House built on easement, options? risk?

[intrested_buyer_gu]

Hi all,

I am in the process of buying a home, and during the survey the title company informed me that my house, which is built on the property line, is built onto a five-foot easement that was given to Reliant. There is another five-foot easement adjacent to my house where the power pole and lines are. Basically my question is what is the risk to me? What could potentially happen? This is what is in the easement document: "The Easement herein granted is described as follows: A right of way for electric power distribution and connection to the townhomes constructed to include installation of service poles and overhead wiring and future maintenance and repair of said facilities."

[august948]

3 hours ago, intrested_buyer_gu said:

Hi all,

I am in the process of buying a home, and during the survey the title company informed me that my house, which is built on the property line, is built onto a five-foot easement that was given to Reliant. There is another five-foot easement adjacent to my house where the power pole and lines are. Basically my question is what is the risk to me? What could potentially happen? This is what is in the easement document: "The Easement herein granted is described as follows: A right of way for electric power distribution and connection to the townhomes constructed to include installation of service poles and overhead wiring and future maintenance and repair of said facilities."

You need to put the purchase on hold and consult a real estate attorney.

[mkultra25]

What @august948 said. You would be well advised to get professional legal advice before proceeding further. 

It's not necessarily a dealbreaker (there are more than a few houses in my area that are in the same boat, either with the house itself or a detached garage), but if Reliant needs to do construction or maintenance in the easement and your structure is impeding their access to the easement, guess who's going to win? Strictly anecdotally, I'm not aware of anyone in my area who's ever had a problem related to a structure having been built onto an easement, but that certainly doesn't mean that such problems never happen.