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If you have a utility easement on your property and the utility company has gone beyond the restricted area onto your property what are your rights?
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
You could probably sue the utility company in small claims court for trespass. But even if you win, it will probably cost you a lot more than the judge would likely award, especially when it comes to the time and running around you'll need to devote to it. And remember, a judge has the power to award court costs to the losing party instead of the winning party. It happens when it appears that the lawsuit, although technically correct in law, is frivolous in nature. Unless there has been damage or very serious nuisance involved, you'd be best to forget it. Consider it to be a minor inconvenience associated with modern living and get on with more important things in life.
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
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How can you buy back a utility easement or part of it?
A utility easement is a feature of the property you own, not a loss of property. A utilty easement is a section of your property that needs to be left accessible to the utility (electric company, phone company, etc.) for service, repairs, upgrades etc. You can use the space such as erect a fence but you need to know that if the utility needs to access your easement space they have the right to move or destruct what you have erected.
What is the easement of an electric company called?
Utility easement, they are common.
If a utility owns an easement across the middle of your property do you have to allow them access across your private property?
Yes, because that is exactly what an easement is. The right to go onto another person's land usually for a specific and limited purpose. However, you may refuse to let the utility people go anywhere else on your property except on the exact portion of land that is covered by the easement. Such easements are usually restricted to that portion of the land so as to enable the utility to read the meter or repair damaged equipment. The terms of the deed of easement will specify where the utility can go.
How far away from a utility easement do you have to be?
The area on either side of a utility easement is generally stated in the instrument that created the easement. For example, "no structures within 15 feet of either side of the center line". Check with the title company or attorney who represented you when you purchased your property for a copy of the easement document.
If a utility easement is no longer in use how do you get a release from the utility company?
You need to contact the easement department of the utility company that owns the easement and ask for a release. The utility must research the easement in their records which is sometimes a very complicated process. They may require a fee for the research and release. That fee can run in the hundreds of dollars. On the other hand they may refuse to release it at all even if it is not in use. Once they have property rights some utility companies don't let them go.
What is the definition of presumptive easement Can a utility company claim presumptive easement when they never asked for an easement from the property owner?
Presumptive easement occurs when the access or easement has been used for so many years it has become an established easement. The owners permission is not necessary if they allowed it to go for years without complaint.
Who pays taxes on an easement?
On the property the easement is on/over? That depends on the terms of the easement given and agreed to. The most common forms of easements, utility and right of way easements the property owner pays the property taxes.
If a property owner granted a utility company an easement after decades of licensed use does recording of the easement eliminate any prescriptive claims?
There would be no prescriptive claims in any case: licensed use is not hostile and a recorded easement presumes fair consideration.
How wide is an easement?
There is no set width for an easement. An easement is defined by an agreement between the two property owners. Some easements have standard sizes such as roads or utility easements.
What do you do if a utility easement as well as a ROW easement are not on your deed?
Easements do not have to be recited in your deed to be effective. Often a prior owner conveyed rights to an abutter or utility company and only the property description is carried forward in subsequent deeds. A full title examination should disclose easements and other rights that are not recited in the deeds in the chain of title. In fact, that is a main purpose of a professional title examination of real property. Sometimes, a title examination reveals that the utility or other entity claiming the easement does NOT have rights in the property. Discuss the problem with the lawyer or title company who represented you at your time of purchase.
If a utility easement is granted to the power company can other utilities use that same easement without the power company's permission?
No. Also, other utilities can't use the easement unless that right was granted in the original instrument that granted the easement.
Can a neighbor build a concrete block and wood fence across a 20 ft wide utility easement?
It depends on the nature of the easement. You need to get a copy of the easement from your county records office, and see what rights it gives the neighbor to build on the easement. Odds are, if it's a utility easement, it belongs to the utility company alone. See a real estate attorney for detailed information on your state's laws.
