Posted by Rich on April 06, 2007 at 24:33:56:
I like this suggestion. Sometimes nothing is worth living next to someone ready to “go off” for little provocation.
Easement rights - Posted by Susan Nation
Posted by Susan Nation on March 29, 2007 at 06:20:55:
If a person owns property adjacent to a small private lake (owned by a neighbor) and has legally filed easement rights to use the lake, what would be the proper recourse if that person is threatened by the owner of the lake for attempting to fish in the lake? Especially if the owner of the lake threatened the person’s life and trespassed onto that person’s property to post No Trespassing signs for the lake.
Re: Easement rights - Posted by dealmaker
Posted by dealmaker on March 29, 2007 at 06:31:07:
Does this person just not remember signing an easement? Or are they getting old and senile? Or was the easement granted by a former owner?
I’m not a lawyer but I’m not sure an easement to gain ACCESS to the lake, use the lake, allows you to take fish from the lake.
dealmaker
Re: Easement rights - Posted by Susan Nation
Posted by Susan Nation on March 29, 2007 at 06:38:31:
When we purchased the property, the former owner said that they fished in the lake all the time. The easement was granted by former owners on both sides and passes onto new owners. Both the lake owner and I are new owners of the two properties and he says he is not aware of any easement rights that I have. Plus he is coming onto my own property and posting signs on my property to warn me not to use the lake for any reason. He has threatened to shoot me and my dog if I come down to lake, which he considers trespassing. Yesterday, when he came onto my property, be brought a gun with him, shot it into the air seveal times and then nailed the signs to my trees.
Re: Easement rights - Posted by Billy
Posted by Billy on March 29, 2007 at 11:10:16:
Susan
Sounds like a formal easement was never granted, no documentation. It appears the former owner of the lake just gave permission to the former owners of your property to use the lake, now the new owner is revoking that permission and your out of luck unless you can find some written record.
I would send the new owner of the lake a letter, that he is no longer welcome on your property and his presence on your property will be considered trespass and if he ever steps on your property without permission or threatens you again, you will file the appropriate criminal charges, and be sure to send a copy of the letter to the district attorneys office.
The guys apparently a jerk, not the kind of neighbor I would want, but it seems it is his lake and his right to not share it with anyone.
Of course, I don’t know how the boundary’s of your property are determined, if the lake gets larger, do you lose land or is that part of the lake now yours?
I would at least contact the previous owners of all the properties and find out what was actually done or agreed to by them. If the previous owner of the lake told his buyer the lake was totally his to do with what he wanted, don’t expect much help. I would also consider that the previous owners of your property committed fraud if they led you to believe you had the legal right to continue to use the lake and that induced you to buy the property.
Billy, for this post anyway
Re: Easement rights - Posted by Bill H
Posted by Bill H on March 29, 2007 at 10:53:04:
Call the sheriff or police immediately and get everything on record…you have a serious problem and he is not going to respect or abide by any easement that he was not aware of when he purchased.
Good Luck,
Bill H
Re: Easement rights - Posted by Susan Nation
Posted by Susan Nation on March 29, 2007 at 11:40:25:
Actually, we spoke to an attorney before closing on the property. He researched it and found a signed affidavit from a superior court settlement. Apparently, the two previous owners went to court to settle the dispute over the lake use and finally made a settlement and signed it. The affidavit states that whoever owns our property will have a permanent easement to use the lake for benefit and enjoyment and that this easement will pass on to future heirs and property owners. That would be us. It is signed and witnessed in Superior court in the State of Georgia and the lawyer mailed us a copy of this as well as a copy of our plat which clearly shows and states that that our property line goes all the way to the water. This means when he was carrying his rifle and nailing No Trespassing signs on our side of the lake, he was standing on our property when he was doing it.
We have already explained all of this to him the other day. That is when he blew up and became so aggressive. He simply thinks that we are wrong and that none of this applies to him. We just thought we should just go ahead and call the police and show them the illegal signs he posted on our property, the legal documents that prove this and ask them to go over to his property and require him to come take down his signs and stop harrassing us. I don’t know if the police will comply but this was a dispute already settled in court and it seems they should be willing to enforce the law.
S. Nation
Easement rights - Posted by Nike
Posted by Nike on March 29, 2007 at 13:01:27:
The affidavit should’ve been recorded in the county where the properties are located. Did your attorney address the issue of thew affidavit not being recorded? Do you know whether your neighbor knew about the unrecorded easement? When was the affidavit signed?
Re: Easement rights - Posted by Susan Nation
Posted by Susan Nation on March 30, 2007 at 05:47:48:
We had our lawyer research what was on record at the county courthouse. The Easement was signed by the two propety owners previous to us current ones and witnessed in Hall County Superior Court in May of 1989. Both owners agreed in writing that the easement right would pass to all heirs and future purchasers of the property titles on both sides. This is recorded at the Hall County Court House. In addition, the recorded survey of our property shows that our property line runs far past where the new owner posted his No Trespassing signs. Yesterday afternoon, we called a county sheriff’s deputy and he came out and we showed him all our paperwork and the illegally posted signs. We told him about the threats on our life and on our dog. He went next door and confronted the angry neighbor. He told our neighbor that he could not come unto our property, waving a gun around and threatening to shoot us if we used the lake. He told him about the legal documents we hold. The neighbor said he intended to put up a fence all the way around the lake. The deputy told him he could not until he got that cleared from a judge because, since our property line runs all the way into the water of the lake, he would have to be putting the fence on our property and that would be encroachment. It would also deny us the easement right we hold. The deputy said he also warned him not to go onto our property with his rotweiler and gun anymore. The deputy then came back and told us to have our lawyer send a letter to this guy with a copy of the signed easement and our platt and a warning to leave us alone. He then walked down to the lake and stood with us in plain sight of the neighbor while we took down the No Trespassing signs.
We have already called our attorney. He said the letter will go out next week. We will see what happens next.
Easement rights - Posted by Nike
Posted by Nike on March 30, 2007 at 06:42:08:
The survey speaks for itself. The easement was enforced by the court, however an easement must be recorded in the county recorders office so that it appears in the chain of title, otherwise subsequent buyers will not have notice of the easement.
Where are you? A landowner cannot threaten the use of deadly force to prevent a trespass. To make threats while carrying a gun is assault and the sheriff ought’ve said so. Are you sure you’re not exaggerating a little?
Re: Easement rights - Posted by Susan Nation
Posted by Susan Nation on March 30, 2007 at 06:59:32:
In this type of communication, one tries to be brief so details are often confusing. Let me clarify. The owner of the lake did threaten to shoot us if we even stepped up to the edge of the lake and then he said he would shoot our dog if the dog came near the lake. I know that this was said while he was upset but he said it (verbatim) all the same. The NEXT day, he followed up his verbal threat by coming down to the lake, walking over to our side, standing on our property and shooting his rifle into the air and then down into the ground. He then posted the signs on our trees. We told all of this to the deputy. We already said what the deputy did in response. Whether he should have done more or not is moot. All he did was warn the guy not to come near us again and then he told us that if we see the guy come onto our property again with a gun in hand to call him immediately. We are in North Georgia. I do not know if the easement is recorded at the recorder’s office or not. Our attorney’s clerk found it recorded down at the court house. We will ask about that. But, whether the other owner had a copy at his closing or not should not nullify our right to use the legally recognized easement, should it?
Re: Easement rights - Posted by RJ
Posted by RJ on March 31, 2007 at 24:25:16:
The threats are very serious, and the fact that the deputy didn’t do more to investigate and find out if the guy had done this by admission is beyond me. I feel as though this person has broken the law, and if for some reason you or your family or property were destroyed by this person -the deputy would be up the creek and out of a job. I would have insisted more be done here. A prosecutor should have been contacted. I would fear for my life and my families life and well being. The person that replied to you seemed to be puttijng negative pressure against you. I have seen judges do this to get you to “open up” or “shut up” and that ends up giving the judge his answer either way. Since this isn’t a court room what you put into text does not presume to show that you aren’t giving enough detail or are hiding something. Except that if the deputy thought you were in danger or if there was proof of the threats he should have acted on the aggressor. You should ask the prosecutor what your rights are. Then make sure that the person is served in person by a professional your rights to the lake and proof(because of the vile nature of the person’s actions I would get him into civil court over this issue, and make sure I was protected against violence as well). Most lakes and waterways are governed by the state with the state having ultimate authority. Unless it is man made on private property. Usually when a state has rights over a waterway we all have rights unless special rules and regulations are written to protect the waterway from public use. My guess is that there is two driveways going to the only properties that exist adjacent to the lake? If you really wanted to fix his wagon and probably incur a more anger from the aggressor. Create a road on your property with public access to the lake. Then donate road to the state, and your rights access to public for all to share. Then move far far away! Just invite the local judge and sheriff to go fishing at the lake with you. Have a fish fry, and party till the roosters start crowing!