Results 1 to 5 of 5
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Posts
    2

    Default Subdivision Beach Front Owners Aquired Beach by Quiet Title and Restrict Access

    My question involves real estate located in the State of: Florida

    I live in a beachfront neighborhood in the Florida panhandle. In my subdivision we have several homes located right on the beach front which is a bluff overlooking dunes and a beautiful white sand beach; however, the majority of the homes are off the beach, located on streets extending North and away from the beach. The off beach homes have access to the beach at common property stairways.

    The neighborhood subdivision was originally platted by a Florida land development company in 1948 after which another company, a real estate developer, marketed and sold all of the lots. I purchased one of the subdivision lots off the beach and built a home there 2 years ago.

    I recently discovered that about 10 years ago some of the beach front owners began initiating quiet title lawsuits against the long since dissolved developer, whose corporate officers are deceased or very elderly. About half the beach front owners have now secured title to what was the public beach.

    Some of those very same owners have more recently installed no trespassing signs on their beach front and are preventing people from setting up chairs, fishing, etc, in front of their homes.

    I secured a copy of the original 1948 subdivision plat submitted by the land development company. The plat was filed and accepted by the County on October 6, 1948.

    The plat clearly identifies and defines the all legal boundaries of the subdivision.

    On the written legal description of the subdivision, the southern boundary of the subdivision is described as the “bluff line of the Gulf of Mexico”. On the plat each beach front lot has a fixed southern boundary that corresponds with the marked “bluff line of the Gulf of Mexico”.

    This would indicate that the beach front lots at the time of the original platting did not include the beach, which extends beyond the bluff line. On this same plat the bluff line corresponds with the beach lot's southern property line. Their stairways, some seawalls and other infrastructure lie beyond that southern boundary.

    As I mentioned before, the beach front owners acquired quiet title by suing the developer of the subdivision, but I am at a loss as to how the developer could have acquired any title to the beach since it was never part of the original platted subdivision whose boundaries should be the same for the developer. Was that fact conveniently overlooked?

    I am not sure if anyone showed up at the quiet title hearing to represent the now dissolved developer corporation, but I am sure that nobody from the neighborhood was even aware of the lawsuits.

    I am starting to think that the quiet title lawsuits were directed at a party that never had title to the property in question; almost a straw man kind of situation. Is that possible or common?

    I am in the process of getting copies of the quiet title lawsuit documents/evidence so I can get a better handle on what happened. The neighborhood I live in consists of mostly out of state investment property owners, out of state second home owners and a few full time elderly residents. In other words, nobody is minding the hen house.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    38,867

    Default Re: Subdivision Beach Front Owners Aquired Beach by Quiet Title and Restrict Access

    They could not gain title to a PUBLIC beach. The government is immune from such claims. Either your use of the term public is incorrect or they could not actuslly gain title to what you say they did.

    Additionally gaining title to the land, if they in fact did, would not invalidate an existing easement on the land.

    So, you need to figure out what actuslly transpired before trying to get answers to your questions.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Subdivision Beach Front Owners Aquired Beach by Quiet Title and Restrict Access

    The beach area in front of the subdivision had no titled owner prior to the quiet title actions by the beach front owners. It was about a 1/2 mile long and simply referred to at the recorder's office as "Beach". Although it was not marked public, the public had unrestricted access and use up until the quiet title lawsuits that started around 2005. The owners who filed now have lots that reach out into the Gulf of Mexico.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    7,056

    Default Re: Subdivision Beach Front Owners Aquired Beach by Quiet Title and Restrict Access

    Without the benefit of reading any of the court decisions of the lawsuits filed, it is difficult to understand what the issues were and why the court would decide as they did. This is an issue about riparian or littoral rights. Do you know what the substance of the quiet title lawsuits was about?

    Here is a good read about the subject.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    38,867

    Default Re: Subdivision Beach Front Owners Aquired Beach by Quiet Title and Restrict Access

    Quote Quoting finethreads
    View Post
    The beach area in front of the subdivision had no titled owner prior to the quiet title actions by the beach front owners. It was about a 1/2 mile long and simply referred to at the recorder's office as "Beach". Although it was not marked public, the public had unrestricted access and use up until the quiet title lawsuits that started around 2005. The owners who filed now have lots that reach out into the Gulf of Mexico.
    Either it is public lands (which actuslly does not mean the general public has free access to it) or it isn't. If it was the quiet title action will be meaningless. If it wasn't, then there was an owner, somewhere.

    Due to litoral rights the land to the high water mark is going to be public lands. Beyond that it can be either. Either somebody is not researching accurately or the actions in the past will be quashed if there is an issue

    1. Sponsored Links
       

Similar Threads

  1. Easement Use and Enforcement: Beach Access Easements
    By johntourangeau in forum Real Estate Ownership and Title
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 07-03-2013, 07:08 PM
  2. Does Easement Allow Access to Beach
    By teo in forum Real Estate Ownership and Title
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 09-13-2010, 08:35 AM
  3. Public Consumption: Alcohol on the Beach
    By bktrq in forum Criminal Charges
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 05-26-2009, 10:13 PM
  4. Police at the Beach
    By PhotoGuy in forum Police Investigations
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 04-27-2009, 03:23 PM
  5. Beach Easement
    By jackson in forum Real Estate Ownership and Title
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 08-16-2005, 12:45 PM
 
 
Sponsored Links

Legal Help, Information and Resources