Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Missouri

Re: Permissive Easement

Offhand, I'm with you, but I stress the word "offhand".

I, like any lawyer, would need to see their pleadings to

understand their grounds. (That wasn't meant to be a pun.)

There are various easements to which people are entitled

regardless of your actions. Also, your 10-year permission

under your state's laws could lead to an easement, although

it seems unlikely to me, and it especially seems that the

easement would be restricted the same way your permission

was. However, people have been known to lie in court, so you

might have to show the judge that you're the more credible.

Another thought I have is that although you laid down rules,

if they claim the rules were ignored and you did nothing to

enforce them, they could claim that you gave them 10 years of

unrestricted use, in spite of what you may have said.

The general rules for getting easement in my state would require

20 years, not 10, but the prior owner(s)' permission period could

be added on to your "over 10" to get up to the 20; however, the

use would have to be closer to "without permission" -- ironic, isn't

it? -- and yet everyone knows that it's being done. It's kind of

a stretch, in my view. Perhaps they hope the stress of doing battle

and your fear of legal expenses will get you to compromise without

going to court and give them something. As far as I'm concerned, I'd

stop their use entirely right now until you had something in writing

acknowledging your ownership and their agreement to abide by certain rules,

something drawn up by a lawyer versed in your own state's property laws.

Each state's laws are different.

Stuart Williams

Law Offices of Stuart J. Williams

21 Walter St.