La Jolla · Guides · Land and title

Easements and property lines in La Jolla

Short answer: A fence, a wall or a path isn’t always where the legal property line is. An easement is a right for someone else to use part of your land for a set purpose, like a utility line or a shared driveway. Title papers show many recorded easements. A survey shows where the lines really are.

On hillside and older lots, I often see walls, steps and plantings that drifted over time. Most of the time it is no big deal. Sometimes it matters a lot.

This guide explains how buyers and sellers find out early, before it turns into a surprise.

I’m Weston Clark, Founding Member of the Dickinson-Clark Team at Compass. I help buyers and sellers in La Jolla and coastal San Diego spot land and title questions early in a sale. You can talk about fees with Weston directly. This form does not give a commission quote.

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Related: Protecting ownership · Buyer checklist · View rights · Seller forms · Remodel rules · Guides · How to hold title · Permit history · Airport noise disclosure

Easements in plain words

• A utility easement lets a power, water or sewer company reach its lines.
• An access easement lets a neighbor pass over a strip of land, like a shared driveway.
• Some easements are recorded at the County. Others come from long use and may not show on paper.

An encroachment is when something, like a fence or a deck, sits over a line onto someone else’s land.

How easements show up in title papers

Early in escrow (the neutral process that holds the money and papers), the title company sends a preliminary report. It is a list of what is recorded against the home, recorded easements included.

Read the list with your agent. Ask the title officer for copies of anything you don’t understand. Title insurance is a policy that protects ownership. My guide to it explains what it does and does not cover.

When a survey helps

A survey is a map by a licensed land surveyor that shows where the lines really sit. The title company’s list can’t show that.

I suggest one when a fence, wall or driveway looks off, or when a buyer plans to build. Ask the title officer what a survey would change about coverage.

What California law says about shared lines

California Civil Code section 841(a) says: “Adjoining landowners shall share equally in the responsibility for maintaining the boundaries and monuments between them.”

For fences, section 841(b)(1) says: “Adjoining landowners are presumed to share an equal benefit from any fence dividing their properties and, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties in a written agreement, shall be presumed to be equally responsible for the reasonable costs of construction, maintenance, or necessary replacement of the fence.”

In plain words, neighbors share the line and usually share the cost of a fence between them, unless they agree in writing. The law also asks for written notice before fence work.

How I help

• Sellers: tell me early about any shared driveway, fence talk or neighbor deal. It goes in your seller forms. See my disclosures guide.
• Buyers: we read the title list and walk the lot during your checks. My buyer checklist lists the steps.
• Planning a remodel? An easement can limit where you build. See my La Jolla remodel rules guide.

General information only

This guide explains process. It is not legal or survey advice. Ask a land surveyor, the title officer or an attorney about your own lot.

More on sandiego.homes

• Title insurance: what a policy covers
• Due diligence checklist: a buyer’s checks
• View rights: what neighbors can and cannot block
• Disclosures: what sellers must share
• La Jolla remodel rules: building limits

• More: All guides · La Jolla · Real estate terms

Talk with Weston about a land or title question

Tell me about the lot and what looks off. I’ll help you figure out who to ask and when.

Or call (858) 997-8998 · weston@sandiego.homes · Search on Compass

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Have another question? Quick answers to common questions

Sources

• California Civil Code § 841
• sandiego.homes — Title insurance
• sandiego.homes — Due diligence checklist
• sandiego.homes — Disclosures