A Brief Introduction About the Shared Driveway Agreement
A common kind of property easement is an agreement on shared driveway maintenance; The Shared driveway agreement is drafted when two or many neighboring properties share a common driveway.
This can be done in two scenarios, one in which each owner owns the driveway partly and has a right to drive their vehicles on the complete driveway from their garage or parking spot and to it. Another scenario would be when one owner owns the driveway completely, but the other owner only has the right to use the driveway to enter and exit the compound. Such shared driveway easement inhibits the parties from barring the other from the driveway usage. Such easements can be seen mostly in real estate businesses.
Who Takes the Shared Driveway Agreement? – People Involved
A shared driveway easement is a property easement agreement that allows the property owner to grant usage to someone for any specific use. It does not necessarily mean that this person will now have ownership rights of the said property, but they are provided with limited usage of the said property in association with the terms and conditions of the agreement.
Purpose of the Shared Driveway Agreement – Why Do You Need It?
In a scenario when someone is ready to allow its neighbor to use part of their driveway so that they can come out and go in their garage. To let this happen without any vague boundaries, it is critical to sign this agreement between both parties. The purpose of such agreements is that it guarantees that the neighbors can use the common driveway but needs to accept the conditions of the owner (“Understanding Shared Driveways – Property Law,” 2019).
Contents of The Shared Driveway Agreement – Inclusions
This agreement includes the following: –
- Name
- Address
- Date
- Maintenance Expense Acknowledgement
- Shared driveway agreement form
- Objective
How to Draft the Shared Driveway Agreement?
Points to Consider While Preparing the Agreement
- The first step is to ensure that the name of the grantor is the same as the one mentioned in the property deeds. Accuracy should also be in the name of the grantee.
- It is important to describe the easement area legally. It is intelligent to affix the illustration of the easement area by some engineers.
- I am mentioning if the agreement is permanent or limited with time or the usage duration.
- It is critical to mention the objective or purpose of the agreement.
- Mention the maintenance cost.
- The protection of the owner of the property is important, the insurance requirements might change with the usage of agreement, but insurance is a must. Insurance and reimbursement are essential.
- This agreement must have a notary public acknowledgment for records.
- For an effective agreement, a correct format must be used. Thus, professional samples should be referred to with the help of law agents.
- After documenting the agreement, it is vital to proofread the document. This helps in validating the details in the contract.
Negotiation Strategy
Even before the Shared driveway agreement is signed, both parties are eligible to negotiate the terms of the agreement. While granting a shared driveway easement on one’s property puts a hindrance on it in the future, people might not want it due to the complexity of the agreement involved. Signing an agreement comes along with many concerns as well as shared driveway rights.
Benefits & Drawbacks of the Shared Driveway Agreement
Benefits – Having this agreement between neighbors is the best way to eradicate disputes between them. It helps set agreed boundaries for both of them to stay out of any confusion or complexity later on. Following are the benefits of having a shared driveway agreement in place between two neighbors or businesses:
- Setting clear rules to govern this mutually owned driveway and include them in agreement as a treaty.
- Cost of maintenance and repair can be shared reducing the burden
- In areas where snow falls, this agreement can also help in expense sharing of snow removal
- Prevents misinterpretation of the agreement
- Offers approved actions to resolve a dispute
Drawback – There may be some hindrances that come along with this agreement is that there may be few agreement conditions which one needs to abide by even though you do not completely agree to them because due to shared driveways law one should abide by the terms and conditions mentioned in the agreement (Gassett, 2019). Some examples would be like one cannot repair their vehicle on the driveway if mentioned. One of the biggest issues is since the driveway is on a sharing basis, there is the maximum possibility of differences and arguments.
What Happens in Case of Violation?
An agreement gives one the shared driveway rights to use part of the driveway for a specific or limited purpose or while we are taking the vehicle in and out of the garage or the parking lot. All this is mentioned in a legal document, but despite all this, there may still be issues of violation between the parties involved. Hence in case of any violation, the first step is first to ensure that this issue or obstruction can be comprehended as a violation of the agreement(1). Now in case, it is true, the owners can talk to each other and resolve the issue verbally (Gassett, 2019).
To conclude, having a shared driveway agreement in place acts as a judge for your actions with regard to the usage of a shared driveway. If there were no legally binding rules as defined in the agreement, this would create so much chaos and confusion daily.