Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: land easements, legal issues, qualifying for subsidies

[Gale (wmgale]

Rowena Conkling wrote:

> > Jessie Handforth Kome: Dahako [at] aol.com wrote:
> > > We just got the following advice from our developer (who is also a
> > member and an attorney)
> > > Any use or land interest .. such as easements, must be legally
> > obtained. .. easements are legal rights (for 3rd parties to use the
> > owners land in a particular way). Like deeds of full title, deeds of
> > easements should be duly documented and recorded at the
> > Register of Deeds, etc.

> Rowenac from CambridgeCoho

When we purchased our land (which is rural, being about an hour's
commute
from the center of Austin, Texas), the deed specified two parcels: one
was
the land itself, the other was a non-exclusive right to use a
preexisting 
easement to access the land.

It turn out that a land owner to the south of us, whose land this
easement
crosses, is not convinced of the legality of the easement.  In this
situation
it is a great help that the easement was indeed recorded in the county
deed
books.  It predates her acquisition of her land by ten years.  We
consulted 
our lawyer and have plans for dealing with this which may well not be
general,
but if you meet this, I would suggest contacting a lawyer.

Cordially,
Gale
Space Environments Ecovillage