Difficulties Accessing Shared Private Way

[PrivWay]

I live in Massachusetts on a dead end street shared by two other houses. Our garage is at the end of this street, and the street provides the only access to the garage.This street is recognized as a private way by the city, but I cannot find any documentation about when it became private, nor do any of the deeds for the three houses indicate specific ownership. I understand that the three houses abutting the private way are the ones with responsibility & rights to the way. As it is a dead end, no other properties need to transverse the way.

Both of my neighbors have young children, and they have put out a standing invitation to all the children in the neighborhood to play in the private way. They will often place obstructions at the end of the way to keep the children from running into the street. This causes problems when we want to get into our out of our garage, either in a car or by bicycle. Some of our neighbors (who are not abutters) have complained about us using the private way, as it interrupts their children's playtime.

Do we have a right to unfettered access to our property, and if so, is the current situation an abridgement of that right? What would be our best course of action?

[jk]

Do we have a right to unfettered access to our property, and if so, is the current situation an abridgement of that right? What would be our best course of action?

well, since you cannot even place a legal right to use the drive, I cannot see how anybody can suggest an answer to your questions. IF you have legal right to use the drive, the unfettered part may not be possible. In many situations, the property owner of an easement can place obstructions in a drive but cannot prevent use in general.

as to the folks complaining about you using your drive (presuming you do have a legal right to use the drive), tell them to have their kids go play in some other street. In fact, I would strongly suggest you do determine the legal status of the lane. YOU may have a great deal of liability in this situation should a child be injured on the property.

So, figure out who owns the lane and who has legal rights to use of the lane and then you can figure out what rights you have in all of this.

[PrivWay]

Thank you for your quick response. How would I go about determining the legal status of the drive? I have gotten copies of the current deeds, and the original deeds, and whatever deeds I could find in between, as well as contacting the city. Nobody seems to be able to give me any information. I did have a lawyer (the one who closed on my house, not necessarily an expert in easement law) try to do additional research, but she was unable to find any further information. Are there other avenues I can pursue to determine the ownership of the way?

[jk]

is there a plat map for the area? If so, the parcel would be given a tax ID which should be traceable to an owner.


Has anybody ever had their property surveyed? Somewhere along the line, the property had to belong to somebody. Unless you know what your property description is describing, you could even own the lane, or your neighbor.

try the office that records deeds. They often have maps of the parcels of any given area.

[LandSurveyor]

Some of our neighbors (who are not abutters) have complained about us using the private way, as it interrupts their children's playtime.

You probably need to find a local attorney and surveyor who are willing to work with you to sort this out. Perhaps the attorney will have some advice. I don't understand the concept of a street which is private, but I'm not from Massachusetts and have no clue what can go on there.

I think jk's advice is good, but the local tax maps or gis or whatever it is called are not of legal consequence when it comes to title of the property or any rights to it, or where it is actually located.