'Right of access' Law, someone is denying me access to my land. Please read...?

Hello, the land I'm referring to has been held by the family for over 80 years. The property consists of two fields, the upper field where the house is and the lower field. At the upper field, right at the top, there is right of access directly onto a road - No problem...

At the bottom field, right at the bottom, there is another right of access to another main road. However, there is private land between my bottom field and the main road, here there is a very short private road to get to the main road. (20 sec walk along the private road!)

After the family bought the land, 50 years later, two houses were built on the private land (but a road still exists between them which leads up to my field).

The deeds state clearly that we have right of access to the main road at the bottom of the field, however, one of the home owners says that we don't have right of access because the short road in-between our property and the main road is private.

He said our deeds are incorrect.

?????????
Additional Details
Our deeds say we have right of access from the bottom field to the bottom main road. How can our deeds be incorrect? Our deeds are over 80 years old! Surely, they cannot ignore our deeds...

Anyway, the bottom field has been fallow for a long time, this summer am having a large restoration project going on (nearly finished), in which it will be totally restored. I'm personally going to use it with a friend as a small vegetable/fruit farm.

rowlfe

Why do you believe him? On what authority does he say the deeds are incorrect? Contact a lawyer. Your first step is a surveyor to verify the property lines. Next, a title search to verify WHAT it says on the deeds. Any covenants will be listed, such as the right of access. The problem with two separated pieces is there is NO right of access across the private property between since each separate piece has direct access to a roadway, even if you DO have to go the long way round instead of the shortcut. Just because you own both pieces, that does NOT make it one property! Attorney, surveyor, title search. It is not worth it to anger your neighbors, over something as simple as a shortcut...

patticharron

The deed is not "incorrect." The neighbor is.

It sounds like you're going to have to get an attorney to settle it, if only to prove to the homeowner that he is in no position to declare your deeds "incorrect."

In the meantime, I'd go ahead and use the private road to get to the bottom field. If the homeowner raises hell and/or calls the authorizes, all you have to do is whip out a copy of the deed.

If the road is gated or blocked in some way, then you call the authorities, show them the deed and insist that access be allowed.

Bomber1961

get a solicitor to check the deeds

Mr. Tights

he claims the deeds incorrect????
I would take it to court cause his sh** won't fly there

Windy

I've gone through before! Your deed is right. Get a copy of it and highlight the areas where it pertains to the roads you are allowed to use. You can also get a copy of the deeds to these other folk's property. Go to google and type in your county,deeds, and search. You should be able to pull them up online. Copy his deed where it says your right of way. Highlight that. Send him the copies. Tell him that if he refuses to let you access your property, you will sue him. You may even want to contact a lawyer to write him a nice little letter. It's going to be a pain. Your other option is if he blocks you from using your road, call the police and show them a copy of the deed. They may be able to explain it to him. The guy probably figures he can bully you and take control of the situation. Best of Luck to you!!!

waldo_mcginty

You can only way to really resolve this is by reading your deeds and those of the other party.

If as you say the deeds clearly grant a right of way over the private land that should be enough.I assume that the right of way described in the deeds corresponds with the physical layout of the private road and that his leads to the main road. The home owner may be right in saying that his land is â€˜privateâ€™ but that does not mean it is not subject to rights of way from adjoining land.The only way he can be correct is if his deed are innaccurate in failing to mention your right of way.You may ultimately require a Solicitor but initially I would contact the Land Registry to see if they can suggest a resolution short of protracted solicitors letters or even worse litigation.

Barry C

Clearly a negotiating ploy wrt the change in status of your lower field.

Recognizing that gives you a good start in any negotiations, you may still need an attorney though as others have ably pointed out.

SUE G online

if it is on your deeds, then you have right to access, you can go to a solicitor to validate it and he will also write to the people concerned telling them that, good luck

Apple pie

Talk to them carefully pointing out that the deed is correct and that its over 80 years old.

tambaer79

I think you will need to contact an attorney to settle this, but on the surface, I would say you still have the access. If your has been using this road for 50 years, the access isn't lost just because new owners moved in. The access was part of the purchase.
Good Luck

STS1SS

This is simple.

You say the deed agrees with you, he says otherwise.

One of you is right, and one of you is wrong.

Do not assume anything, spend a few bucks and see a real estate attorney to simply review the situation for you.

Good luck.

Another thought here. If I understand this right, he is not disputing the deed, but rather a private drive constructed sometime after the properly deeded sale of your property somehow supercedes the deed?

In that case still see a lawyer, but he is wrong. If you have a properly executed deed, you win.

Understand the term "properly executed deed" is important. For example if I wrote on a piece of paper today that i deed you access, the tomorrow I write that I deed all useage rights to another person and they register that first, they trump you.

See that lawyer.

Jim

Get a lawyer and get one now, to waist time, every second counts, every state is diffrent on laws of property.

Gerry Atrix

Another newcomer eh, flexing his muscles.
Take the S o B to court through a solicitor.

We had the same here.
Opposite a fair park where fairs where regularly held. houses were built.
Some jumped up newcomer bought one then tried to get the fairs banned.

ran-dumb

This has to go in litigation.It is going to be extremely time consuming and costly.
good luck.

Knownow't

You need to see a solicitor and see what he says....if you have the old deeds to hand and it shows the land is yours then he is incorrect...however when the conveyancing was done when he bought the house his solicitor should have said it the right of was there.

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