Does anyone out there know the laws about land locked property in Texas? I know someone that owns land but there is no road to it and it is surrounded by other property. I thought I had heard that in Texas there was no such thing as land locked property and the other property owners had to allow you cross a portion of their land if it was reasonable. Anyone know for sure?

Call a real-estate prof @ TAMU. Free advice.

Thinking back to real estate law classes I've had to take, I'm pretty sure that you are required to provide an easement to get back to the property.

If I correctly recall, if your property is completely landlocked, you can get an easement of necessity to allow you access to your property.


Standard law student disclaimer: The above statements are for entertainment purposes only, and in no way should be considered legal advice.

Yes the landowners surrouding the property have to provide some "reasonable" easment to allow your friend to get to his property.

The law was put in place to prevent the cattle barrons from choking out farmers and sheep farmers during the "range wars."

How has your friend been getting to his land so far? If he has been traveling the same route, and that route is marked on the ground, (dirt road, tire ruts, etc.) and the surrounding land owners have allowed that to happen for a number of years, he may already have an acess easement by prescriptive rights.

They haven't been to their land in about 20 years. They are old and it is in the middle of no where. They finally went by to check on it in hopes that a road might have been built in the past 20 years but there hasn't.

So would they have to pay the other landowner for the easement? Would they pay for use of this easement or would they be required to buy the land the easement sat on?

Yes, they can charge you for an easement. My dad recently paid $5,000 (I think) for easement access to several hundred acres of his farmland.

Just as long as you don't have a f-ing rail road to cross to get to it. We had a 60 year battle with a railroad that divides our ranch. They did not want us crossing their easement to get to the other side which was not accessable any other way !

That's too bad. They can either buy an easement, or they can buy a strip of land to access their property. (If they buy it outright, it is no longer considered an easement). There is a slim chance that one of the neighbors might grant an easement with no payment, but that is a VERY slim chance.

Oh, and as far as the Railroad Commission, it is near God here in Texas. They are a HUGE pain to deal with, just ask TxDOT.

If he hasn't been there in 20 years, he might not even own it any more.

An easement of necessity is only available in certain very limited circumstances. Otherwise, you'll probably have to buy an easement over one of the neighbor's property (if, as was mentioned above, the property has not been claimed by anyone else through adverse possession). You should consult with an attorney to find out precisely where you stand.

I thought about bringing up the adverse posession thing, but I have always been taught that the adverse posession must be hostile, meaning that it is a sort of in-your-face sort of posession, and you do nothing to thwart it. Having not been to the property in 20 kinda makes that impossible, on the other hand, not having been on the property for 20 years may constitute some sort of abandonment. But then again, if they've been paying taxes on it.... etc.

In short, they need to call an attorney, the sooner the better.

Just because he might have never taken a look would not matter.

Up here in the Panhandle, one guy died a few years ago who owned a lot of land. At his death, he gave it to a charity. I think it was the Father Flannigan's Boys Home (or something like that).

It turned out that a section of land (1 square mile) that he owned had been used by another farmer for years without his knowledge. When the charity tried to lay claim to it, the farmer took it to court and ended up with the entire thing, including all mineral rights.

If you have property of any kind, you really should take a look at it once a year to make sure noone else is trying to take it from you. Not taking a look at the property does not make the adverse possession into something else.

This guy inherited the land 20 years ago and has been paying property taxes on it this entire time (the taxes were very low.) I think he thought the land was basically worthless, but it recently quadrupled in value due to some proposed development nearby. I hadn't thought about the "adverse possesion" thing. I will definately mention that to him. Thanks for all of the information.

Summer is talking about a prescription easement. You have to have been doing it for at least ten years, and in the open.