[tsila1777]

My new neighbors assumed they had the right to the 30 foot easement, all of it, they said, and I quote: "i know you own the land, but we have the right to do anything we want, even clear the whole 30 foot and pave it." they even asked me to move my veggie garden back because they had plans for this winter.

We went to a lawyer and he sent them a letter telling them Quote: Georgia law provides that one who grants an easement across his land retains to himself all possessory rights unabridged except to the extent requisite to the fair employment of the easement.

Also: the owner of the easement, (that's them) are only permitted to do those things which are reasonably necessary for the enjoyment of the easement.

The easement is ingress and egress ONLY.

However, before we got to the lawyer they cut down several trees, some quite large, and brush which they threw on our berry bushes and left all the debris laying there.

Question: Should I bring suit against them and make them pay for damage to my property or hire someone to clean it up and send them the bill... or just let it go and try to clean it up myself? I know I could ask my lawyer... but I thought I would ask here first. He charges almost $200 an hour.

[froggy7]

You sound like you have some very nice neighbors there. If they have said that they know that you own the land, then they were way over the line. Personally, I'd get an expert out there to assess the damage, and if it's low enough, send them a letter asking them to pay or you will take them to Small Claims Court for the damage. I would also advise, in this case, fencing off everything except the part that they need to get in and out. Get the land surveyed, first, so that you can be sure that the fence is on your property. Nothing like a fence to demonstrate where the property line is and assert claim over the land. If they complain that you are "encroaching" on their land, you can then take it to court and get a legal ruling in your favor.

[George_1950]

I'm struggling with this: is the 30 foot easement the width? How long is it? Also, you have stated that the owner of the easement is permitted to do those things which are reasonably necessary; if the easement is for ingress and egress, by vehicle, can't the owner say that pavement is reasonably necessary?

[ScottGem]

I had the same thought as George. If the easement is for access to their property by vehicle, then paving it would seem to be a reasonable use of the easement. That doesn't mean that they need to pave the entire width, nor does it mean that you have to move any plantings that do not affect the use of the easement.

So the next question is how much you want to piss off your neighbors. If you don't care at all, then do what froggy suggested. Get an estimate and send them a bill with a pay or get sued notice.

If you want to try and remain at least civil with them, then ask for a sit down where you hammer out the differences.

[tsila1777]

The neighbors are as pissed off as possible... she accused me of harassment because I waved at her as she drove by. The width of the easement is 30 ft, I am not sure of the length; the total is about 1/2 acre of our land. For 10 years, people have used that easement with no trouble whatsoever. These people have lived there since Nov. 07. And We've had the police out here, several 'discussions' ten of them, two of us…and had to hire an attorney at $200 an hour. Before that we have asked several times for us, just the 4 of us, (not her parents and half of her family, all of whom are very angry people,) to sit down and talk... that too is considered harassment. We use that same road and it is not necessary to pave it, key word here, necessary. She accused me of trespassing on her land because I went to her house, once again trying to talk to the husband and wife, but they were not home. I left a note in the door. She kept it as 'evidence'. I am not allowed on her property anymore.

We drive our RV over that road, no problem. Pavement not necessary. It's a good road, no one else who has lived there has ever had a problem. They've asked to trim trees and we said of course, but not cut back 5 feet from the road. NOT NECESSAY.
Pavement would be nice because most of it would be our drive way. However the question was not pavement of the road, but the destruction of my personal property... and the mess they left behind.

[ScottGem]

Ok, so the dream of maintaining civil relations is dead. Then go for a lawsuit. When they told you, that they could do anything they wanted, did you tell them you were going to consult an attorney? As I see it their only defense is that they told you what they were going to do and you didn't voice an objection. It that wasn't the case (and it appears not to be) then they have no defense. Get the estimates and sue them.

[Fr_Chuck]

1. You may always walk up someone's side walk and go to their front door, that is never tresspassing,

Sue them, they need to learn it is your land and they are merely allowed guests using it.
In fact I would have my attorney see if there is a way to close the easment and/or charge them for the upkeep of it.

[froggy7]

And see... now that I have had time yo think about it... I have to ask: who or what defines "necessary"? I lived for a while down a driveway that was about 40 feet long, with dense brush on either side. This was in the country in Texas, so it was a lane barely wider than the car, with two slightly wider spots where cars could pass if one pulled off into the brushy part. Part of the rental agreement was periodically cutting back branches so that they didn't scrape the car, clearing the ditches, and digging out the saplings that would grow in the road. Paving that driveway and cutting the brush and trees back 5 feet on either side would have made using the road much easier, especially on me who had a low compact car and not the pickup trucks and SUVs that the other users had. (Dodging stumps that might scrape the bottom of the car was sometimes interesting.) But would paving and clearing it be "necessary"? It was possible for me to use it the way it was, after all. On the other hand, it was possible for them to get over some stumps that my car couldn't... so would taking those stumps out not be necessary either? I just don't like ill-defined terms.

[tsila1777]

Necessary: essential, indispensable, requisite indicate something vital for the fulfillment of a need. Necessary applies to that without which a condition cannot be fulfilled...

In this case getting from her house to the main road, and back. She can do that at 60 mph and before she got the letter from our lawyer, that's what she did. He didn't.

The driveway is almost as wide as the main road which also is graveled in front of our house. Our other neighbors also have similar driveways, no one in this neighborhood has a paved drive, we live on a graveled road. The driveway/easement is wide enough, and smooth enough and clear enough for the RV to drive on it without anything scraping, or scratching the RV. There are no pot holes, they can see from one end of the drive to the other, and there are many places for them to pull over if they meet another car. We even offered to let them use one of our personal drives (we have 3) to use to pull over if need be, but she became even more angry at the offer and said she didn't want to use 'our personal property'. She wanted an excuse to cut our trees.

Her motive is not to make the easement more assessable, but was to use the full 30 ft width to widen the road on one side and plant flowers on the other. She told me of her plan to use one section to plant flowers.

Now, I know flowers are not necessary, and I love flowers, if she had wanted to do it together, that would not have been a problem. But she had planned it out already and wanted to cut some of my trees to do it.

We tried several times to compromise with them. If they had just talked with us, they could have gotten a lot more than they have now. Plus we could have been friendly neighbors like we are with the rest in the neighborhood.

The husband is a nice man, but the wife is not and her mommy is not. She needs to grow up and be a wife to him, or else go back home and be mommy's little girl. He wanted to talk, but she had to call mommy every time, and her whole family would come over... angry before they got here and making threats and accusations. It was a Stringer show... We've lived here for over 20 years never had any problems with neighbors before her.
Now, they are not allowed to contact us only though our lawyer, and we are not allowed to contact them because that's harassment. And that's sad.

We've had two other neighbors to live up there, and every time they needed to trim trees or cut back brush, they asked, even though they didn't have to, and we always said of course cut back as much as you need. Neither of them cut back 5 foot from the road, or cut down any trees. OR planted flowers.

I wish I could put a picture of the mess they made and left... and a picture of the road.

She thought she was buying 2.44 acres and getting another 1/2 acre free.

I'm still willing to compromise with them, but as I said before, I'm not allowed on her property. By the way, the road/driveway is actually outside the easement for a length of about 25 feet in one part, if we wanted to be as hateful as her, we could make them move the road off our personal property, which she was so adamant about not wanting to use in the first place. And they would not need to cut trees to do so, simply clear a bit of tall weeds. This is also the section where my veggie garden is at the back of my yard. That is also where they asked us to move back our garden so they could bulldoze through it. This section is perfectly clear of trees and brush; not even in the easement at all.

Anyway... thanks for everyone's opinions... maybe I will talk to my lawyer about making them clean it up. Wonder if I could sue for pain and suffering or something like that to, it did cause me a great deal of stress... I'm not well.

If they had asked to pave the existing road, we most likely would have said sure, if you will pave our circle driveway too, that was not what they wanted or the question I was asking... that was only some background to help, I thought, to understand the problem.

If I try to clean it up myself... from my wheelchair... I don't want have a heart attack and fall on the road and get ran over, because she wouldn't stop to help me I'm sure.

I really don't want any more trouble, I can't handle stress, I just wanted an opinion as to what would be the best way to get that mess cleaned up. Maybe time will tell... get it? With enough time the mess will rot and become part of the... nevermind.

Thanks all.
Tsila

[tsila1777]

I'm struggling with this: is the 30 foot easement the width? How long is it? Also, you have stated that the owner of the easement is permitted to do those things which are reasonably necessary; if the easement is for ingress and egress, by vehicle, can't the owner say that pavement is reasonably necessary?

Sorry George, I guess I was feeling like you were taking their side against me, I'm quite fragile right now... I didn't realize you were simply asking a question to help you to more fully understand the situation.

As I said, pavement is not necessary... if it were all the other neighbors would have their drives paved... they all have very long graveled driveways. We live on a graveled road... if paving their graveled driveway is reasonably necessary to get to the main graveled road, then I suppose paving the main graveled road would also be reasonably necessary for them. Don't cha think?

I did tell her I had spoken to a lawyer, I made a copy of what he told me, ingress and egress only, no right to cut trees, I tried to show this to her,( it's also the note I put in her door when I requested that we 4 talk,) she refused to read it and said, she had a lawyer too. It was after that, that they cut and destroyed several feet of our land and left the debris laying on the side of the road... and on our berry bushes and killed them.

Tsila

[ScottGem]

Bottom line is, if you want to be compensated for the damage and to have the damage cleaned up then sue. Get the judgement, then offer to compromise instead of collecting.