By: DOLAN MEDIA NEWSWIRES//October 15, 2015//
By: DOLAN MEDIA NEWSWIRES//October 15, 2015//
By Nida Shakir
and Hal Karas
Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek
Forty or 60 years may seem like a generously long amount of time to re-record an easement, but for many Wisconsin property owners who are unaware of Wisconsin’s re-recording statute time is of the essence.
Wisconsin Statutes Sec. 893.33(6) provides a statute of limitations for an action enforcing a recorded easement. Under the statute, an action to enforce a recorded easement may not be brought unless three requirements are met:
The requirements are straightforward, but in a recent Wisconsin appellate court decision, the court acknowledged that easement holders are uninformed of the requirement altogether.
TJ Auto LLC involves two adjacent property owners and an old easement. In 1928, a recorded easement gave one of the lot owners the right to use an alley or driveway on an adjacent lot owner’s property. In 1945, the easement was referenced in a warranty deed. In 2006, the current lot owner, TJ Auto, purchased the property that was subject to the easement.
TJ Auto knew that the easement was still used by the adjacent lot owner when it negotiated the purchase of the property, and yet, after purchasing the property, applied to the city of Kenosha and proposed a fence that would block the adjacent lot owner’s access to the easement.
The city of Kenosha denied TJ Auto’s proposal.
TJ Auto brought a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment terminating the easement. The court applied a plain reading of Wis. Stat. 893.33(6) and held that the easement was no longer enforceable against TJ Auto because it was never re-recorded after 1945. The neighbor lost access over TJ Auto’s property.
The takeaway: Recorded easements have expiration dates and it is important for easement holders to be aware of when their easements were recorded and when they will be up for renewal. There are a number of other questions that can arise when creating, granting, recording or re-recording easements.
For more information on how to navigate through the specific issues that can arise with easements, contact Nida Shakir at 414-978-5313 or [email protected], or Hal Karas at 414-978-5499 or [email protected].