Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media
“Well, there’s a difference, if I may interject here, there’s a difference between the two. One is a straight debt collection. The service has been performed, it’s adequate. It meets the expectations of what the public expected to get. And so that’s a straightforward debt collection. But it’s the other one, where they say,
‘I don’t owe you money’.
And now you have to get into the reasons why. You mentioned earlier, there may be a contractual obligation. Well, of course, that’s in writing. But let me ask this question and throw this into the mix. What about a verbal contract, a verbal agreement?”
Michael Campbell – Business Dispute Attorney – Pierce County, WA
“Contracts aren’t always in writing, and sometimes they’re not even spoken. They’re implied. For example, in the case of…I do get into real estate sometimes…in the case of an easement, an easement can be something that has been arranged contractually between a landowner and people who need to use that land to get access to some other piece of property, or something like that.
But there can also be easements that are implied because of the consistent use of the property over a period of time. A landowner may have consented to this easement simply by not having, not having opposed it, much as in the case of adverse possession it’s like an easement by adverse possession. The other possibility is that there may be an easement of necessity. If there is no other way, practically, to get to a piece of property, there may be a need for that person to use your land, if you’re the landowner who is objecting.”
Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media
“But aren’t those easements usually codified in…well, one…the county recorder’s office? But, and two, also, in the original sale agreement for that piece of land?”
Michael Campbell – Business Dispute Attorney – Pierce County, WA
“Not always, sometimes they are, but they aren’t always. Sometimes things have been going on for a long time. In fact, this is the way of boundary disputes. And easement disputes often come up in court…as they come up because of a consistent pattern of usage over a period of time. And indeed, that’s part of the definition of adverse possession. A person can acquire a piece of your land because you didn’t object to their use of it over a period of time. And their use was notorious and hostile. Those are legal terms, which means that they made it clear that they were claiming this land, that they were claiming to own this land, or claiming the right for this easement, and you didn’t dispute it. And so, it was hostile to your interest because it did not comport with what you thought you owned.”
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