Re: Easement-default?

Steve M  <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I have 50 acres in Seqoyah County Oklahoma that adjoins a 40 acre
>parcel on the West and 40 acre parcel on the North.  Recently the two
>parcels were sold giving the buyer 80 acres joining at a single point
>at my NE corner.  As there has been a pasture road crossing my
>property to gain access the two pastures, the buyers have assumed,
>after talking with an attorney, they have access thru my property
>without getting a right-of-way or easement from me.  Do I not have
>control of my property as stated to the buyers from this attorney?
>Can I legally fence off my property even though it would block their
>access the 40 acres.  What would the recommendations to control my
>property?

If the pasture road has been used by the previous owner(s) for the
requisite number of years (15 in Okla), then they have acquired a
"prescriptive easement" and will have the right to continue using that
pasture road (unless you can get the new owners to give up that right,
probably by paying them $money$).

So, no, you do not have have "control of your property", if by that
you mean that you can prevent them from continuing to use the pasture
road.  You can _probably_ put a fence around your property as long as
you leave a gate they can use to access the pasture road.  Then you
can (probably) fence off the pasture road from the rest of your
property if you like.

In effect, you lost "control of your property" when you failed to take
steps during those 15 years to limit or control access via that
pasture road.  OTOH, if you _did_ limit or control that access
(blocking access for a day or two every few years), or had granted
them revocable permission to use the pasture road (best done in
writing), then their use wouldn't have been "hostile" and the
prescriptive easement wouldn't have arisen.

I know this may be a little late for you, but other people can learn
from your mistake.  (And you can avoid making this mistake in the
future with other property you may own or buy).

If you really want to limit access, you _might_ be able to arrange
something like a fence around your property with gates at each end of
the pasture road.  Then you lock the gates and provide the new owners
with keys to the locks.  (There's a trick that is sometimes used for
gates that several people must have access to: a "chain" of padlocks.
Each accessor has a key to his own padlock.  Opening any padlock opens
the gate, so access is preserved, but each accessor controls his own
lock and hence access.)

There is also another way the buyer of the two 40-acre parcels may
have an easement across your property.  If they are "landlocked" (have
no other access to public roads) and their parcels and your parcels
were at some past time part of the same property which was then
divided, they would be able to go to court and get an "easement by
necessity".  The effect is much the same: they have the right to cross
your land using the pasture road, and you can't stop them.

This is for discussion purposes only, and is not legal advice.  I'm
not a lawyer.  If you want legal advice, hire a lawyer.

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