Can I build a fence across a driveway on my land that my neighbors used before I attained the property? They have a drive on they’re land.
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Can I build a fence across a driveway on my land that my neighbors used before I attained the property? They have a drive on they’re land.
The neighbor uses my driveway for a
straight line to their carport. The hill
they are driving up has been washing out
and messing up my driveway. They will
not use their own driveway on the other
side of their yard. They respond saying
they have grandfather’s rights because
they’ve used that path for years before
I attained the property. I want to put a
privacy fence down my side of the
property to stop them using this path.
Is this allowed legally?
Asked on June 28, 2019 under Real Estate Law, Louisiana
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 4 years ago | Contributor
There is no such thing as "grandfather's rights" in this context: that you have previously let them use your driveway does NOT guaranty them that you will keep doing so or require you keep letting them use it. You can revoke your permission to use the driveway at any time, the same way you could let a neighbor use a pool, but then decide to not let them do so anymore.
And that prior ownwer of your property let them use the driveway is completely irrelevant, UNLESS that permission was incorporated into an actual easement on your deed. Any non-easement permission by homeowner A is personal to homeowner A and in no way controls or binds or obligates later homeowner B. You can build the fence.
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