Telephone Easement

[semisonic]

I recently purchased a townhouse with a small yard. I want to convert a part of the grass yard into a stone patio, but there are a couple of pretty tall boxes about 3 feet from the fence which belong to the telephone company. I initially tried to offer them to pay to move the boxes, but they came up with a pretty unreasonable estimate (thousands of dollars). I therefore started looking for other ways of solving the problem: I looked at my title to see if maybe the telephone company is out of compliance with their easement. I couldn’t find an easement for the telephone company in any documents. I then contacted a couple of title insurance companies. They researched various documents and informed me that they are pretty sure that the telephone company doesn’t have any easements on my property (one title company gave me a written statement). I contacted the telephone company to see if they have any documents giving them an easement. In response, they said that “The benefit is that the City short subdivision has telephone service. The developer established the location of the equipment and the conduit/cable run to serve the development.” I spoke with the City and I was told that there are no ordinances that would give the telephone company any implied rights to my property. I emailed them again asking for written documents. Now they are ignoring my emails.

Is the telephone company required to have written documents giving them an easement on my property? If so, what should I do if they can’t provide them. How can I force the telephone to relocate the content of their tall boxes to a nearby telephone pole? (something that they had said in the past is possible)

[jk]

not positive what the tall boxes are but any tall boxes I can think of that are used by the telephone company most assuredly cannot be moved to the top of a pole.

you can simply write them a letter and give them 14 days to remove the boxes or you will have them removed. (you will not find anybody that will remove them)

then, since any action by you that would disrupt service could result in a very large lawsuit against you, I would suggest suing them in court and seeking an order from the court for them to removed them.

then, when the courts tell you they are allowing an easement but you are due compensation, take the check and cash it and forget this ever happened.

I would be willing to bet they either have an easement laying around somewhere or the courts will force one upon you, possibly with some compensation to you for the loss of control of your property.

Oh, if they were willing to move them for thousands of dollars, you might want to reconsider this offer because a lawsuit will cost you....thousand of dollars and may still not be successful.

[semisonic]

There are 7 townhomes in my complex and the boxes are about 4 feet tall each. I looked inside, and the boxes are fairly empty: they each host a small terminal which connects several pretty thin wires.

I spoke with an engineer from the telephone company before I discovered that they don't have an easement, and he told me that he was really suprised when he looked at my property because there's a telephone pole about 5 feet away from the boxes (the pole is not on my property). He said that if it was up to him, he would locate the little teminals on the utility pole, not in my yard.

I realize that a lawsuit would be very expensive. I was wondering if I could do most of the research myself and maybe take them to court myself (I'm not sure if easement disputes qualify for small claims courts). Before I do that though, I was wondering if there's anything that could give the telephone company an implied easement on my property. My townhouse was build less than 10 years ago, so the boxes haven't been in my yard for that long (I live in Washington, and in order for them to get a prescriptive easement it has to exist for more than 10 years). I was also wondering if there's any special wording that I need to include in the letter to them, and if I need to send it in any particular way.

[LandSurveyor]

Has a title company certified to you in writing that the telephone company has no easement rights on your property?

Not likely.

jk is right on this. The boxes are telephone risers and that means that the lines are underground. Do you and your neighbors want them taken out and additional poles put in to accommodate them?

Get the advice of your attorney. If you don't have one, get one.

Filing suit on your own without an attorney against a public utility company is one of the least productive things a person could do.

Paying them the amount they have asked to meet your request is reasonable and very likely less than the cost of your legal fees.

[semisonic]

LandSurveyor: yes, the title company has certified the fact that the telephone company has no easement rights in writing. At the same time, the telephone company is not able to provide anything in writing that would say that they have an easement (I asked them just in case something wasn't recorded properly). That's why I'm asking about ways to get their stuff out of my yard. I feel like it wouldn't be fair for me to have to pay for removing something that they have no right to have in my yard in the first place.

BTW - there's a telephone pole already 5 feet away from my property, so they can easily move the boxes from my property.

I'm trying to handle this without an attorney because if I get an attorney they would most likely exceed the fee that I would have to pay the telephone company for moving the boxes.

Since the telephone company is not cooperating, what can I do to force them to move their cables from my property?

[jk]

Since the telephone company is not cooperating, what can I do to force them to move their cables from my property?

grab your wallet and head on down to the court. You cannot force them to do anything on your own. It will require the courts action to make them move, if it is possible.

[LandSurveyor]

I feel like it wouldn't be fair for me to have to pay for removing something that they have no right to have in my yard in the first place.

In title matters valid unwritten rights are superior to valid written rights.

If the phone company can assert in court that they have a valid unwritten right, based on a prescriptive easement or whatever, they will win.

If they have an attorney and you do not, they will win. They have done this several thousand times before. If you spend a few thou on an attorney, they will still win.

As jk says, just grab your wallet.

[semisonic]

Just a quick update on the situation. After about a month of exchanging phone calls and emails with the utility company they accepted the fact that they don't have an easement on my property and they agreed to relocate the pedestal from my yard to a nearby telephone pole, all costs covered by them.

[Happy Trails]

That's a great update, good job.

[jk]

good to hear. Hard to believe, but good to hear. Utility comapnies have a way of being nasty even when they are wrong simply because of the addage:

might makes right.

Money can be used in place of might as well.