Neighbor Woes: What Rights Do I Have To Maintain A Private Road...

[SoonerP226]

Just a general question pointed at nobody, but the last time I heard, a judgement in small claims court is typically just a judgement and not binding by any legal ramifications like being arrested if the judgement isn't followed?

That's not limited to small claims court. As a former judge and more than one lawyer have told me, getting a judgment is easy (assuming the facts are on your side); collecting on it is another matter entirely. The court can give you authority to place liens on their assets or garnishments on their wages, but they can't get blood out of a turnip.

(Note: those were casual conversations with folks I know, not legal consultations.)

 

[Perplexed]

Sheesh Shoddy, you have to get a couple truck loads of gravel each year if I read that right? Where does it all go, and can it not be reclaimed?

(Learning a LOT from this thread...)

 

[inactive]

You might look into small claims court. That's basically you and him hashing it out in front of a judge. Lay out the claim that because he has blocked the drainage on his side it washes out the private road that him, you and the other neighbors share. The judge can rule that he needs to install a culvert to allow the water to drain properly and not damage the road.

Small claims isn’t going to rule for someone to take an action or otherwise maintain a road. It awards damages sustained due to the actions of another. That’s why there’s a dollar amount limit for the court.

So you can’t sue looking for an order telling someone to maintain the road. You can sue for the financial losses proven to be incurred due to the neighbor not maintaining the road.

 

[Aries]

Small claims isn’t going to rule for someone to take an action or otherwise maintain a road. It awards damages sustained due to the actions of another. That’s why there’s a dollar amount limit for the court.

So you can’t sue looking for an order telling someone to maintain the road. You can sue for the financial losses proven to be incurred due to the neighbor not maintaining the road.

I would think if you paid for the road maintenance you could sue to recover their part of the cost, no?

 

[inactive]

I would think if you paid for the road maintenance you could sue to recover their part of the cost, no?

Yes exactly. That’s what i was getting at.

You can sue for the costs you incurred due to the neighbors negligence. But you can’t sue to get a judge to force or compel the neighbor to service the road. It’s all about a monetary award.

 

[DavidMcmillan]

Talk to your County Commissioner. If you are on good terms with them, they sometimes have ways of getting around silly rules. Remember the commissioner impeachments of the late 70's? Many of them still have "special" abilities.

 

[SlugSlinger]

In with John6185 as far as lawyers go, i dont generally have a dislike for them but i damn sure dont want to go there for anything but a last resort. @SlugSlinger Do you know if i have any right to maintain his portion of the road? It is listed as "right of way" on my survey as well as deed. I am just worried that he will continue to make the road worse and i wont legally be able to fix it, as in install a tin horn without his consent.

Can you send me the easement? I talked to our land guy here in the office. This was his response when I asked him “if someone has a driveway easement, do they have the right to maintain that easement?”.


“Depends on the language in the agreement. If it’s not covered, then I would say that the grantee (beneficiary) would bear the cost of maintaining the easement. I’d be happy to read the agreement.”

You would be one of the grantees to at least a portion of the easement. Hopefully the language of the agreement spells out who is responsible for what maintenance and that the easement must be maintained in a reasonable manner.

Do you want to send me the document and I can forward it to him?

 

[SlugSlinger]

I'm watching this thread closely. I have one neighbor, a retired 6th grade school teacher that is 275 yards away but we share a driveway that is 3/10 mile long with 1/10 mile of it a very steep grade. I'm at the end of the driveway. My acreage is graded to drain across and under the asphalt driveway we had installed to the edge of our property line. Her private gravel drive intersects the common gravel driveway with her entire property draining rain water to the shared road which is at the very top of the steep grade down the hill.
We have lived here for 30 years with the first two neighbors being more than happy to share expenses and work to maintain the road, add gravel so it could be crowned and drain to the ditches, etc.
When she moved in, we greeted her and talked about how difficult the road maintenance was and volunteered to maintain it if she would share in cost of gravel. She commented nobody informed her that she would have to pay for road maintenance when she bought the house.
So, 6 months and several rain storms later with the road getting in bad shape, asked if she was willing to contribute to a couple semi's of gravel. Absolutely not was the reply. So we bought them and fixed it. We again had to buy a couple semi loads a year later with no help.
The road is now a big bowl with water running down the center from her yard only and washing it down to bedrock in places after these huge rains.
We will be out thousands of dollars for gravel just on the steep portion. The lower portion of the driveway that is flat has 5' of the Arkansas river with a swift current flowing over it for a week now with at least another week expected of maximum flows at best. No telling how much road has washed out there until the water goes down.

Do you have a pic of where your neighbor's driveway intersects the common driveway when its dry?

 

[zghorner]

Can you send me the easement? I talked to our land guy here in the office. This was his response when I asked him “if someone has a driveway easement, do they have the right to maintain that easement?”.


“Depends on the language in the agreement. If it’s not covered, then I would say that the grantee (beneficiary) would bear the cost of maintaining the easement. I’d be happy to read the agreement.”

You would be one of the grantees to at least a portion of the easement. Hopefully the language of the agreement spells out who is responsible for what maintenance and that the easement must be maintained in a reasonable manner.

Do you want to send me the document and I can forward it to him?

Just attached the pdf, let me know if that doesnt work.

 

[bigfug]

It's against code to do anything that would divert rainwater to another property causing damages. Might be able to get him that way.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/neighbor-disputes-over-water-damage-29724.html