# Easement Question



## JapanAmerica

We just agreed with the seller on an offer for a house in France. It seems that a part of the land used for the driveway is owned by someone else and, presumably, the seller of our house has an easement (or similar right). (The agent we are working with describes this as "an open ended contract to have the exclusive usage rights".) When I look at the cadastre online, I can see the two parcels, but I am wondering whether I can find information about the easement online. I am not in France right now, so dealing with this remotely for the moment. I am also pressing the agent (and notaire) for a clearer explanation but trying to do my own research as well. (Lawyer, can't help myself.)


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## Crabtree

Anything that relies on access being granted by another party without it being a hard and fast written agreement is asking for trouble frankly.What is "an open ended contract?" If it is not written in stone and an agreement that can be passed on then I would not touch it frankly.What if the owner thinks you have slighted them in some way?What if the current owner sells to Mr Angry who promptly puts a locked gate or even builds a wall whilst you are on holiday?
If you are determined to go ahead get proper legal advice and take everything the agent and seller tells you with a pinch of salt


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## JapanAmerica

Thank you. At this point, I am assuming there is binding documentation of whatever this arrangement is and that it is registered with the government. I will not move to the next stage until I am confident it is written in stone, but I was hoping someone would know whether that registered might be available online.


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## Crabtree

Assume nothing and something like this will not be registered with" the government".If there are any long standing access "rights" as opposed to "agreements" between neighbours they will be included in the "deeds" for both sets of properties.Do not sign anything until you have seen something in writing that gives a "droit d'access" in perpetuity to all subsequent owners of the property or insist on a suspension clause until the owner has clarified this or had the deeds amended.You could be getting into a lot of grief and land yourself with an unsellable house


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## pyat

We were thinking of dealing with this sort of thing, though it would have been the other way round for us - someone using our land to access theirs. It was exactly as Crabtree said, that the proper thing would be a contract between the parties agreeing the rights of access mentioned (or contained) within the deeds.

Thankfully we didn't have to deal with it in the end, but it was also mentioned that if there was a piece of land which had no public right of way to it then the owners would usually be allowed to cross bordering land to access it. That was why it would have been in our interests to have the rights spelt out by contract, so that they couldn't just cross what would ahve been our land at will in any way they chose.

I didn't look into this any further so it may not be correct, though, as I said, it was our Notaire who said it. I would still imagine the right of access would be restricted in some way in that circumstance.


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## JapanAmerica

Crabtree said:


> Assume nothing and something like this will not be registered with" the government".If there are any long standing access "rights" as opposed to "agreements" between neighbours they will be included in the "deeds" for both sets of properties.Do not sign anything until you have seen something in writing that gives a "droit d'access" in perpetuity to all subsequent owners of the property or insist on a suspension clause until the owner has clarified this or had the deeds amended.You could be getting into a lot of grief and land yourself with an unsellable house


Thank you. I now have a copy of the deed which grants the property we will be buying a "servitude de jouissance perpétuelle et de retournement". This seems good, but I am now trying to find out whether the owner of the parcel retains any rights, as I don't see any reference to "exclusif". It seems there was one big parcel that was split into three. One of the three is a small parcel that comprises only a piece of "our" driveway. I don't understand why that small parcel would not have been included in the parcel we are buying if the intent was that it would be used only as a part of "ours." In any event, I have made it clear we will not sign the compromis or pay the down payment until we are happy about this.


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## Nomoss

I think you should also clarify the actual nature of the servitude. Is it an everyday right of way for access to the property by every kind of vehicle or pedestrian? There are many categories of servitudes, some simply allow services such a pipes and cables to pass over a property.

This sounds rather similar to the situation I came across when I acted for someone in a house purchase near here, where the land was split into several parcels.
One parcel was a paved strip which continued into a strip not included in the sale, across an adjoining property .
This was fenced off, but obviously part of a second vehicular access to the house from a road beyond the adjoining property, which might be useful to gain access to the rear of the house, e.g. for a builder.
It was described by the seller and notaire as a driveway owned by the seller, with a right of way to the road across the other property.
In fact, it turned out to be jointly owned by the seller and the two adjoining properties, with no mention of any right of way continuing to the road..
I advised the buyer of the problem, but he decided to go ahead with the purchase and rely on the goodwill of the neighbours and the status quo.


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## Clic Clac

Tick, Tick, Tick... 

It's bad enough having neighbours without having to rely on their goodwill, contract or not.

*Walk Away *while you have the chance.


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## LoriEleanor

We purchased our house in Bédoin that had a servitude for the driveway entrance to the property. It allowed us and any of our guests to use the driveway (that was owned and maintained by our immediate neighbors). It was never a problem for us. But, we became very close friends with our neighbors. I can't imagine it would have been different had we not become close friends.


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## JapanAmerica

The situation we have is a little different. The driveway is not shared. It is functionally a part of the property we would be buying, with a wall separating the drive from the neighboring property. We would have a perpetual and exclusive right to use the parcel covered by the easement. What I don't understand is why this would have been done in the first place. Initially, there was one big piece of property, which was then split into three - two large parcels (lets call them A and B) and a much smaller skinny parcel that forms part of the driveway. The smaller parcel is part of the driveway for parcel A but is owned by the owner of parcel B and associated with parcel B on the cadastre. This is an area that limits how much of the property can be built on, so maybe this was done to preserve the ability of the owner of parcel B to build a substantial home. Anyway, legally it seems OK but it's still a puzzle.


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## LoriEleanor

Our situation was very similar to yours. The property we bought had originally been built/owned by our neighbor (the one who owns the driveway). Their parents lived in the house. When the parents died, the family split the parcel into 4 portions (it was originally a farm). One portion went to one of their children, another portion went to another family member and the house we bought was sold to a non family member (this is who we ended up buying from). They kept the property the driveway sat on. I never asked what their reasons were. It could have had something to do with future building rights. I don't know. Either way, it was never a problem for us during the 14 years we lived in the house. They did share the same driveway though (unlike what you have). Their portail was directly at the end of the driveway, just beside ours.


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## JapanAmerica

LoriEleanor said:


> Our situation was very similar to yours. The property we bought had originally been built/owned by our neighbor (the one who owns the driveway). Their parents lived in the house. When the parents died, the family split the parcel into 4 portions (it was originally a farm). One portion went to one of their children, another portion went to another family member and the house we bought was sold to a non family member (this is who we ended up buying from). They kept the property the driveway sat on. I never asked what their reasons were. It could have had something to do with future building rights. I don't know. Either way, it was never a problem for us during the 14 years we lived in the house. They did share the same driveway though (unlike what you have). Their portail was directly at the end of the driveway, just beside ours.


Thank you!


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## Crabtree

Might be worth seeing if you could buy the bit of the parcelle that is your driveway


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## JapanAmerica

Crabtree said:


> Might be worth seeing if you could buy the bit of the parcelle that is your driveway


Thanks, that's an interesting idea in case we can't get clarity this is all perfectly "safe." I have the question out to a lawyer now.


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## Lydi

I would get the seller of the property to buy the bit of land in question before the sale goes through to avoid any hassle (for you).


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