Side sewer is shared with a difficult neighbor. I'm willing to pay for a separate connection to keep him out of my hair but can't force him to do the same, so he'll still have an easement to the existing pipe which runs under several trees on my property. That pipe is concrete 80+ year old. He got a quote for trenching through my yard since it is way cheaper than a reline or burst. Any way to prevent him from destroying my yard because he's too cheap to go trenchless?

photograph your yard NOW in its pristene condition


he is legally required to restore it to the same condition after he excercises his easement rights


UNLESS you planted said trees upon HIS easement




ATTORNEY required NOW

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

I agree: now is time to separate the sewers. I can't imagine sharing the sewer with my next-door neighbor as we can't agree to simple things like fixing our common fence.

Trees are great and needed but not over sewers. Roots can really destroy drain and water pipe.

I personally don't have first hand experience with trenchless sewers.
But it seems to me it would be really hard to set grade under ground.

I properly sloped ditch with proper bedding and an experienced journeyman level plumber can install a new sewer main that should be good to go for many many years.

I have never heard of "your easement" or "his easement" in residential properties. Isn't that a utility easement which allows the utility companies whether it's electric, telephone, cable, water sewer to do whatever they please? For the most part they dictate how things run, it's your land but you are not allowed to build anything in that area except temporary structures which they can take down and not replace. Down here fences is a big thing if you put up a fence surrounding an easement area preventing utility access for repair they can knock the fence down with a bulldozer, no need to put it back, and they can fine you for obstructing their access and recover the cost of having to use a dozer.

absolutely correct


the owner may NOT ostruct the easement AGAINST the property in any manner


however


the owner of the easement MUST restore the area to like before (eg. restore the lawn)

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Easements at a Glance:

Creation of an Easement
Rights and Remedies Under an Easement
Transferability
Other Legal Issues to Consider
Termination of Easements
Easement Attorneys

An easement is a property right that gives its holder an interest in land that's owned by someone else. It's common for people to lack a clear understanding of easements and the numerous legal problems that can arise in their creation, interpretation, and implementation.

Luckily, you've come to the right place. This article will provide some basic information about easements including how easements are created and transferred. In this article, you can also find out about the rights and remedies provided by easements and the legal issues to consider when it comes to easements.

Easements at a Glance
An easement is a "nonpossessory" property interest that allows the holder of the easement to have a right of way or use property that they do not own or possess. An easement doesn't allow the easement holder to occupy the land or to exclude others from the land unless they interfere with the easement holder's use. In contrast, the property owner may continue to use the easement and may exclude everyone except the easement holder from the land.

Land affected or "burdened" by an easement is called a "servient estate," while the land or person benefited by the easement is known as the "dominant estate." If the easement benefits a particular piece of land, it's said to be "appurtenant" to the land. If the easement only benefits an individual personally, not as an owner of a particular piece of land, the easement is known as "in gross."

Most types of easements are affirmative, which means that they allow the use of another's land. Less common are negative easements, which usually involve preserving a person's access to light or view by limiting what can be done on a neighboring or nearby property.

Creation of an Easement
Easements are usually created by a transfer in a deed or some other written document such as a will or contract. Creating an easement requires the same formalities as the transferring or creating of other interests in land. It typically requires a written document, a signature, and proper delivery of the document.

In limited cases, a court will create an easement by implying its existence based on the circumstances. Two common easements created by implication are easements of necessity and easements implied from quasi-easements. Easements of necessity are typically implied to give access to a landlocked piece of property. Easements implied from quasi-easements are based on a landowner's prior use of part of his or her property for the benefit of another portion of his land.

Other methods of establishing easements include prescriptive use (the routine, adverse use of another's land), estoppel, custom, public trust, and condemnation.

Rights and Remedies Under an Easement
As a general rule, an easement holder has a right to do "whatever is reasonably convenient or necessary in order to enjoy fully the purposes for which the easement was granted," as long as they do not place an unreasonable burden on the servient land. On the other hand, the owner of the servient land may make any use of that land that does not unduly interfere with the easement holder's use of the easement. What constitutes an undue burden depends on the facts of each individual situation.

If a court determines that a servient estate is unduly burdened by unreasonable use of the easement, the owner has several potential legal remedies. These include court orders restricting the dominant owner to an appropriate enjoyment of the easement, monetary damages when the easement holder exceeds the scope of their rights and damages the servient estate, and in some cases termination of the easement.

Likewise, remedies exist for interference by the servient owner. Interference with an easement is a form of trespass, and courts frequently order the removal of an obstruction to an easement. If interference with an easement causes a reduction in the value of the dominant estate, courts may also award compensatory damages to the easement holder.

Transferability
In general, an easement appurtenant is transferred with the dominant property even if this is not mentioned in the transferring document. But the document transferring the dominant estate may expressly provide that the easement shall not pass with the land.

Because easements in gross are treated as a right of personal enjoyment for the original holder, they are generally not transferable. However, several states have enacted statutes designed to facilitate the transfer of easements in gross. The transfer of easements in gross for commercial uses such as telephones, pipelines, transmission lines, and railroads is often permitted.

Other Legal Issues to Consider
Courts generally assume easements are created to last forever unless otherwise indicated in the document creating the easement. Despite this, an individual granting an easement should avoid any potential problems by expressly providing that the easement is permanent.

Termination of Easements
Although permanent easements are the norm, they can be terminated in a number of ways. These are some of the ways easements can be terminated

Construction work ends. Easements of limited duration commonly used to provide temporary access to a dominant estate will be terminated upon the completion of construction work.
One owner buys the other out. An easement may be terminated when an individual owning the dominant estate purchases the servient estate, or when the holder of an easement releases his or her right in the easement (in writing) to the owner of the servient estate.
Abandonment of an easement can also extinguish the interest, but as a general rule just not using an easement doesn't constitute abandonment.
Under some circumstances, misuse or the sale of a servient estate may terminate an easement.
Finally, condemnation of an easement by a public authority, or condemnation of the servient estate for a purpose that conflicts with the easement, terminates an existing easement.
Let an Attorney Ease Your Easement Concerns
The prevalence of easements and their nonpossessory nature creates a unique set of considerations when creating, interpreting, and implementing an easement. It's essential to have a basic understanding of the way they're created, their scope and transferability, and how they're terminated. A real estate attorney with easement experience can help set you on the right path.

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

The trees over the area are from 1940. Big trees. I suppose I could get a quote to go trenchless on the shared portion and I pay the difference. But not sure Seattle will let me do it: "If a repair is required in the shared portion of the line, you must disconnect from the shared side sewer and construct a new separate connection to the public sewer. Repairs are permitted on the non-shared portion of the line."

So the city could force me to run a new line with a separate connection which I'm willing to do but I'd end up paying for my new line plus a new trenchless for him, and he'd still have an easement. My goal is to get this guy his own connection on his own property. But he won't dig his yard as it is also covered with trees.

How far is it from your property line to the actual city line under the street?

From your descriptions, his sewer and your sewer join together inside your property within the easement boundary, then run in a common pipe towards the street to connect to the city line.

If he moves his pipes out of your property, onto his property, within his easement, your and his pipe will still join further down, beyond yours and his property line, then that pipe runs under the sidewalk swale and street to connect to the city pipe. I doubt the city will shut down the street and make you a new connection.

Is your objection that his pipe is within your easement (your property) so that a future repair of his will require digging up your yard? or that your and his pipe shares a common pipe so if there is a clog no one knows who is responsible for clearing the blockage?

I would suggest bringing some cookies and lemonade to your neighbor and have a talk with him and let him know your concerns about tearing up your yard. That the crew he hires will be making a real big mess depending on the depth of that trench. For example, last year I replaced a section of sewer in my yard with that pipe buried 36" deep, the trench I dug was about 16" or so wide at the bottom, but over 30" wide at the top. The dirt I dug up piled next to the trench and it's a big pile all along and this big pile is wider than the trench itself. Then all the debris, roots, old pipe, tools, laying around. When it rained the pile of dirt get washed back partially into the trench so you have to dig it back out. If you have a crew of 4 people digging, some may dig and "fling" the dirt to his left some to his right so you end up with a totally messed up yard at least six feet wide after all is said and done. If your pipe is buried deeper than ours in Florida the width of destruction is wider. If they are thinking of bringing in tractors and dozers to help the trenching then it's going to get much worse. If your trees are within that path you are talking about possibly compromising the trees as well. All that needs to be taken into consideration. Make sure your neighbor knows you expect him to put things back in the same conditions.

no

after you run YOUR new loie the previously shared line becomes HIS as you will no longer be using it

he maintains the easement 'rights' AND shoulders ALL future repair costs since it is now exclusively his line

soooo ....... he will be forced to BOTH repair his line AND restore the property to 'like before the repair' SOLO

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

Yes but it's more than just "repair cost". The line is exclusively his neighbors now but it is on his property inside the easement because it ties into his line somewhere downstream. He is concerned about the yard getting torn up and the trees along the trench may be weakened from the trenching.

The tie-in point is on my property and the shared line runs straight down my yard under the trees to the street. About 90' total.

Sounds like if I get a new connection then he will need to pay for replacing the old line. Trenching through the existing route is impossible without cutting or killing the big trees. So I guess I could offer to let him route it through my yard away from the trees, or try to force him to pay for trenchless. Bursting would require a 6' hole at the tie-in to feed in the cable plus replacing a fence. If relining can handle bends then maybe they can do it all from his property. That would be the best possible solution.