Can someone put a gate on an ingress/egress easement?
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Can someone put a gate on an ingress/egress easement?
I live off a private road. There is a neighbor who installed a gate at the point of entry from the main road to the private road and is insisting we both keep the gate closed. I have an ingress/egress easement written into my deed that spans a portion of where he put the gate. He has an
ingress/egress easement granted to him by another land owner that spans 20′ to the North of ours. However, that easement has not actually been cleared it is lined with trees and he’s planning to clear it so he can have his own road back to his house. I do not believe I have any responsibility to keep that gate closed. Further I don’t believe he had the right to build it in the first place.
Asked on September 19, 2017 under Real Estate Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
Who owns the property? The owner may place a gate and require that it be kept closed so long as you have the ability to access it (e.g. a key if necessary)--after all, while you have a limited right of ingress/egress, it is the owner's property, for him/her to otherwise do with as he/she pleases, and so long as he/she does not violate the easement, he/she can put up the gate. So if this neighbor owns the land where the gate is situated, he or she can do this; otherwise, he does not, since only a property owner can install a gate.
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