Romero v. Shih
Facts: A buyer purchases a property. The buyer discovers the wall between their property and their neighbor’s property and a portion of their neighbor’s driveway is located on the buyer’s side of the property line. The buyer seeks to have their neighbor remove the encroachments and restore their use to the property line. The neighbor refuses.
Claim: The buyer claims the encroachment needs to be removed since it prevents them from enjoying the full use of their property.
Counterclaim: The neighbor claims they hold an equitable easement over the disputed portion of property permitting them to maintain the wall and driveway since removing the encroachments would prevent them from accessing their property.
Holding: A California appeals court holds the neighbor is entitled to an equitable easement and the buyer is entitled to recover money for the portion of property lost since the removal of the encroachments would present an undue hardship by preventing the neighbor from accessing their property. [Romero v. Shih (2022) 78 CA5th 326]
Related reading:
Legal Aspects of Real Estate
Chapter 10: Encroachments: crossing the line
