Maintenance of easement in NJ?

Question

There is an easement between my home and neighbor's. Who is responsible of maintaining easement.
Is it local Township or Homeowners?
This is a grass median which is loaded with weeds and home of some of the pests: mole, chipmunks, etc.
Anyone has knowledge of laws of easement in NJ, please reply.

The survey of my property does not show that I or my neighbor own this property. Technically, this is the property of township. Township has been ignoring my correspondence for maintaining this land

Answer 1

This will be State/County/City specific.

In Oklahoma the owners/tennants are responsible for there half of the easement. That usually means mowing so that utility people can get back there. Utility company takes care of any trees in the easement.

Your city public works department is the best place to ask. Just call them and ask.

Answer 2

Easements are not just simple yes/no answers.

Easements can be formed many different ways, and can be written, or oral, implied, express, by necessity, by prescription, etc...

Also, who is responsible for maintaining it could be tricky.

Some basics. Easements grant one person some benefit over another person's land. Usually the person that gets this benefit also has to maintain the easement. The person that gave the easement usually doesn't have to maintain it or do anything with it. Their duty is to let you have your easement.

For example:
You live in plot A, which is right next to Plot B (your neighbor's land). He grants you an easement so that you can build a road 30 feet wide across one side of his land and get to your land.

It is up to you what you do with the easement, but all B cares about is that you ONLY do what he allowed you to do, build a 30 foot road across a specific part of his land. If you build a road, and let it fall appart, the neighbor doesn't have to fix it. He doens't have to build you a road.

You also can't exceed the scope of the easement. So for example, you can't go build a 4 lane 60 ft wide road when you are only allowed 30 feet.

Check to see if the easement is recorded in the title to either Your property or HIS property. Then, go ask a local attorney to help you interpret the duties and rights each of you has.

Answer 3

Ok. lets cover some first time homeowner basics. Unless you paid cash for the home, you took out a loan and you bought title insurance. If you have a recorded easement across your land, that information will be shown in the title report under the 'Exceptions". list. Read thru that and see if it references that easement or perhaps any other. (YOu should have actually been reading this before you signed the dotted line on the sale contract.. but remember that next time). 2) If there IS an easment shown, then the answer to the question will generally be found in the easement document that the exception item references. Typically this is a recorded document so you need to go to the county recorder (in the US) and request a copy. You MAY be able to call up the title company and ask for a copy but this is a courtesy on their part. THey do not have to give it to you (they may not even have it ). 3) Sometimes easements in subdivisions are shown on the subdivision map. A trip to your county recorder again. Your deed will contain the recording information for your subdivision.. typically a name or number and a book and page for the filing info. 4) Check your HOA documents.. they may reference the easement and may also tell you about responsibility. (Again.. you should always read those BEFORE you buy a home or condo). Those are the basics... Despite the trees/easement.. welcome home. .

Answer 4

It sounds like a large easement tract. I would visit the Township building in person. It isn't as easy to blow someone off like over the phone or ignore an email. Be persistent without aggression or threats. Go higher in the chain of command if necessary. It is always possible the tract easement is owned by a utility company, etc. which may be why the Township is not responsive (of course, they are rude for not telling you). New Jersey unfortunately has a national reputation as being corrupt and not giving a crap about its citizens. Good luck.

Answer 5

Whichever party is the owner of the property upon which the easement is granted is responsible for maintenance of the property.

An easement is nothing more than a legal agreement to allow another party to use a portion of someone else's land for a specific purpose, and for a specified period of time.

There should be a recorded document at your local land office describing the ownership and agreement.

Answer 6

THE BEST answe is to read your deed and your neighbors' deed[s]. There may be a covenant [promise] stating who is responsible for maintaining an easement or right of way.

SUGGESTED: Other than the cost of copies, there usually isn't any other charge for court house services. You should be able to get just about all the info you need by going to the Recorder of Deeds Office at your local county seat
ASK BEFORE DOING THIS: OR that same court house may have an online web site.

CAVEATS: Without knowing what you're doing or actually looking for, IF you go online, the Court House COULD be charging you each time you enter the Court House home page OR each time you press a specific key.

Here, in southeastern PA, there are two (2) court houses which do this. At one, its a flat yearly fee, which automatically appears on your monthly ISP bill.
At the other, EACH & EVERY TIME a person, doing a search, hits the "ENTER" key, KA-ching,
the Court House adds 50 cents to the monthly bill.

I even heard [but not experienced], there is at least one court house which charges a yearly fee for access to their online records - for the first time the site is accessed.

FINAL CAVEAT: Due to privacy and stalking laws and statutes, going online to do the research may not allow you to get the info you are seeking. You may STILL have to make an actual physical appearance to get owners' names & addresses, docket numbers, property tax id numbers, etc.

The folks at the court house may be able to help you with the first one or two requests, but they have other work to do for other citizens in your county. In all probability there are folks doing title work for real estate sales. These people are usually more helpful than the court house employees. Don't be afraid to ask questions of any one at any time.

Our family slogan: "Every Good Wish to You and Yours!" I wish you, your family and your friends the very best.

VTY,
Ron Berue