“They have other theories they could argue.”
“Implied easement.”
“Easement by necessity.”
“Estoppel.”
“Public dedication.”
“Developer authority.”
“We need to eliminate them systematically.”
“So I do not own it?”
“You own the fee land based on what I’ve seen.”
“That is different from saying nobody else can ever establish access rights.”
“Title disputes are rarely one sentence.”
He reviewed the plat approvals.
Apex had represented to the county that legal access existed.
The county had approved road design and subdivision circulation.
But land-use approval did not itself convey title from Grandpa.
Oliver found no condemnation.
No deed.
No recorded access easement.
No signed agreement.
Then Grandpa’s letters became important.
Oliver read the 2014 letter.
I HAVE NOT SOLD YOU ROAD RIGHTS.
He looked at me.
“This helps.”
“How?”
“Shows he objected.”
“Prescriptive use has to be sufficiently adverse and continuous for the statutory period.”
“We are not relying on only that, but objection matters.”
“What do I do?”
“First, formally notify the HOA that the road crosses your property without a recorded easement.”
“Offer to negotiate.”
“Second, document that any continued use is disputed and temporary pending resolution.”
“Third, do nothing dangerous.”
“No trenches.”
“No concrete walls.”
“No blocking emergency services.”
“What about a gate?”
Oliver paused.
“Potentially.”
“After notice.”
“With emergency access.”
“And I want county fire involved before installation.”
“Why?”
“Because you do not want your first headline to be Man Blocks Ambulance Over HOA Fight.”
Fair.
Oliver commissioned a full title search.
Then an appraisal of the affected strip and access rights.
I did not tell Carolyn yet.
I wanted facts.
The title company went back fifty years.
Nothing.
No easement from Walter Porter.
No deed strip.
No road dedication signed by him.
No recorded license.
Apex had a construction drawing showing the road.
But no property instrument granting the road.
The bankruptcy estate had transferred “all developer interest” in common facilities to the HOA.
Apex could not transfer an interest it never owned.
Oliver called the situation:
“A development malpractice masterpiece.”
Then I received another HOA citation.
This one demanded removal of stacked lumber near my barn.
Fine:
$500.
I drove to Oliver’s office.
He read it.
“You really make her angry.”
“I own lumber.”
“Terrifying.”
The monthly Crest View board meeting was Thursday.
Oliver advised me to attend.
“Give them one clean chance.”
I did.
Thirty or thirty-five residents sat in the community room.
Carolyn presided from the center of a folding table like she was chairing NATO.
Robert Dempsey sat beside her.
Robert was in his mid-fifties.
Red-faced.
Former regional sales executive.
He seemed permanently offended by the possibility someone might not know his opinion.
The board spent forty-five minutes debating whether a certain warm beige paint violated the approved “mountain neutral” palette.
Then public comment opened.
I stood.
Carolyn’s expression changed immediately.
“You have three minutes.”
“Fine.”
I walked forward.
Placed copies of Thomas’s certified survey and Oliver’s letter on the table.
“My name is Daniel Porter.”
“I own the fifteen-acre parcel west of Crest View.”
“I recently commissioned a boundary survey.”
“The survey found that approximately six hundred feet of your sole developed entrance road, along with portions of your entrance structure and gatehouse, were constructed on my deeded property.”
The room changed.