Landowner with question about ROW/Easement

The state you are in may make a difference in the answers.?ÿ The member information says New York, but it could be a getaway parcel that happens to be in another state.

Thank you!?ÿ This is in New York State County of Ulster.

You need to research the documents affecting the adjoiners through which this easement/ROW would pass.?ÿ They are the ones being burdened so that is where the appropriate document would be filed.

I had an identical situation many years ago.?ÿ Finally found the key words for the access easement in the adjoiniing parcel's history from deed action in about 1875.?ÿ Those crucial words only appeared in one document in the entire chain of documents.

Ah.?ÿ Good to know.?ÿ So you are suggesting I research the history of deed chains for all surrounding properties??ÿ You are suggesting that in one of those there may be a reference to easement or ROW for the property that is in effect, land-locked?

Or put another way, I always thought that the grantee - the one receiving the deed/property would have the ROW/Easement specified therein within their deed, otherwise, how would they know they have the right to traverse another property? Or are both grantee deed and grantor descriptions altered to reflect this change?

Am I not understanding something?

No, it would be in the deed of the burdened property.?ÿ

In PA there is no such thing as a landlocked parcel. Access can be determined by a board of viewers.?ÿ

You also should do Grantor / Grantee searches on all the names in your chain of title. An easement could be written as a separate deed, then not referenced in the later deeds. It also might be a reserved right in a deed that separated an abutting parcel from yours.

For example, John Doe owned the parcel from 1898 through 1906. Search the Grantee index for John Doe during that time span, and see if he has any other deeds in his name. Then check the description in the index (if there is one) or read the deed to see if it granted the mystery easement. Also check the Grantor index for John Doe, in case he sold off an adjacent parcel, and reserved an easement to access his remaining land (your parcel).

Access for logging was often referred to as a "driftway", not a right of way. I know of cases in New Jersey where adjacent owners successfully blocked the use of a driftway for a full right of way. I have never worked in New York but believe it is similar. Your parcel is not landlocked because it has access for the purpose intended. I would think that in years past this woodlot was on a deed with a town building lot and a rural pasture lot. Two to four acres of woodlot was sufficient to keep a home elsewhere in fuel. Driftway refers to the fact that the access was most often only in winter when snow on the ground facilitated the dragging of logs.

You most likely have to go back to the creation of the nearest town. Maps may only be available in town records and many have become lost over the years. Even hundreds of years ago, some land was understood as not develop-able. You do have the right to buy a wood-stove. Very often the original deed and many subsequent ones referred to this as a "Wood Lot" and the purpose was understood not to be a building lot.

Paul in PA

Gentlemen - this is all very useful and helpful!?ÿ Thank you all for your assistance.?ÿ I think I've been doing this a bit sideways - I've been following the chain of my parcel back in time - and yes, through the grantee and grantor deeds - yet as far back as I go the description is always essentially the same.?ÿ I will say I've only been able to get back to the early 1800's.?ÿ

I may be over my head.?ÿ Is this type of search called a "Title Survey"??ÿ What would I ask of a surveyor or other party - title company - to conduct this type of search??ÿ And can I expect they would do it properly since it seems to involved a lot of detective work.

@paul-in-pa what do you mean referencing the stove??ÿ I presume you are citing the potential language that may have been included in one of those deeds from long ago?

My issue is how to accurately follow the chain of title.?ÿ I can see professional land surveyors really do earn their fees!

?ÿ

@bulgin

If in fact you can find this logging easement and before spending any money on a survey or trying to use such easement I would consult with a knowledgeable attorney as it pertains to the term "overburdening"?ÿ

A title company should be able to prepare you a report on the ADJOINING property(ies), that has all of their encumbrances. That is what you need. (Here in Oregon we call it a "Public Record Report" or something similar). Sometimes these encumbrances start in a deed that you would get in a chain of title search, but sometimes they are in a different type of document, not a deed, so they don't come up.?ÿ

Title companies will likely charge for this type of thing, but believe me they are efficient at figuring it out. Their speed will be good and their cost likely less than hiring a land surveyor for the research (and defiantly less than the attorney). My opinion, the title company is my FIRST call for this type of question. Then after that, you will know who to hire next, if it is necessary.?ÿ

@bulgin

My implication is that all you may have is a "wood lot" and the right to take and use wood from it. You may not be able to build on it without legal action against the adjacent land owners. Hence if you want to get any benefit from this lot the easy way is you buy a wood stove. If not you may have to prove that adjacent landowners created a public right of way by their prior actions.

Paul in PA

Hi and thanks for that follow up.?ÿ In the mid to late 60's there was a two story home on the lot that burned down.?ÿ Now only a foundation is left.?ÿ The property also has a restrictive overlay that forbids the destruction of trees on about 30% of the property because the land happens to be perched right over the Hudson River and is part of a natural preservation corridor along the river banks.

We had numerous wood lots in this area in the early days because there were so few trees in general and not much in the way of alternative fuels.?ÿ Many were one or two acres lots that were very narrow and quite long.?ÿ People from the nearby town would go to their specific wood lot to harvest the timber to haul to town and store for use when needed.?ÿ That was the only use for the tract, especially as most of the wood lots around here were in the flood plain.

My brother in law owns a pasture that was once 20 wood lots of 1 acre each.?ÿ There may be a half dozen trees left. Many elms were there before the disease took them decades ago.

@bulgin

So how was the home accessed back in the day?

@jimcox the home was accessed via the very road the town now says is too steep for rebuilding a homestead there.?ÿ They have changed their zoning to be more restrictive.?ÿ The grade of the road exceeds the limits set by the town.?ÿ They have been saying it would be difficult to get home insurance because emergency vehicles couldn't get up the road.?ÿ Even though I have driven the road on numerous occasions, passengers do get a bit scared as it is a steep slope on the passenger side going up the road.?ÿ That road is about 120 feet in length.?ÿ The top of the road opens into a broad wide flat area and I had the idea that maybe, if there was?ÿ a deed restriction that no vehicles could park on the broad flat area, then an emergency vehicle could be confident that they could drive up the driveway knowing that at the top they would level off into a wide open area with fine access to any homestead up there with lots of room to turn around.

Something else I noticed - when I read the deed description which isn't terribly difficult - some of the angles, bearings and distances just don't match up with the geography and boundary survey.?ÿ Of course, I'm not a surveyor (although I did work for one in high school and it was one of the best experiences in my life) and I can kinda understand the degrees and bearings and such, but it seems that the survey doesn't match the description in the deed.?ÿ I understand there have been many changes to surveyor equipment since the deed description I have from like 1959, but in one bearing description on the boundary is going north to south and the description has it the complete opposite.

If someone wants to take a look at it I'd be glad to send it privately.

any line can be described 2 ways it can run from north to south and also run from south to north. north 38 degrees west is the same as south 38 degrees east. Those are not incompatible descriptions of the same line.