O'Dell v. Stegall: Difference between revisions
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|holding=Yes. A prescriptive easement can only arise from a use that's adverse, continuous, & either actually known or open & notorious. | |holding=Yes. A prescriptive easement can only arise from a use that's adverse, continuous, & either actually known or open & notorious. | ||
|judgment=Reversed | |||
|reasons=Justice Ketchum: None of the parties could show who owned the gravel lane. Therefore, O'Dell could not claim adverse possession of a prescriptive easement. | |||
|rule=* [https://www.quimbee.com/keyterms/prescriptive-easement Prescriptive easement] = an easement acquired by adverse possession | |rule=* [https://www.quimbee.com/keyterms/prescriptive-easement Prescriptive easement] = an easement acquired by adverse possession | ||
* American courts generally dis-favor prescriptive easements | * American courts generally dis-favor prescriptive easements | ||
Latest revision as of 21:19, April 18, 2024
| O'Dell v. Stegall | |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals |
|---|---|
| Citation | 703 S.E.2d 561 |
| Date decided | November 24, 2010 |
Facts
- O'Dell = purchaser of a church land in West Virginia re-purposed for residential use
- O'Dell's new property had direct access to a public road through a driveway on the building's south side
- On the north side of O'Dell's property was a gravel lane connected to the aforesaid public road
- Ownership of the gravel lane was unknown
- Stegall = owner of a private property dependent on the gravel lane to access the public road; Stegall's house was to the north of the gravel lane
- Stegall was paying for the upkeep of the gravel lane.
Procedural History
- O'Dell sued Stegall & neighbors to the north seeking legal recognition of his prescriptive easement of the gravel lane.
- O'Dell won in the trial court.
Issues
- Must land use supporting a prescriptive easement be adverse, continuous, & either
- actually known or
- open & notorious?
Arguments
- O'Dell argued that he had a prescriptive easement over the gravel road because churchgoers had been using the gravel road on the north to access the former church
- Stegall argued that O'Dell's use of the gravel lane was causing wear & tear
Holding
Yes. A prescriptive easement can only arise from a use that's adverse, continuous, & either actually known or open & notorious.
Judgment
Reversed
Reasons
Justice Ketchum: None of the parties could show who owned the gravel lane. Therefore, O'Dell could not claim adverse possession of a prescriptive easement.
Rule
- Prescriptive easement = an easement acquired by adverse possession
- American courts generally dis-favor prescriptive easements
Resources
