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# Days on the market
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/days-on-the-market-20060419/
- Published: 2006-04-19T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T23:54:27.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Digging into the essentials of easements*

*By JODI SUMMERS*

Last week’s column on easements has generated several questions. We’ll share some of them this week.

QUESTION: We recently bought a home on the Westside, and as we were going over the paperwork, we learned that the city has taken 5 feet for an utility easement. Is this standard? — CN ANSWER: As you probably know, the official definition of an easement is the legal right of another to use part of your property. Utility easements — either above or below ground — are used for power lines, phone lines, water pipes, sewer pipes, gas lines and TV cable lines. Many properties around town have this sort of easement, known as an easement in gross. It’s standard operating procedure. Without these free easements, most utilities companies would not agree to serve individual parcels.

Most easements in gross benefit public utilities or government agencies. They are usually recorded in the public records when a lot is subdivided. Your title policy should list all property easement, both aboveground and underground.

QUESTION: I have an apartment building in West Los Angeles that I’ve owned for 25 years. Part of the driveway on this property includes an easement on my neighbor’s property. A new owner purchased the property next door and is saying that he is going to redo his property so my tenants can no longer use the part of the driveway that’s on his land. Am I going to be forced to move the driveway on this property? — RS ANSWER: It sounds like you have a prescriptive easement issue. According to noted real estate columnist Bob Bruss, “If you use part of your neighbor’s property without permission, or someone uses part of your property even after you tell them to stop, a prescriptive easement for permanent use might arise.”

To legally acquire a prescriptive easement over the property of another owner, you or your tenants must use the easement in an open, obvious and clearly visible manner. In California, you must be using this easement for five years without interruption for it to become a valid easement.

If the new owner of the adjoining lot attempts to terminate your tenant’s driveway use, the legal action to perfect a prescriptive easement is called a “quiet title action.” You, the claimant, should talk with a local real estate attorney about a quiet title lawsuit against the property owner. This is a way to make your driveway easement permanent.

QUESTION: A property I purchased two years ago has a private driveway my neighbors use on the side of the property. This easement was created in 1913 with the following language: “the right to use, travel over, upon and along, and enjoy as and for a private roadway only, for all time … the same to be kept open as a private roadway and wholly unobstructed...” A recorded easement typically “runs with the land” meaning that all future owners of the property are subject to the easement. Since we’ve moved in, we’ve seen trespassers, illegal dumping and had two burglaries. We’d like to put up a gate and give our neighbor with the easement the key. Is this allowed? — MT ANSWER: In the 2005 ruling Van Klompenburg vs. Berghold, the Third District California Court of Appeal affirmed that the specific language of a grant of an easement determines the scope of the easement. You say that the records of your easement require it to remain “wholly unobstructed” — in the 2005 ruling, it was determined that “a locked or closed gate constitutes an obstruction.” But, your case may be different. Consult an attorney as to the best way to proceed.

QUESTION: We went to put in a pool on our property, and when the pool company came to discuss the project, they noted that there was a city sewer easement in the backyard, which affects the placement of the pool. Do we have any recourse on relocating the sewer line? — SR ANSWER: Talk to the city, tell your scenario and ask them about your options on relocating the sewer line. Also, check your title policy. If the policy failed to disclose a properly recorded underground easement, the title insurer can be required to pay either the cost of moving the underground easement or to compensate you for the diminished value of the property.

QUESTION: Back in the day when Topanga Canyon was a hippie hangout, there was a driveway easement across our property for the rear neighbors to reach their house. As Topanga developed, new roads were put in, so our neighbor gained their own driveway access. The easement over our land hasn’t been used since then. We’d like to build a guesthouse where part of the recorded easement is located. The neighbors have given us their OK. So, what do we do to get rid of the easement? — JH ANSWER: You’ll need to have a real estate attorney prepare a quitclaim deed for the neighbor to sign. Then the document must be recorded. This will eliminate his right to the easement over your lot.

QUESTION: The city of LA has a locked alley, which abuts my home, as well as all my neighbors. One owner has fenced part of the alley as his back yard. Another of my neighbors told me I can have the alley appended to my lot. Do I have any legal rights to claim this section of the unused alley? — PW ANSWER: It’s government property, so you and your neighbors cannot claim title to the unused alley by adverse possession or prescriptive easement. Your best bet is to get all the affected neighbors to sign a petition requesting that the city abandon its alley and transfer title to the adjoining homeowners. (Jodi Summers is director of the investment division at Boardwalk Realty Santa Monica. Contact her at , or call 310-309-4219\. Visit her Web site at www.santamonica-landmarks.com.)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 19, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/041906.pdf?ref=smdp.com)