Imagine you’ve just fallen in love with a beautiful home, but on the day of your home inspection, you notice your potentially new neighbor driving right through your property.
You do your research, ask around, and find the property records. It turns out; there’s an easement on your potential new property. Your neighbor needs to drive on your land to access theirs. After some additional research, you find they are entirely within their rights to do so.
What is an Easement?
Definition: An easement is a right held by one person to use the land of another for a specific purpose, such as driving through someone else’s property.
Now it’s important to note easements usually are for a specific purpose. For example, as we mentioned earlier, your new potential neighbor may have the right to drive through your property but does not have the right to build something on your property or use it for other purposes.
Legally speaking, an easement has to be in writing. If you own the property, usually its located on the deed; if you have yet to own or purchase the property, you can obtain a copy of the deed and easements located on it through county records.
How Do You Remove an Easement?
If you want an easement removed, it almost always requires some sort of legal action. You’ll probably have to take the matter to court by filing a civil lawsuit. There are some ways around it, like removing the issue itself or working something out with your neighbor, but it’s normally best to advise a lawyer before doing any of that.
