My question involves real estate located in the State of: California
I have title to a non exclusive right of way easement, that I use to access my property, the easement documents say I must pay a reasonable proportional cost of roadway maintence, when the servient land owner presents me a quote for road maintenance.
Background: The road in question is used by both me (easement owner) and my neighbour (land owner ) and it’s the only way to access our properties.
My neighbour approached me about 6 years ago with a quote to fix the road @ $4000, (at the time the owner did not live in the property and it was leased to a private company for their employees) I agreed to contribute $2000, 50% of cost. Not long after that the owner hit hard times and could not afford his share.
A few years past and the road has deteriorated to a point that it’s in desperate need of repair, the tar gravel layer in places has cracked and the sub base layer is open to rain and is breaking up and forming large potholes. I approached the land owner about getting the road fixed and he said, go and get some quotes, these quotes have now jumped to $8000, as the areas where the subbase is breaking down needs to be excavated and recompacted.
I emailed the land owner (servient title holder) the new prices. I made contact a few weeks later and he said he had done some research and as a servient title holder, he has no requirement to maintain a easement road surface?
Fast forward to now, my neighbour now lives back in his house and he doesnt have any interest in fixing the shared road. The road has deteriated even more and is becoming unsafe, I expect the new price to fix the road and make it safe, will be well over $10,000+
As you can imagine, I am now working out my options.
1, In my case, as a dominant title holder, do I have any ability to get the servient title holder to contribute to repair of this road? We both have no choice in using this road, as this is the only way to access the state road.
2, The neighbor and previous renters were in the construction industry and they drive heavy trucks up and down the road. Do I have any ability to say, that the neighbor has damaged the road more than me, and they should pay a share of road maintenance that is greater than 50%, say 70%?
3, With the road literally falling to pieces, and being on my neighbour land, what is reasonable for me to be liable for, in contributing to road maintence?
In 2012, the road just needed a new coat of tar and gravel, now the sub base needs replacing in places. In my thinking, if my neighbor agreed to fix the road in 2012, I would of only had A $2000 liability, Now it’s looking like it’s going to be $5000+.
Do I have a liability to repair the Sub base? In my thinking, I should only have to contribute to maintain the road surface ie. tar and gravel (the wear and tear layer) If the land owner wants to let the sub base deteriate, then he should have to pay 100% of the cost to restore the Sub base.
Thanks in advance to any reply’s
I have title to a non exclusive right of way easement, that I use to access my property, the easement documents say I must pay a reasonable proportional cost of roadway maintence, when the servient land owner presents me a quote for road maintenance.
Background: The road in question is used by both me (easement owner) and my neighbour (land owner ) and it’s the only way to access our properties.
My neighbour approached me about 6 years ago with a quote to fix the road @ $4000, (at the time the owner did not live in the property and it was leased to a private company for their employees) I agreed to contribute $2000, 50% of cost. Not long after that the owner hit hard times and could not afford his share.
A few years past and the road has deteriorated to a point that it’s in desperate need of repair, the tar gravel layer in places has cracked and the sub base layer is open to rain and is breaking up and forming large potholes. I approached the land owner about getting the road fixed and he said, go and get some quotes, these quotes have now jumped to $8000, as the areas where the subbase is breaking down needs to be excavated and recompacted.
I emailed the land owner (servient title holder) the new prices. I made contact a few weeks later and he said he had done some research and as a servient title holder, he has no requirement to maintain a easement road surface?
Fast forward to now, my neighbour now lives back in his house and he doesnt have any interest in fixing the shared road. The road has deteriated even more and is becoming unsafe, I expect the new price to fix the road and make it safe, will be well over $10,000+
As you can imagine, I am now working out my options.
1, In my case, as a dominant title holder, do I have any ability to get the servient title holder to contribute to repair of this road? We both have no choice in using this road, as this is the only way to access the state road.
2, The neighbor and previous renters were in the construction industry and they drive heavy trucks up and down the road. Do I have any ability to say, that the neighbor has damaged the road more than me, and they should pay a share of road maintenance that is greater than 50%, say 70%?
3, With the road literally falling to pieces, and being on my neighbour land, what is reasonable for me to be liable for, in contributing to road maintence?
In 2012, the road just needed a new coat of tar and gravel, now the sub base needs replacing in places. In my thinking, if my neighbor agreed to fix the road in 2012, I would of only had A $2000 liability, Now it’s looking like it’s going to be $5000+.
Do I have a liability to repair the Sub base? In my thinking, I should only have to contribute to maintain the road surface ie. tar and gravel (the wear and tear layer) If the land owner wants to let the sub base deteriate, then he should have to pay 100% of the cost to restore the Sub base.
Thanks in advance to any reply’s
Maintenance and Repair: Easement Maintenance
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