The Washington Supreme Court answered an often asked question by clearly stating that alleys dedicated for public use cannot be adversely possessed. The case is Kiely v. Graves and concerns competing claims to a portion of an alley that had been vacated by the city of Port Townsend. William and Sally Chapin Kiely were neighbors [...]
Archive | Easements
RSS feed for this sectionAdverse possession v. Prescriptive easement
Boundary disputes arise in many ways. However, at their core, they all share a common characteristic: a legal boundary line is being ignored. Provided that the boundary line has been ignored for the requisite period of time (usually ten years), the user can acquire title to the other’s property. What they acquire might be “fee [...]
Easement Scope: What can an easement holder do?
A common issue that arises in easement cases concerns the scope of uses that an easement holder can make of an easement versus what uses the burdened property owner can make of their property. To answer that question, the first stop is the easement document itself. What does the easement say? The scope of an [...]
Title Insurance does not cover interests not acquired
In something of a no-brainer, Division II of the Court of Appeals upheld a summary judgment in favor of First American Title against breach of contract claims brought by an insured. The insured, Dennis Pavina, bought Lot 1 in a Vancouver area subdivision that had been created in 1988. As part of the process in [...]