Utility easements can be discovered on any area where the owner or previous owner has given permission for utility lines to traverse the property. The places in and along streets and roadways where utility poles, telephone/cable boxes, water meters, and other items are put are known as rights-of-way.
In Texas, what is a utility easement?
Utility easements run the length of every residential property in MUD 208, whether on the back, sides, or both.
An easement is a legal agreement that gives you permission to utilize someone else’s property for a certain purpose. A utility easement gives utilities like power, gas, water, sewer, drainage, telephone, and cable the right to utilize a property owner’s land for certain purposes like building, repairing, maintaining, operating, and managing utility systems.
The land on which the easement is located is owned by the property owner. Utility firms, on the other hand, have the right of way to enter that area in order to acquire access to the easement for certain utility reasons. To gain access to the easement, these companies have the authority to enter your private property.
When a platted development is approved by the city or county, utility easements are usually created by plat. A separate agreement between the property owner and the utility can also be used to construct utility easements. When land is subdivided, easements are usually found along streets, lot lines, or between two lots.
Easements are normally registered in the county where the land is located’s real property records. The title company managing your property transaction should have discovered the presence of a documented easement. If you discover utility wires or equipment on your property, you may assume there is an easement over a portion of it.
A utility easement restricts your ability to use the portion of your land that is within the easement in a variety of ways. For example, you are prohibited from erecting structures in the easement that might obstruct access to the easement’s utility facilities. Storage buildings, pools, patios, decks, spas, or other permanent constructions that are located in the easement block unrestricted access and must be removed. Vegetation, particularly trees, can obstruct access or cause harm to services lying beneath it, hence they should be avoided on easements.
*While working in the easement area, utility companies are under no responsibility to replace or repair structures or vegetation damaged/trees. Indeed, if a utility incurs higher costs as a result of the structure or vegetation/trees in the easement, the owner could be held accountable. In addition, if access to the easement is restricted or hindered, the property owner may be held financially accountable for building delays.
Is it possible to erect a fence around an easement?
Despite the fact that many property owners feel they cannot construct on a property or utility easement, it is possible in some circumstances. Keep in mind that a utility easement is only intended to allow a utility to utilize and access a specific area in order to build gas, sewage, or water lines. Property easements have a considerably greater scope and are usually in the public interest.
An easement on a property can be used for a variety of purposes. An entity that acquires a large easement can utilize the land for burial, as a right of way, for fishing, and for the right to pasture. Many easements have walkways for the public to utilize in order to stay off the road. If you intend to construct on an easement, you should be aware that doing so may cause problems in the future.
While a fence can be built on an easement, keep in mind that the utility provider may need to remove it in order to use the easement. They will, however, usually repair the fence as best they can once their work is over. Pools and hot tubs can also be built on easements. If you have an above-ground pool, you can take it out when the easement is needed. Installing an in-ground pool into the easement, on the other hand, may be a better option for you because these pools cannot be readily removed. While trees and other major types of plants should never be put over an easement, grass and shrubs can be planted all around it.
What is a California public utility easement?
Any privately held land in which the City owns an easement for public utility purposes and uses, regardless of whether any “public utility,” as defined in California Public Utilities Code section 216(a), has an easement for identical public utility purposes and uses.
What is a utility easement, and how does it work?
An easement interest in real property is granted for the construction, reconstruction, and maintenance of utility facilities in this short form agreement. The easement is designed to run with the land and is based on a voluntary agreement between a landowner and a utility or government utility agency.
What do you call a utility easement if you don’t know what it’s called?
PUEs can be found in almost every property. The term PUE refers to a public utility easement. A PUE, like other easements, gives the easement owner specific rights. If you own your house, a PUE could explain why you awoke to discover an electrician on a utility pole in your backyard without first asking your permission (the power company would usually contact you before sending someone to invade your backyard but they are not legally required to).
PUEs and their scope are familiar territory for our real estate attorneys.
In Texas, can a property owner obstruct an easement?
The majority of the time, a property owner cannot obstruct an easement that was already included in the deed. If the property owner tries to challenge the easement’s bounds, it’s a good idea to hire a reputable local company in Guadalupe County, TX to do a property survey.
In Texas, who is responsible for maintaining an easement?
Question: I have real estate in Texas.
I previously offered my neighbor a roadway easement so that he could reach his land from the west.
Who is responsible for keeping the easement in good repair, including mowing the grass and trimming the trees near the road?
If the easement is written, the first step in answering this question is to look at the provisions of the easement itself.
If the easement agreement contains any contractual conditions stating who is accountable for maintenance or specifying what each party must do in terms of maintenance, those terms will apply.
If the easement does not contain any maintenance wording (or is not written at all), the dominant estate owner (the person who was awarded the easement) is obligated to keep it “at no expense to the servient estate owner, sufficiently maintain” the easement (the easement grantor).
The owner of the dominant estate has an obligation to maintain the easement, and the owner of the servient estate has no right to interfere with the dominant estate unless there is an express agreement to the contrary.
886 S.W.2d 363, 367 (Tex. Ct. App. Houston 1994); Roberts v. Freindswood Dev. Co., 886 S.W.2d 363, 367 (Tex. Ct. App. Houston 1994).
“In Barnett v. Harvard, 2014 WL 2611153 (Tex. Ct. App. Beaumont 2014), the owner of the dominant estate must make reasonable use of the right and not unnecessarily interfere with the property rights of the owner of the servient estate.”
As a result, the owner of the servient estate has no need to maintain the easement and is not compelled to share in the costs of doing so.
West v. Giesen, 242 S.W. 312, 320-21; West v. Giesen, 242 S.W. 312, 320-21; West v. Giesen (Tex. Civ. App. 1922).
According to the Barnett court, the person who held a roadway easement was responsible for maintaining and repairing the road as well as preventing flooding.
The takeaway message from this blog should be that whenever an easement is established, stipulations pertaining to easement repair and maintenance should be included.
Despite the fact that the easement holder has a legal obligation to maintain the easement, parties frequently argue over what constitutes acceptable maintenance.
The easement agreement, for example, should clarify exactly what maintenance operations each party is responsible for.
Repairing ruts on a road, cutting trees or bushes, or re-seeding the grass after a pipeline is placed are all examples of this.
Instead of depending on the vague, “In order to avoid a future conflict, the agreement should be very clear about what each side is expected to do.
Is it possible to install a deck over an easement?
In most cases, no, because you can construct under or over it if the work would not interfere with the easement in any way. Unless your proposed work creates “substantial” or “material” interference, the owner of the land benefited by the easement cannot launch an action against you.