Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
My grandparents recently purchased a property in the Temecula area, of San Diego County. When they tried to ascertain where an easement was to be accessed, for the property, the adjoining neighbor informed them that, if they want access to the easement, they would have to pay that property owner $20,000. When my grandparents purchased their property, they were told that in the original sale documents, access to the easement was already allotted. My grandma spent weeks going through the property sale archives trying to locate those original documents and finally found the one she thinks applies to this situation. Below you will find the exact statements from the documents, pertaining to these properties and the easement. What we are hoping you can help us with, is a verification that the documents say what we think they say. That is, that my grandparents have access to the said easement. We are just not sure of all the legal terminology and phrasing. If you can advise us in any way, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for your time.
The following are the statements found in the sale documents. Their parcel, the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter in section 2, appears to be included in these statements:
The easement hereinbefore reserved and hereinafter granted are hereby declared to be appurtenant to the present and future owners of all or any portion of sections 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 all in township 9 south, range 2 west, San Bernandino meridian.
Reserved therefrom an easement and right of way for roads and public utility purposes over, under, along and across, that portion thereof lying within the area delineated and designated thereon as �proposed private road and utility easement.�
Also reserved therefrom the right to convey said easement to others and to dedicate same to public use without any further consent or authorization of the grantees herein or grants successors in interest.
This easement is reserved for the benefit of the grantor�s adjoining land and is hereby declared to be forever appurtenant thereto and shall be used by the present and future owners of all or any part of the grantor�s adjoining land.
The easement herein described are for the use and benefit of and are hereby declared to be for the use and benefit of all or any portion of the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter and the east half of the southeast quarter of section 2 and the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 11, all being in township 9 south, range 2 west, San Bernandino meridian.
4 Answers from Attorneys
I honestly couldn't tell you whether they had a right to that easement without looking at their chain of title, and knowing what their legal description is. You are going to have to bring the documents to an attorney, and not just quote a portion of the easement language in the deed. If you need a decent real estate attorney in that area, e-mail me and I will give you the name of an attorney near Temecula that knows what they are doing.
Roach is right on this one. I spend over six years as regional litigation counsel for Fidelity National Financial and its numerous land title companies, including Fidelity National Title and Chicago Title. You can't tell anything from just quoting one portion of one document. When your grandparents purchased the property didn't they have an escrow and title insurance? If they have title insurance I'd be more interested in seeing the title insurance policy than the title documents, because if there is title insurance it is very likely there is coverage for this issue with the neighbor. If you would like to have me look into this further, please give me a call or send an email.
Did the question of access rights come up during the purchase negotiations? Did your grandparents make one or more visits to the properry before they bought, and if so, did there seem to be any impediments or uses of other people's property to get there? Are there utilities or buildings on the property? Did your grandparents employ a buyers' agent to assist them? Did they borrow part of the purchase money? Did they buy title insurance? All of these are issues that may point to resolution of the problem, either by establishing their right to use the easement, or in obtaining damages from someone who let them down.
I agree with the previous answers that a lawyer cannot decide this matter or even give much advice just based upon an excerpt from a single recorded document. I would add that easements do run with the land and a mere change of ownership of the parcel benefitted by the easement does not terminate the easement; the new owners enjoy the same rights as the selling owners had.
Iy is unfortunately fairly common for property owners whose land is burdened with an easement to try to bully a new owner of the parcel benefitted by the easement into believing they have no easement rights. That may be what's happening here.
To your grandparents' advantage, there is a rather strong tendency in California courts to find ways to prevent parcels from being landlocked so that the owner has no access. Also, the courts recognize easements based on traditional use, even where there was no formal grant or reservation of the easement. More to the point here, there may be a perfectly good easement created by grant, reservation or other formal process, perhaps also publicly recorded with the county recorder. I suggest that they consult with a local real estate lawyer in the Temecula area of San Diego County.
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