Bruner v. Walker

• Court: Supreme Court of Alabama
• Citation: 366 So.2d 695
• Parties: Allie M. BRUNER et al. v. Billy L. WALKER et al. 77-549.
• Decision Date: 22 December 1978

Page 695

366 So.2d 695 Allie M. BRUNER et al.
v.
Billy L. WALKER et al. 77-549. Supreme Court of Alabama. Dec. 22, 1978.
Rehearing Denied Jan. 26, 1979.

Page 696

Luther H. Waller, Jr., Montgomery, for appellants.

William Rives Blanchard, Jr., Montgomery, for appellees.

SHORES, Justice.

In 1964, Reverend Billy L. Walker acquired a large portion of Lot 3 according to the Plat of Beauvoir Gardens, Montgomery County, Alabama. The northern portion of the Walker parcel adjoined Fleming Road and was divided into Lots A and B, designated as 201 Fleming Road and 207 Fleming Road, respectively. When Walker acquired the parcel, a house and a well existed on each lot. All of the Walker parcel, except Lots A and B, was immediately deeded to Berea Church and construction of a sanctuary for the church was begun. In 1965, municipal water and sewer lines were laid across Lot B, 207 Fleming Road, to the sanctuary. Both the house on Lot B and the sanctuary were serviced by a common meter in the name of Berea Church. Walker admits that there is no written evidence of his having granted the church an easement for water or sewer lines, but insists that he signed what he believed to be an easement, presented him by the City of Montgomery, Alabama. A thorough search by Walker, his attorney and the City produced no such document or any other evidence of its existence or content.

On March 25, 1971, Walker and his wife sold Lots A and B to Jesse R. and Allie M. Bruner. Jesse Bruner knew that water and sewer lines were laid from Fleming Road to the church and that the house on Lot B was connected to the church's meter. The parties also agree that the Bruners gave their permission for this arrangement to continue. Jesse Bruner later died. Lot B is currently owned by his widow, Allie, and two sons, Ellis and Ed.

On August 11, 1977, after the church refused to remove the water and sewer lines from Lot B, the Bruners filed an action to quiet title against Walker and Berea Church. The trial court heard the matter Ore tenus and denied the Bruners' prayer for relief. The court held that an "apparent easement" for the benefit of the church existed prior to the Bruners' purchase of Lots A and B, that the Bruners had knowledge of the easement and, therefore, purchased the property subject to it. The Bruners appealed. We reverse.

It has been long recognized that one who purchases land subject to, or with notice of, an easement, takes the estate subject to the easement. Brown v. Alabama Power Co., 275 Ala. 467, 156 So.2d 153 (1963); Scheuer v. Britt, 217 Ala. 196, 115 So. 237 (1928). This principle is intended to prevent the purchaser from escaping his obligation to honor an easement which, in good conscience, he is bound to respect. It is not intended to create an estate in land but rather to protect and enforce the rights of a party in an already existing estate. Therefore, to invoke this principle, it must be affirmatively shown that a valid easement

Page 697

actually existed and that the purchaser took the land either subject to, or with notice of, the easement.

The trial court held that an "apparent easement" existed and that the Bruners took the property with knowledge of its existence. As defined in 28 C.J.S. Easements § 3, pp. 628 and 629:

" . . . 'Apparent easement' is another name for a continuous easement; and is an easement the existence of which appears from the construction or condition of one of the tenements, so as to be capable of being seen or known on inspection.

" . . . A

"A Continuous easement is one of which the enjoyment may be continued without the...