Who owns this road?!?

Question

I recently purchased a Mobile Home Park. There is a small road off the main road leading to the park and the park is the only property the road services. It you think of a T, my park is at the top of the T and there are two neighbors on either side of the T.

When you look at the property records, the road is sectioned off separately from my property and the neighbor's properties. It is labelled the same way as all the other county maintained roads in the area. I looked through the title work and there are no special easements or anything mentioning the road.

This road is in pretty bad shape. I messaged the county to put in a work request. They messaged me back stating that they do not own the road, so they will not make repairs.

To make this story more interesting, the county called me a few weeks after I purchased the park telling me that 'my' road needed a new culvert placed under the road, the current culvert was too small and when heavy rain falls, it is causing flooding and the neighbors have been complaining. He said this was a new problem and the neighbors just filed a complaint. I told him I thought it was a county road, and he said it's my road and if I don't remedy the situation, they could shut my park down. Now this was not a 'formal request', just him calling.

I spoke with the former owners (owned for 14 years) and the owner before them. Apparently the county as been harassing them for the past 16 years to fix 'their' road and threating to shut the park down if they don't comply. The 2nd to last owner offered to fix the road if they would deed the land it sits on over to him, which they refused.

I spoke with an attorney and he said to do nothing. If they send me official paperwork demanding that I make the repair, then he'd take on the case and fight them on it.

Anyone had any dealings with this?

Neil Goradia · Answer

Try to find the county GIS website, where each parcel is mapped out in an interactive layout. You can usually click on each parcel and it tells you who the owner of record is without having to look through title work. I agree with your attorney based on what the previous owners have told you.

Neil Goradia · Answer

@Derek Robinson Interesting, I didn't know that. Thanks for the info!

Jeremy Hart · Answer

I see you're in Asheville, @Derek Robinson - nothing would surprise me.I ask about title insurance because I believe owner's title insurance would help in a time like this. I'd start there.

Derek Robinson · Answer

@Neil Goradia GIS doesn't show ownership of roads in the county the property is located. When you click on any county maintained road, the fields just go blank. This road goes blank just like all minor and major roads around it.

Derek Robinson · Answer

@Jeremy Hart (1)It's hard to believe, but I've seen it happen. The house I live in now faces a road with no car access or parking. Back in the 50's the road kept flooding because it was so close to a creek. They moved the road closer my house and four other houses. Since they took away parking and car access, they cut an alleyway behind the five houses. From the 50's until the 90's they came in once a year and added gravel and graded it. Then they stopped. My neighbor (who's lived there all his life) called they city about maintenance. They said "sorry, we don't maintain that anymore". So now we all have to keep it maintained. He tried fighting it out with the city, but didn't get anywhere.(2) I've got clear title to my property with no issues. The road leading to the property is the issue. I don't own it. From property records, it appears the county owns it, but they claim they don't.

Matt K. · Answer

When the guy calls you back to talk to you about the repairs you need to make to your road, kindly ask him to send over the paperwork showing your the owner. Now, twist this as a request for help.... because the people "you talked to" have said that you "aren't the owner".

Jeremy Hart · Answer

First, it's hard to imagine a municipality just making a call like that, and not putting it in writing. Second, did you get owner's title on the property when you purchased the park?

Derek Robinson · Answer

@David Dachtera The attorney I contacted did not charge me anything for his time and the preliminary work, which is why he didn't pursue it further. His opinion was that the county could not force me to do the work since I don't own the property the road is on. Until they send me some official documentation requiring me to make repairs, then he didn't think it was worth involving legal action. So he's not a bad attorney, just trying to save me money.@Belinda Lopez, I think it's like you said, counties can choose to abandon certain pieces of property if they so choose. It seems like that is what is happening here.

Belinda Lopez · Answer

Surely you did a survey when you purchased the property? If not, then get one done now. If it's a private road then it probably is up to you and possibly the others who are using it to fix it. Counties/other government entities can choose to abandon certain pieces of property or just not do the upkeep if they so choose. Trying to force them to spend money is a long haul and if you're talking about hiring an attorney to force them to do, why not just spend the money to fix the road instead? Then you can claim ownership over time.How carefully did you read your Title policy? Were the shortages added into the policy? You need to find out exactly what you bought and who's on record as the owner as well as any easements.

David Dachtera · Answer

@Derek Robinson,Find a better attorney. He should know that the public records will resolve the question of ownership. It's up to you if you want to press your case, it's not the attorney's choice or decision.