Who is responsible for repairing a pipe under a private street in which creek water is funneled?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Who is responsible for repairing a pipe under a private street in which creek water is funneled?
The pipe partially collapsed and needs repair. The pipe is located via an easement under the property of a homeowner on a private street. This homeowner is a member of 2 homeowners associations: (1) the private street association, and (2) the larger homeowner association. Is the county, the developer, or either homeowner association responsible for all or part or is the repair the responsibility of the private homeowner that has the easement? The creek serves as drainage for the larger association as well.
Asked on September 14, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Ohio
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
The best way to answer your question is to ascertain what type of easement is at issue and for whose property the easement benefits and whose property the easement burdens by specifically reading the terms of the easement at issue. I suggest the language of the specific easement at issue be read carefully in that it might contain language as to whose responsibility it is for the repair of the collapsed pipe assuming it is mentioned as part of the easement.
Typically a person who owns an easement over one's property has the obligation and duty to maintain it at his or her own expense and not at the expense of the owner of the property that is burdened by the easement.
If the drainage pipe is not part of the easement at issue, then it would appear that the repair of the damaged pipe would lie upon the owner of the land where the pipe lies.
Good question.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.