Hi everyone,
I recently discovered that there is a gas transmission crossing on my property. When I bought the property there was no mention of it to me. I also assume that with the transfer of ownership of the land that the ROW lease would automatically transfer with the land. Is this correct?
Please advise what I should do and what I need to consider?
I hope you checked your purchase paperwork closely, because a closing can be quite hectic and people get impatient if you insist on reading absolutely everything like I did. They could easily pass a disclosure statement by you to be signed if you aren't careful. That said....
That should have been disclosed before the sale. I would guess that you could sue the seller. I would get on top of this because you probably have no idea of what the easement entials, whether it is exclusive rights to cross the property, they may be able to add as many lines as they desire in the future or add surface appurtenances. I think it would have had a direct effect if known on the market value of the property. I think this is very serious and if they used a real estate agent that they could be in trouble also. I don't know how long ago this was but I wouldn't delay as it could be a time sensitive issue. Good luck.
I'm like you, R. W. That last time I bought property the Title Company Representative got so frustrated with my insisting on actually READING my closing documents that she just left the stack of paperwork on the table and let my realtor wait for me to inspect and sign each piece of paper. It took about two hours. Well, my Lender had not sent me the documents until the day of closing, and who knows what they sent to the Title Company for me to actually sign, so I had to verify everything very closely. I actually read the Deed and Deed of Trust word for word, I was on the lookout for a couple of clauses that I wanted to make sure were not in there. They weren't. It was MY money that was driving the whole deal, so I couldn't have cared less if that Representative got impatient with me, it wasn't her butt in the sling. I would have stayed there all day if necessary to get comfortable signing.
Regarding this posting, yes, generally speaking the ROW easement (not lease) goes with the surface ownership automatically. And yes, the existence of the transmission line should have been revealed at some point before closing. That's a pretty significant thing not to disclose. And it's also the kind of thing that you are not likely to have forgotten being verbalized to you by somebody else, so I'm guessing that, like you surmised, they just threw some piece of paper in front of him and made some generic comment like "Oh, this covers any easements on the land, blah, blah, blah," so that they technically could claim that they "informed" him, and he just signed it. Definitely double-check all the paperwork.
Pete, I took about 3 hours and the sellers representative got so frustrated they left, with the key to my new house. They also wanted to sever the minerals at the last moment and I told them to keep it all because I was really paying too much for it to begin with. It had sentimental value because it had once belonged to my grandmother, but I didn't feel I had to have it at any price. The sellers agent was unhappy having to make another 80 mile round trip to bring me the key but hey, they were the idiot that didn't leave it with someone. I think it was their idea to try to sever the minerals at the last moment also, figuring I had gone that far I wouldn't just tell them to keep it. Wrong.
Hello, I am the owner of the surface, mineral rights, easements and tenements according to my paperwork. Rather disappointing to find out that there is a pipeline on my property and it wasn't disclosed. The previous owner of the property seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. Be that as it may its not the end of the world and it will serve as a source of income for the property.
I have found out the name of the operator, all the permit numbers etc. that belong to this pipeline. Turns out there are 60 rods on my property which will provide a nice little income for little effort.
I thought I would contact the operator and introduce myself as the new land owner and afford them an opportunity to remedy this situation without the hassle of getting into a long protracted legal battle. They like me are probably unaware of the change of ownership and would probably interested to know that they have been paying the incorrect person for some time now.
Any further advice will be much appreciated. Thanks!
Alistair, first of all, if the easement was already paid for, the owner of the line is not going to pay again. When you bought the property, you would have been buying it subject to the easement. You may have rights to grant future easements, or possibly not too.
If the previous owner granted exclusive right to cross the property, before you bought it, subject to a prior exclusive easement, you don't have rights to grant easements but only receive surface damages, "if" the company that has exclusive rights will allow them to cross.
You may not have any rentals coming at all, the operator could have paid up front. It might take a lawsuit to just get to see the contract. If I were you and they truly did not disclose the line, I would work it from that end, because the operator has likely done nothing wrong, that you could prove anyway. If they did do something wrong they could probably stonewall you for 20 years or so, even if you have the money to put a couple of your lawyers kids through lawschool. If you go after anyone, go after the seller. That's the best advice I have.
Hi RW, you made some valid points. I guess the way forward is to firstly get my hands on a copy of the easement and see what I'm dealing with and take it from there. Thanks for your input, will keep you posted on the progress.
Alistair, I hope they didn't just record a memorandum instead of the full easement, I think they could do that. It might make it hard to get a full copy of the contract, with you being a third party. Please do keep us updated.
Sorry if already mentioned above, but you should pull your title policy to see if the easement is listed as an exception. If not, you might be able to make a claim on the policy.
It is probably covered by the generic, cover all bases phrasing of "any and all easements over and across said lands, whether described herein or not" they add to the end of Deeds these days.
You guys seem to have Alistair's situation pretty much covered, but one possibility came to mind: The terms of the easement may allow for the Grantor to receive monies based upon the amount of gas being transferred across his land.
Probably not, as it is very rarely done these days, but I've seen it happen. If by chance that is the case, then Alistair would definitely need to contact the pipeline company.
Charles
You purchased with the pipeline in place. The former owners received the surface damages. If there is a rupture and contamination, you can sue for damages. Your surface title should have acknowledged the easement. Tom
Hello everyone,
Some interesting developments-there is no registered easement for the pipeline crossing my land. All the county and town records show the property as being clear of any easements and leases. I found it hard to believe but that is the way it is.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Alistair, I would caution first that just because you can't find it and the wonderful employees at the county and town can't find it, is not absolute proof that the easement does not exist. Just a thought, can you find an easement for crossing your neighbors properties? If you can't, it's probably time to lawyer up and quiz the presumed owner of the pipe.