Power company has no easement?
I bought miles house last winter. it used to be 2 acres but the previous owner subdivided .40 acres back in 2006 for his daughter to keep her trailer on. She and her trailer are no longer there but she owns the vacant .4 acres. Anway there are 3 power poles running across the flat parts of my property where want to build a garage. They is no easement or right of way in the deeds. Can i remove the poles??? The power company says they have "blanket" right of way from owner back from 1954 and they can put anything on my property. I have checked the deed back to 1954 and only thing on there is some rights to coal . What can i do??
Update:no it doesn't supply anything the wires are cut. There is an easement for the pole going to my house. But the poles going to the trailer are running across my property and connect to a pole on the main road. Those trailer poles were put there in 2004. I checked the deed to the split ,4 acres and there is no right of way or easment on her deed.
Comments
Contact the title insurance company whom you purchased title insurance from when you purchased the property. They can investigate the situation and give you a legal answer and you have already paid the legal fees with your title policy.
However, my guess is that the utility company is right. If an easement was given before the parcel split/subdivision then any parcel split would be subject to any prior easement. Also easements are not not in the deeds, but are attached to the parcel.
Since there is no structure to where the poles go it is possible that the utility might give up their easement...if there is one.
You did not indicate if the poles support active lines or if, perhaps, they simply served the site of the old trailer.
Be aware that, if the poles have been there for some period of time (usually 5+years) then the owners of the poles may have acquired the right to keep them there since they were obviously placed under the pervue of previous owners.
BUT>. lets set these issues aside for the moment and deal just with your question...
You should pursue two avenues for starters.
1) Have the power company provide you Proof of their 'blanket right of way'. They should be able to give you a copy of the document. Once they do, read it to see what 'blanket right of way' means because I have never heard of that term. (30 years in this business).
2) Review the title insurance policy you purchased when you bought your home. Does it reference any utiity easement that would include the poles? If so get a copy of that document and read it to see what rights and obligations are conferred by it. If there is no such easement excluded, contact your title company and ask about it. You may have to file a claim for them to do the investigation, but they will act for you if your policy covers that land and they did not exclude a valid recorded easement.
Once you have the facts you will know how to proceed, but it sounds like, either way, you may want to get a lawyer into the mix.
YOu have several options. 1) File a claim with your title insurance company. After all you paid for the policy. They will investigate the issue and determine if they missed an easment (assuming your title insurance came up clear the first time). If there is one, then you will be entitled to recover the value of that encumbrance. 2) Who owns the poles (actually YOU may if they are on your property without permission). They can be private, but lets assume you have determined they were set there by the power company. Send the power company a letter demanding the removal of the poles from your property unless they can provide you proof of their authorization to be there. You can also offer to negotiate an easement but that may be premature and makes you look like you want money rather then want to assert your property rights. 3) Go the attorney route. But likely he or she will send you to step #1 first. 4) Lastly (or maybe first) are you sure they are ON your property. I have no map or image to guide me in my review of your question, so its a pretty obvious one and I assume you have researched and confirmed this. - right? ..