Easement
San Diego Easement and Real Property Attorneys
An easement is the legal right to use someone else's real property for a specific purpose — most often access, utilities, drainage, or views. California recognizes several categories of easements with different creation and termination rules. Disputes typically arise when neighbors disagree about scope, when an easement is blocked, or when a new owner is unaware of an existing easement. The firm resolves easement disputes through negotiation, litigation, and quiet-title actions.
California Easement Categories
The most common easements include:
- Express easements — created by written grant or reservation, generally recorded against the burdened property.
- Implied easements — created by operation of law when a single parcel is divided and the use was apparent and necessary.
- Easements by necessity — created when a parcel is landlocked and access across the seller's remaining property is the only reasonable route.
- Prescriptive easements — created by open, notorious, continuous, hostile use for the statutory five-year period under California Civil Code §1007 and CCP §321.
- Easements appurtenant (benefiting a specific neighboring property) vs. easements in gross (benefiting a person or entity, not a property).
- Utility easements — typically held by utility providers, recorded against the property.
Common San Diego Easement Disputes
Recurring disputes include shared driveways where one neighbor blocks or expands use, prescriptive-easement claims by neighbors who have used a portion of property for years, easements that no longer match the burdened or benefited properties after subdivision, utility easements that interfere with desired construction, and quiet-title actions to confirm or extinguish disputed easements.
How Khashayar Law Group Handles These Matters
Khashayar Law Group approaches every matter with the same trial-ready discipline that produced over $165 million in recoveries firm-wide. Daryoosh Khashayar has tried cases before juries, before judges, and before the California Court of Appeal, where he has secured multiple reversals of Superior Court rulings. He has litigated against major insurers including GEICO and Progressive, and against large corporations including Walmart and Costco.
ABOTA Membership and What It Means for Clients
Daryoosh Khashayar is a member of ABOTA — the American Board of Trial Advocates, an invitation-only organization for attorneys with exceptional verified civil jury trial experience and judicial recommendations. The firm has recovered more than $165 million for clients and prepares every matter — transactional or litigated — with the trial-readiness corporate counterparties respect.
Time Limits and Governing California Law
Prescriptive easement claims require five years of continuous use under California Code of Civil Procedure §321 and Civil Code §1007. Quiet-title actions to clarify ownership and easement rights have no fixed statute but are subject to laches and adverse-possession principles. Adverse possession itself requires five years of open, notorious, continuous, hostile possession plus payment of property taxes under Civil Code §325.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a California prescriptive easement created?
By five years of open, notorious, continuous, and hostile (without permission) use of another's property under California Civil Code §1007 and CCP §321. The use must be visible — secret use does not create an easement. Unlike adverse possession, prescriptive easements do not require payment of property taxes.
Can a property owner block an easement holder's access?
Generally not, when the easement is valid and the use is within its scope. The easement holder can typically obtain injunctive relief and damages. The burdened owner has the right to define reasonable use boundaries and to use the property in ways not inconsistent with the easement.
Does an easement transfer with the property when it is sold?
Generally yes for easements appurtenant — they run with the land. Easements in gross may or may not transfer depending on the terms. Buyers should always review the title report for recorded easements and may want to conduct a physical inspection for unrecorded but apparent easements.
How is an easement terminated in California?
By express written release, merger (when the dominant and servient parcels come under common ownership), abandonment (with intent to abandon plus action), expiration of a fixed term, or court order in a quiet-title action.
What is a quiet-title action?
A lawsuit under California Code of Civil Procedure §760.010 et seq. seeking a judicial declaration of the rights to a parcel of real property — including the existence, scope, or termination of any claimed easement. Quiet-title judgments are recorded and bind the parties' successors.
Talk to a San Diego Easement Attorney
Khashayar Law Group serves clients throughout San Diego and California. Consultations are free and confidential. Call (858) 509-1550 or visit our office at 1350 Columbia St., Suite 303, San Diego, CA 92101.
