Can you refuse access to your land?

Factual Questions
1

Now that it’s too late: here’s our situation. We heard a year or more back that Verizon would eventually be coming to install cabling to our (very large) subdivision to allow it to get FIOS service.

A few days ago, with no other notice, the utility people came out to mark the location of underground power lines etc. I looked outside and my lawn had multicolor lines painted all over it. As did others in the neighborhood. I made some phone calls and ultimately found out that Verizon had scheduled the contractors to do this, and would be starting digging “some time” in the near future.

Work began today. Aside from concerns over damage to the underground sprinkler systems all the houses have (which the contractors claim they can work around but I don’t trust them), I’m annoyed at the lack of notice. It turns out, several neighbors did get door tags about 2 weeks ago, but many people missed this because we all come in through our garages. Even the work crew supervisor (this morning) was surprised - when his house was done, they had letters and phone calls also.

Since this is GQ and not MPSIMS or the pit: Could we have simply said “no, you can’t come onto our property”? The neighborhood association certainly has the authority to allow digging on common areas, but this digging happened on our own land. It’s not a government agency (who would presumably have some rights), or even a standard utility like the electric company who could claim the need to dig to service the house - instead, it’s a private company, doing this to provide a pricier service (FIOS) and increase their profits. So, how can the neighborhood association consent to this access?

Note: Had we had time to think about it we would certainly have consented, though I’d have wanted to see something IN WRITING stating that they were aware of underground systems and would avoid or repair those as needed.

Not to mention, I wonder if my cable modem will be receiving data tonight. “Accidents” do happen, after all - I seem to recall someone posting here that a similar “accident” happened when they had something installed from a competitor.

2

Most likely the utilities are in a “easement”, which means although it’s on your property, the municipality (or their contractor) has the right to access it at any time. If the lines are outside the easement, they are supposed to get permission, but trying to prevent them access is a battle you are sure to lose.

Easement: Easement - Wikipedia

3

This is old, old information, and from New York State. I don’t know where you are. Around 45 years ago my mother had a utility company insist on cutting down a massive black walnut tree on her property to get clearance for some power lines. She resisted to the point of hiring a lawyer and going to court, and the judge ruled that, while she had to be compensated for the loss, the utility had a right to cut down interfering trees, even if they were outside the public right of way, which extended some number of feet from the center of the road. It was close to a half mile from the house, so not that important, but she stood on principle.

4

Yep definitely an easement. It’s probably an “easement of access” which means that while you own the land, someone else owns a right to use the land for a particular purpose. The owner of that right (the telephone company) can even, in many circumstances, sell their right to someone else. Like the DSL company. Easements can be held by private parties (as in your case) or by the government. When developers plat a subdivision, they usually give/sell easements to all the local utilities. Those easements are written in the deeds, and more importantly, recorded with the title.

Easements pass with the land. When you bought the house, you probably signed something that said “I am aware that this property is subject to the following 27 easements…” Someone who owns an easements doesn’t have to give you notice that he’s exercising his rights under it (unless that is specified in the original contract).

Any easements should be recorded with the title. You can go down to the courthouse and look up your title and see who actually owns any easements on your property. If Verizon isn’t one of those owners, you might be able to keep them off. Alternately, if your subdivision is really old and the title says something like “O grants to X an easement of access for the purpose of installing/maintaining telegraph wires, but for no other purpose…” then you MIGHT be able to keep them off. In many jurisdictions however, courts have found such language should be construed to grant the easement to purveyors of more modern amenities as well.

(IANAL, etc.)

5

And for what it’s worth, when they did it in my Dallas area neighborhood, they did a very good job of not damaging anything - plenty of people have underground sprinklers.

They had to dig up part of our yard to put in an underground access box, but they resodded it.

6

[QUOTE=beowulff]
Most likely the utilities are in a “easement”, which means although it’s on your property, the municipality (or their contractor) has the right to access it at any time. If the lines are outside the easement, they are supposed to get permission, but trying to prevent them access is a battle you are sure to lose.

Easement: Easement - Wikipedia
[/QUOTE]

An easement does not magically appear out of thin air in a cloud of pixie dust; it’s a legal deed-like contract applying to real estate, negotiated by landowner or his agent and the other party wanting the easement, which grants access to and use of a portion of landowner’s land, defined specifically in the easement deed, for specific purposes, and stating rights of each party. (E.g., you may give Confusticated Edison the right to bury a gas main within a strip of land ten feet wide starting at your street line, to dig it up on due notice to you or a bona fide emergency, to enter on your property for purposes of maintenance of their line, etc., and you in turn agree not to place any outbuilding, tree, or large shrub within their easement (because it would block part of their access).

An easement can be to anyone for any purpose. E.g., our landlady owns an easement in our behalf for she or us or her handymen to make use of the neighbors’ “road” for vehicular access to our property – a wide driveway serving his own home and three rental properties of his, as well as us. We are not to block the driveway; they may block it only for limited periods of time, to facilitate moving heavy equipment, and will give us access on reasonable request at those times.

Though there is such a thing as a constructive easement, i.e., an easement that is not spelled out in deed, it normally occurs only when, e.g., Farmer Brown has used your dirt road adjacent to your hayfield for 30 years to access his landlocked field behind your property, and you and any predecessor owners have never voiced objections (somebody sometime having given verbal concsent), or the water line supplying the houses on the street in back of you runs down the edge of your property, has done so for decades, and the city attorney never thought to make out an easement deed and get whoever used to own your property to agree to it. A utility normally cannot assert a right to run across your land without your prior consent.

In most jurisdictions, you may not deny a public utility (water, sewer, electric, gas, telephone) an easement, though you may require them to move their proposed easement to a place more preferable to you. If you deny them any reasonable easement needed for their work, many jurisdictions give them the right of eminent domain, to take the easement they need – even if they are a private-sector company, the value to the community of the service they provide is held to outweigh your property rights to the minimum extent necessary to enable them to provide that service.

Where this gets tricky is what rights your state gives cable companies – are they public utilities and what privileges do they have as such if they are – and your HOA. HOAs do not have governmental power; what rights they have as against your property comes from the covenant creating them that you agreed to when buying the property. Consult your deed. (If you are buying under deed of trust as opposed to mortgage, this is where the trustee who holds your deed comes in handy on your side of the deal – he’s either a lawyer or a bank official with a firm grounding in real estate law, and can give you valuable advice – and should; it affects the value of the property whose title he holds in trust.)

It is possible that your HOA has the right to act as your agent and grant them the easements they ask for. in your behalf. Given what has happened in your neighborhood, though, I’d be joining my neighbors with torches and pitchforks to “discuss” the matter with the HOA officers and any paid staff, if that turns out to be the case.

Also, some utility company employees have no respect for private property, and will do what they choose, for their own convenience, without consultation with the property owner. If that turns out to be the case, you need to weigh the inconvenience to you, now and in the future, against the need for the cabling, your neighbors’ opinions, etc., and decide whether it’s worth making a fuss about. (Also consider that a minimal fuss – e.g., move the line that cuts through my rose bushes, and I won’t make a stink about the rest – will usually elicit cooperation from the suit who does know property law and who’s been assigned to placate the people the installing crew ticked off.)

IANAL, and this ain’t legal advice. It comes from memory of researching easement law in two states a few years back, when I was still working. Consider it as probably right, subject to any corrections from actual lawyers, people who work with easements, etc. If you feel you need to take legal action, be sure to get a good real property lawyer in your local jurisdiction.

7

Probably only tangentially related, but, the question made me think about a mineral rights story I heard on NPR a few weeks back.

I don’t actually own any property, but I’ll probably buy some when I win the lottery. How do I go about making sure that whatever real estate I buy, I’m also buying the mineral rights?

8

[QUOTE=kaylasdad99]
Probably only tangentially related, but, the question made me think about a mineral rights story I heard on NPR a few weeks back.

I don’t actually own any property, but I’ll probably buy some when I win the lottery. How do I go about making sure that whatever real estate I buy, I’m also buying the mineral rights?
[/QUOTE]

As with all such transactions, research the deed at the county recorder’s office. All such easments, sales of mineral rights, etc. will be recorded.

9

[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq]
As with all such transactions, research the deed at the county recorder’s office. All such easments, sales of mineral rights, etc. will be recorded.
[/QUOTE]

Let me say this: It’s not always easy to do.
I bought 80 acres of unimproved land in the mountains of Arizona. I didn’t purchase the mineral rights, but thought I might want to in the future (just to keep people off the land). The county seat is nearby, so I stopped into the office, and started to do the research. I gave up after an hour or so of getting nowhere - the rights originally had belonged to one of the railroads, but then they were subdivided so many times, it became impossible for me to track them all down. If I ever want to do it for real, I’ll have to hire an expert…

10

Thanks for all the thoughtful responses, folks!

I don’t think we ever specifically signed anything (when purchasing the house) granting an easement, though perhaps the former owners did, or perhaps it’s spelled out in the homeowners’ association documents (which we of course received when we bought the house).

Dunno why I didn’t think of an easement - our last HOA (in North Carolina) had to deal with that for the water company running some pipes along one edge of the community property, and I was one of the people who had to sign the paperwork on behalf of the association.

Like I said, I didn’t have any particular problem with having the work done and would not have attempted to prevent it happening; I might even take advantage of the service at some point (assuming they didn’t mess up the sprinkler system; I guess we’ll test that out tomorrow if the work is done).

I do feel sorry for one neighbor down the street; she said they installed a new “box” of some sort near her house. Probably similar to the one we already have in front of ours, which I think is telephone-related. It was in place when we bought, and frankly I never even notice it.

11

Oh yeah - looks like no “accidents” occured with the cable lines - our internet connection was working and the cable TV was working as well as it ever does.

12

Utility easements are usually established in the original plat for the subdivision. You don’t typically sign a document granting a specific easement to utilities–they run with the land. If you look at your title abstract or title insurance policy from when you bought the property you will probably see a few easements mentioned.

The idea is that they don’t want future owners to be able to block utitilities from maintaining their equipment or installing new lines. Usually this works fine. One of my bosses actually managed to screw himself, though. He bought a big lot in an old area, where easements are a bit weirder. He split it and sold half of the lot to another person. The split left the easement inaccessible except through the new property, but the new property wasn’t subject to the easement. When the boss wanted cable, the owner of the new property refused to permit access. :eek:

13

We had a similar experience with Verizon FiOS a couple of years ago. They “invaded” our neighborhood with no notice. Our HA president made a few phone calls. We found out that there was indeed some sort of easement that allowed Verizon to do this as a public utility even though it is clearly a competitive enterprise. In any practical sense we had no real recourse. (We also found out that they were supposed to have notified us but failed to.)

They did excellent work and when they were done there was hardly a trace of the work, with the exception of some isolated cases of damage. At one house they damaged the driveway. They later replaced the entire driveway. They also damaged my sprinkler system and it was quickly repaired. I think it’s very difficult to figure out where all the lines are for a sprinkler system; Miss Utility does not mark that.

Now that you will have FiOS in your neighborhood, you will find that Verizon is very aggressive about marketing it. Be prepared for door-to-door solicitors, and constant junk mail.

14

[QUOTE=CookingWithGas]
We had a similar experience with Verizon FiOS a couple of years ago. They “invaded” our neighborhood with no notice. Our HA president made a few phone calls. We found out that there was indeed some sort of easement that allowed Verizon to do this as a public utility even though it is clearly a competitive enterprise. In any practical sense we had no real recourse. (We also found out that they were supposed to have notified us but failed to.)

They did excellent work and when they were done there was hardly a trace of the work, with the exception of some isolated cases of damage. At one house they damaged the driveway. They later replaced the entire driveway. They also damaged my sprinkler system and it was quickly repaired. I think it’s very difficult to figure out where all the lines are for a sprinkler system; Miss Utility does not mark that.

Now that you will have FiOS in your neighborhood, you will find that Verizon is very aggressive about marketing it. Be prepared for door-to-door solicitors, and constant junk mail.
[/QUOTE]

And you’re in our general area (northern VA) so you’d definitely know how they operate!!

I’m expecting an increase in marketing from them. Heck, Cox Cable (our only high-speed alternative until now; our neighborhood is “too new” for DSL) is pretty aggressive and we’re already customers! They want us to upgrade to digital. Which would probably be nice but we don’t have time to watch the TV channels we have now!

15

[QUOTE=Mama Zappa]
And you’re in our general area (northern VA)…
[/QUOTE]
Tysons to be exact. Well, we have a Vienna mailing address because there is no Tysons Corner zip code yet, but I imagine that’s just a matter of time.

16

My wife and I ran into a similar problem to this when we misread the survey on the house we bought last year. It turns out that about half of the lawn on our corner lot isn’t just an easement, it’s actually not our property. The title simply says “such and such listing in the city plat book” which in turn states rather plainly that the city actually owns outright about half of what we thought was our yard. That didn’t stop the previous owners from building a carport on it though.