Seeking advice on a landlocked property

[ianfaith]

I'm not an appraiser, and this is not strictly an appraisal question, but I thought there might be some smart folks here that could give me some advice or point me in the right direction.

I own a landlocked property in the state of Connecticut. It's a few acres, wooded and surrounded on three sides by one property, and on the fourth side by another. There is easy access to the property from an old forest road, and it's only about 200' from a main road. However, the other property owner won't grant a right-of-way. We're deadlocked in this situation. We can't sell (or even donate for the tax break) the property to anybody else until this issue is resolved. The other landowner is somewhat interested in buying the property, but since he thinks we have no other options he's not willing to give us anything close to market value.

My question is essentially this... Are there laws on the books that would allow us to get a right-of-way to this property?

Or is the only option to 1) continue paying taxes forever on a property that we cannot sell, donate, or set foot on legally? 2) Forfeit to the other landowner(s)).

Any sage advice will be much appreciated!

Ian

 

[Michigan CG]

How did you come to own the property?

How did the property become land locked?

In many (most?) areas it is illegal to create a land locked property without an easement.

 

[ianfaith]

The property was originally one parcel. The property was a gift from a relative (now deceased). His intent was that the 200' forest road would be used for access, but afterward he learned that there was not a right of way. This was back in the 1980s. He spent quite a bit of money on a lawyer at one time to attempt to resolve the situation, but was unable to. The taxes on the land have recently increased dramatically (about 6000%) so we can no longer ignore the situation. It's a real mess. All we want to do is realize SOME benefit from this land that we've been paying for all these years, even if it's just a tax break.

 

[Walter Kirk]

In most cases a court will enforce an access easement across a parcel which was subdivided to create the landlocked parcel. Contact a real estate attorney to check on your state's position on this.

How do you acces the parcel now? If you use the forest road how long have you used it? You may already have an easement to use the road.

 

[Stone]

This is a state by state thing. Laws differ.

What you explain, if I'm understanding correctly, would not really be a landlocked tract in WI. Here, one would at least have access by "way of necessity", however there could still be legal costs in establishing that.

I'm not familiar with your state's laws, and the best bet is to talk to a real estate lawyer familiar with your state laws.

 

[ianfaith]

When we've gone to walk the property, we've used the forest road. It's the only obvious way into the property. The road has been there for at least 50 years and probably much longer.

 

[William K]

The absolute best advice I can give is contact a Real Estate Attorney, Contact a Real Estate Attorney, Contact a Real Estate Attorney!

Just the basic comments you have already made raise more questions than possible answers by anyone on this forum. (land locked parcel, gift from a relative, right of way easements, potential adverse possession by use, old forest road- recorded or unrecorded, subdivided parcel, was looked into by the relatives lawyer)

 

[ianfaith]

Thanks very much for your speedy advice. We've got a call in to an attorney right now. I really appreciate everybody's responses.

Ian

 

[Mike Boyd]

How did you come to own the property?

How did the property become land locked?

In many (most?) areas it is illegal to create a land locked property without an easement.

Tim is correct. However, every state has their own laws regarding real estate. There is a possibility you could sue for adverse possession......but you need to talk with an attorney.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

I have seen parcels landlocked by the stupidity of governments. Our county closed a road that they didn't want to maintain without realizing it closed access to 2 properties. One has had an enormous fight with the adjacent owner who took the oppotunity to doze up a large pile of dirt onto the site and the other owner was forced to reroute his driveway and now has to drive over 1½ miles extra to get across a railroad track that paralells the road thus taken.