Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: responsibilities of an easement

In general, the responsibility for the maintenance of an easement lies with the users. Sometimes, say in the case of a shared driveway, this means that both the owner or the underlying property and the holder of the easement must share the costs. If there are multiple users of the easement - either as easement holders or as the underlying owner - the costs would be shared in proportion to the use made. So, a guy at the far end of a shared driveway that had three or four big cars would pay more than a guy with only a bicycle who lived down near the street.

All of this can be changed by agreement, of course, and in the context of a development with an HOA, there is quite likely something set down in a contract somewhere regarding maintenance, but it isn't necessarily going to be found in the public record (although it might be).

If you don't locate anything in writing, this can perhaps be settled by negotiation on the basis that a court would be looking to figure out, from the evidence and testimony, who benefits from the fence. A court judgment would apportion maintenance responsibility (in the absence of an agreement) on the basis of use or benefit derived.

Sometimes there is a side issue as to whether repairs are even necessary at the time, or whether one party is "gold plating" the project by demanding an unnecessarily-fancy fence. The judge would probably form an opinion as to what was reasonable in the circumstances, apportion those costs, then assign 100% of the extra costs to the party demanding the fancy or unnecessary aspects.