Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

This is not as simple a question as it may seem to you. It would require a review of the title documents and possibly a survey for each of the parcels in order to evaluate who is responsible for what portion if any of the cost. You have to know whether the road is laid over easements or if it is property held in common by the owners of the parcels it serves. Most likely it is laid out over easements, but there is no way to know without reviewing the documentation. If it is owned in common, then there should be a method for agreeing on and assessing costs. If it is over easements, the owners of the parcels benefited by the easement bear the cost of repairs, maintenance and upgrades on the parcels that they do not own, unless the easement granting documents say something different. So there is just no way to tell without the documents.

I agree in theory with Mr. McCormick......his statement of the applicable law is correct. I would add, however, that a search of all the available property records (county recorder, and perhaps some unrecorded agreements as well) should be done to see whether there are any enforceable agreements specific to your situation. I personally lived on such a private road about 15 years ago. The identical problem arose, and we found that there was a very old but recorded agreement among the developer and the original owners covering road maintenance.