On Fri, 14 Jan 2011 21:26:43 -0800 (PST), Evan
wrote:

On Jan 12, 9:43 pm, Mel Knight wrote:

I'm not mad. I just don't want poles and wires crossing my property if I
don't have to have it so.

My first inclination is to just tell them to remove it.

My second inclination is to see what they offer (but unless it's on the
order of tens of thousands of dollars, I'll default to my first
inclination).

I don't know how long the pole and wires have been there. The creosote
looks still wet, so I'd say about a year or two (compared to other
poles).

I gave the PG&E guys the pole number but there is no date or other
identifying information in this part of the country (California) on the
poles out here.


On Jan 14, 9:59*pm, Mel Knight wrote:
On Fri, 14 Jan 2011 08:35:18 -0800, Harry K wrote:
it "sounds" like the pole is on the public ROW and
only the wires cross the property.

Yup. Most likely (according to the title company).

you have lost no useable land and the wires probably do not
affect your use of the property in any reasonable way.

According to the title company, that's not an issue (of course, that's up
to the courts to decide). The title company said that I could put in a
"claim" to them if it costs me money to relocate the wires, if they
"missed" an easement, or if I have costs associated with an easement that
they missed.

Since there is no easement (that we know of), then I'm expecting the
power company to relocate the wires. Where or how they relocate them
isn't my issue as long as it's not over my property.

I didn't see this reply until now, but, the title company didn't say
anything about losing "use of the land", so, I hope that's not a factor.

Thanks for the ideas!


Sadly what you want and what the law allows are two totally
separate things...

1. Did you purchase this house with the wires already routed
over/across/through the back yard?

(If you did and you are complaining about it now, rather than
at the time of sale when you should have asked about it, is
like complaining that there is an increase of traffic on a rail
spur line that abuts your property... The rail line [in your
case a pole and wires] existed before you owned the property
and the appropriate time for your objection has come and
gone and if you want it moved at this point you would have
to pay for all of the costs involved with that because you
failed to do your bona fides and properly determine that the
wire in dispute had no specific easement prior to purchase...)

2. How long have you owned the property in question?

3. How far into your property do the wires extend?

(Zoning law usually prohibits zero-lot line construction, so
you will own land that you can not build on, if the wires
cross an un-buildable portion of your site because of the
setback requirements, then you have no loss or damage
that you can claim...)

Are you really willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars
filing a lawsuit in land court over this with a lawyer who
specializes in such cases over a wire which slightly crosses
over your "land" near a utility/roadway ROW? If you lose
the case you will have to pay the legal costs of the utility
companies and that can be much more than you will
spend on your lawyers...

You should have brought up this objection at the time you
purchased the property prior to the close of the sale...
You bought into it knowing that the wires were there without
obtaining any actual proof that no easement existed...
Like Harry K. mentioned above you have no reasonable
impact or hindrance on your use of the lot... The "preference"
to not have wires crossing over your land is something that
if you want to realize is something that you will have to
pay for... $10,000 for a crew to relocate the poles and wires
needed to move them from over your lot to fully exercise
what may be non-existant "air rights" (how tall are structures
allowed to be on your lot by zoning law) is something
which you would need to pay the full cost for...

$10,000 to relocate the pole and wires is a sure thing...
Or you could pay that as a retainer for a lawyer to take
on your case and see ballooning legal fees and endure
a two year wait before your land court case goes to trial...

Remember the title insurance will cover you for actual
costs to deal with this issue AFTER THE FACT... Do
you really want to be paying commercial interest rates
on a loan you took to pay off your legal costs and wait
MORE months while you deal with the title insurance
claim before you are reimbursed?

Good Luck...

My advice is to just "lump it" and deal with the wires
where they are... You could be opening a Pandora's
Box where you quickly lose control over what you
have put into motion... All because you would rather
not have a wire intrude into your yard...

Does the utility have a right of way easement for their wires that
come to your buildings?
Where is this right of way easement recorded and what is the exact
language it uses?
Where does this public easement for the road begin and end and what
does it specifically allow/disallow?
Where does the "meets and bounds" survey you bought the land with show
this easement? If no "meets and bounds" where is the subdivision plat
recorded and what is in the recorded covenants?

The above checks may provide you with an answer to some of your
uncertainties.
--
Mr.E