Bay City, MI asked in Real Estate Law for Michigan

Q: Can i request relief for a prescribed easement against a municipality?

There has been an unauthorized easement to my property for over 85 yrs. Ive only owned the property for 6 yrs. The path is the only way to get to my driveway or i have to park on the road. However, parking my vehicles on the road will block my neighbors driveways. The city road is only wide enough for 1 vehicle to drive down and its a dead-end road.

Update..I need the easement. The city wants me to pay to revert the easement back to sod and grass. The easement has been there long before the city owned the property. Previous owners are a rail road company who gave the property to the city under a limited use deed.

Related Topics:
2 Lawyer Answers
David Soble
PREMIUM
Answered

A: Sounds as if you don't agree with the easement, however, you can block the driveway and do whatever you legally wish, etc., The other parties who wish to use the easement will need to legally challenge your denial of permission to use the driveway. Otherwise, there is no issue until raised.

A: There are lots of unanswered questions raised by your statement of facts here. "Unauthorized" in what way? Who owns the property -- you or the city? Is this easement on YOUR property or are you trying to use the property AS an easement to get access to your property? It is all pretty unclear.

And those details impact what you should do. At this point the BEST advice is to bring your situation with drawings and that 'limited use deed' to a local real estate attorney to review and provide you real advice. It does sound, as Mr Soble said, like this is headed to court if you can't work out the details with the city, but whether or not that will happen and what sort of compromise is appropriate is a whole different question! Get local legal advice!

Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.

The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.

Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.