I have an easement across my property for neighbours utility lines, and I need advice!?

Question

The easement states they have the right to 'inspect, maintain, remove, renew, repair and replace and substitute the same or any part thereof.' The neighbours want to upgrade their electricity and although we were in negotiations with them have sent an email from their lawyer stating that they have alternative ideas which will cost US 1000's us Dollars and if we don't pick one of the options they will arrive next week and commence digging up our yard. We are not trying to be awkward and as far as we were concerned we were negotiating with our neighbour and this has come out of the blue. Also they moved in over a year ago and they still haven't signed off on a road easement we spent $20,000 building for their property so we didn't have them driving infront of our house. We have spoken to their lawyer but he was rude and abusive and wouldn't listen to the fact I wanted to get OUR easement issue resolved before furthering decisions on theirs. Can we stop them digging up our yard ?

Answer 1

if you have already spent thousands on a new road and want them to sign off better get a lawyer to respond to theirs that way you can get both issues resolved at this point their lawyer could care less about your easement need to get a lawyer

Answer 2

I am not sure what state you reside in, but almost all states have similar laws. As a Realtor in the state of Arizona and also a builder, these issues can be very tricky, indepth, and require a lot of legalities that need to be checked into.

All I can suggest is to take a look at the info one of my employees brought to my attention and we offer it to all our Real Estate Clients so they can have help in any Legal Matter they may have in the future.
http://www.dontgowithoutit.com

Answer 3

You can't stop them from access to utilities that cross your land, but I don't see HOW they can force YOU to pay for THEIR utilities.