Easement for garage was omitted from neighbor's listing
We have owned our house in Oakland for about 20 years and before that rented it for 5. When we rented it it came with the garage which is behind a front property. The front property was sold without the garage 2x. Current owners of the front property are going to sell shortly and we found out the garage is listed within the property line of the front property. We discovered this years ago and the front property owners know about it but never "claimed the garage" . We are concerned that it might come up when they sell and need to know our options to keep the garage and land it is on as ours.
Any advice and real estate attorney recommendations?
Aug 15, 2021
Parent Replies
I have used Thomas Eastridge. He used to be in Oakland, I think he's moved to El Cerrito. I found him knowledgable and down to earth.
510-682-7111. info [at] eastridgelaw.com.
I don’t have a real estate agent recommendation but when it comes to boundary disputes, what you need is to get a land survey done. These surveys are not cheap and it can take a while to get someone out to do the work. So get a surveyor ASAP.
Seems like you just need to look on the county assessors map to figure it out, or hire a surveryor to map it out - an attorney isn't really necessary at this point. Good luck!
You may have what is known as a "prescriptive easement" over the garage, which an attorney can help you evaluate. If the front property owners are cooperative, there are also several ways of setting up a written agreement giving you the right to continue to use the garage even after they sell. But you do need professional legal advice based on your particular situation.