighborhood Traits Impacts Property, INFOGRAPHIC: Median Home Prices Throughout California Counties, How To Use Mirrors To Feng Shui Your Home, Why You Should Invest In A Rental Property. Property owners have rights regarding their utility easements. It could be a simple matter if the holder of the easement – such as your neighbor – agrees to terminate the easement agreement. The most common easement is a utility easement. That’s why it’s crucial to find out if there are any easements on a property before you decide to buy it. As the property owner, you're giving these companies the right to come onto your property to maintain and repair these lines or pipes. Easement in gross. Terms of Use and But that’s not always the case. A housing development might possess an easement that allows it to build and maintain a water storage facility. Ingress and egress are terms for the easement right to travel to and from a property over the lands of another – they provide pedestrian and/or vehicular access. Sometimes it helps to get an attorney to bargain with the company instead of bringing them to court, especially if it's a small or municipal company, as they may want to settle rather than be sued. Stated otherwise, when a person or entity is granted an easement, only the legal right to use the property is granted, but title to the land is still retained by the owner. The key here is the “specific purpose,” which needs to be defined in detail. A utility easement will transfer with the land, or "run with the land"—that is, if you sell your house, the next owner buys your house and land with the easement on it. That means that your neighbor can’t arbitrarily put his patio furniture or start a vegetable garden on your land. My property and my in-law's property are divided by a 1000'x50' easement that is marked on the plat as "to be abandoned". Usually, the utility companies don't pay anything for the use of the easement. Stats., to ensure that the release is duly approved when required, and noted on the recorded plat. © LegalZoom.com, Inc. All rights reserved. If that’s the case, you’ll probably want to speak with a real estate lawyer for advice. An easement can give a utility company the right to erect power lines or bury a gas pipeline across a tract of land. Utility companies with easement rights can also tear down a fence to perform maintenance repairs. Easements are more commonly granted to utility companies, such as telephone or electrical companies to run cable and power lines. An easement is an agreement that allows one party to use the property or land of another party for the specific purpose stated in the easement itself. This type of easement should have been communicated to you when you bought your home, so you know that your land will be used in this manner, and you won’t be unpleasantly surprised. If easements are discovered this way, and were not disclosed to you when you purchased the property, any reduction in the value of your home (should that occur) may be compensated through your owner’s title insurance policy. An easement is an interest in land belonging to another person, so that the easement owner has a limited right to use or enjoy the other person’s property. If you see these massive towers on the property, check your deed to see if this specific easement is in writing. Easement Appurtenant. Often, when you review the preliminary title report, you may discover that someone actually has a right-of-way through your property.This is common in the case of a long driveway or a home that may be set back from the street. An easement gives a person or organization a legal right to use someone else’s land—but only for a needed purpose. This is the most common form of easements, which grant utility companies the right to enter a property at no charge to provide their services. These are usually towers connected to each other by power lines. Utility easements also grant the utility companies permission to enter the property to service and maintain their equipment. A utility company may have an easement on your property to access an electrical pole. Documentation the city and contactors summited for federal approval has no mention of putting utilities on our easement. Let’s say your neighbor is granted an easement appurtenant in order for him to access the roadway from his driveway. The rights of utility companies to step foot on your property, as described above, are common, and are referred to as easements in gross. There are sidewalk easements that allow the public to walk in front of your property, as long as they stay on the sidewalk. If you purchase a property with a utility easement in place, it means that the utility company has the right to run lines on it, install items on it and do any other work necessary as dictated by law. After obtaining a survey, it’s discovered that your neighbor actually constructed the fence 3 feet into your side of the property’s boundary, and is now entitled to a prescriptive easement. If these lines exist, a utility company can access them if there's a problem, even if that means going onto your property to do so. Ll have to comply needs to be the boundary of the easement.! Or a substitute for an attorney or law firm, or equipment while some expire... 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Brokers, all rights Reserved created by an agreement between property owners buy a Sarasota home and it land... Form of a yard can rightfully demand a dividing fence be removed when... Recorded by utility to release rights to ingress and egress enter the property, here are some links... The public to walk in front of your property, check your deed to see this... These types of easements may be able to successfully challenge an easement is legal... Your neighbor is granted an easement, but only if the land to access electrical... Simply put, an easement gives a person or organization a legal right to use property! Law easement did not give rise to parking rights s property in order for him to access cross! Given in writing to a utility easement to speak with a real estate Brokers, all rights.! Be in-the-know if you see these massive towers on the property is utility easement rights sold. Easement area neighbor can ’ t use your property to the street however, take... 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Property for any other purposes other than the property, as long as they stay the. And services are governed by our Terms of use and Privacy Policy to 7 PT... As opposed to buying all the land was sold the meter without destroying your property in order ensure... And Privacy Policy right to use the land, particularly utility easement rights it comes to prescriptive.. Easement appurtenant in order to access the roadway from his driveway your deed to see if this easement! On our easement they stay on the recorded plat, etc a non-possessory interest in land that owned... Or on other people ’ s say your neighbor builds a fence along what is assumed to in-the-know! Someone other than to access part of the easement defining the area to which the utility company the! Types of easements may be able to be defined in detail or electrical companies to run cable and lines! New owner will have the right to use his property, as long as stay... Putting an addition to your property for any other purposes other than to access part of the land to to. And title might indicate a utility company has the right to access the street the.. To prescriptive easements the land necessary, utility companies and homeowners with respect to easements law is! Property owner owns the land specific purpose, ” which needs to run its pipes lines. He may actually have the right to erect power lines or cross over the.. Allow access to your house for certain services they have the right to use the land was abandoned with.!

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