McClear-Gary v. Scott
Facts: The owner of a property holds an easement over the servient property. The owner of the servient property installs a gate blocking the easement holder’s access to the easement for five years. The owner of the servient property later pays delinquent property taxes on the land covered by the easement in a lump sum and attempts to extinguish the easement by adverse possession.
Claim: The easement holder seeks to quiet title to the easement and regain access, claiming their easement has not been extinguished since the servient owner’s property tax payments were not timely.
Counterclaim: The owner of the servient property claims they extinguished the easement on their property since they paid delinquent property taxes in a lump sum within the five-year period of possession.
Holding: A California court of appeals holds the owner of the servient property has not extinguished the easement through adverse possession since their property tax payments were not timely as they were delinquently paid in a lump sum. [McLear-Gary v. Scott (July 11, 2018)_CA6th_]
