My neighbor put up a gate that is blocking my use of our shared road.

Legal Questions with Shared Roads

Neighbors sharing a road can benefit all the neighbors, but it often comes with hidden risks.

Common Legal Inquiries

Over the years, many clients have come to us with questions about other people crossing across their property or asking if they had the right to cross someone else's property. These questions come down to a question of permission; did you give the people crossing your property permission, or do you have permission to cross the other person’s property?

Understanding "Permissive Use"

Permission, or "permissive use" comes in many forms, it can be given in verbally or in writing, it can be for a limited use or for a limited time, or it can be in the form of a formal easement, by which the owner of one property gives another person the legal right to use their property.

Potential Legal Consequences of Unpermitted Use

Even without permission, someone continually crossing your property, or, in turn, continually crossing someone else’s property, if done for a prescribed number of years can result in a right to continuing to cross that the property owner never intended.

Case Study: Santa Clara County Dispute

Several years ago, I litigated a case in Santa Clara County involving a private dirt road that ran through a number of different properties in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The road, although on private property, had always been used by the public.

Escalation to Legal Dispute

About one hundred feet of the road ran through a small parcel of land that had a house on it. The original owner of the house never complained about people using the road but when the house was sold, the new owners put a chain across the road, preventing anyone from using the road across their property, saying that they did not like people driving past their house and partially, they did not like logging trucks passing the house. My clients, who had used the road for decades, asked the new owners to remove the chain and reopen the road so that it could continue to be used as it always had been, but the new owner, who turned out to be against logging, maintained that unless the logging stopped, they would not remove the chains.

Resolution Through Litigation

Litigation resulted and, in the end, after the new owners had spent tens of thousands of dollars, fighting the case the court concluded that the public’s prior use of the road had resulting in a prescriptive right of the public to continue to use the road, and the new owner was required to remove the chain.

Common Disputes and Legal Costs

While that case was unusual because it impacted so many people, simple two-party disputes over the use of a driveway regularly find their way into court, costing both sides money on attorneys’ fees and costs.

Steps to Resolve Access Disputes

If you have a dispute with someone over access to a driveway or road, before hiring an attorney, look at the deed for your property and any driveway or road easements impacting your property. Those documents can be very helpful in understanding your rights.

Attempting Resolution and Professional Assistance

Next, talk to the person who you have an access dispute with to see if the issue can be resolved between you. If that does not resolve the problem, give us a call. We offer a one-and-a-half-hour free consultation, and we can usually help you understand your rights and options during that initial consultation. If your rights are being impacted and you need our help to enforce them, we will work with you to enforce those rights efficiently and cost effectively.

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