Hodgins v. Sales

• Decision Date: 27 August 2003
• Docket Number: No. 28559.,28559.
• Citation: 76 P.3d 969,139 Idaho 225
• Parties: Marvenna S. HODGINS; Duane, Joan K. and Kim J. Cover; Leslie Roundy; Nathan A. Seybold, Tim and Gina Wolfe Seybold; Virden and Elva Seybold; and Elizabeth Von Schoonhoven, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. John P. and Joyce E. SALES, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

76 P.3d 969

139 Idaho 225

Marvenna S. HODGINS; Duane, Joan K. and Kim J. Cover; Leslie Roundy; Nathan A. Seybold, Tim and Gina Wolfe Seybold; Virden and Elva Seybold; and Elizabeth Von Schoonhoven, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. John P. and Joyce E. SALES, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 28559.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, May 2003 Term.

August 27, 2003.

Neal & Uhl, PLLC, Boise, for appellants. Gary L. Neal argued.

Bevis, Cameron & Johnson, Boise, for respondents. Michael R. Johnson argued.

TROUT, Chief Justice.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

This is a real property case. Respondents, Marvenna S. Hodgins; Duane, Joan K., and Kim J. Cover; Leslie Roundy; Nathan A. Seybold; Tim and Gina Wolfe Seybold; Virden and Elva Seybold; and Elizabeth Von Schoonhoven (the Property Owners) assert easement rights to a road through the Appellants, John P. and Joyce E. Sales (the Sales), real property.

The real property in question is located in Boise County in an area commonly known as "Mack's Creek." The Mack's Creek area consists of approximately 160 to 200 acres of land. The road at issue runs from a bridge at the confluence of Mack's Creek and Grimes Creek, from Forest Service land through the Mack's Creek area and back to Forest Service land. The road is closed to the public by a gate at the bridge. At issue is the uppermost parcel of the Mack's Creek area served by the road, which is owned by the Sales. The Property Owners argue they have an easement right to pass over and through the Sales' parcel to access adjacent federal lands.

Most of the Property Owners claim they use the road intermittently to access recreational pursuits on the Forest Service land. However, Property Owner, Marvenna Hodgins, claims she uses the road more frequently to access an electrical power generator located on Forest Service land.

The evidence produced at trial indicates the Mack's Creek area was originally a homestead acquired by Edward Jump in 1921. This parcel remained intact through the following chain of title: Edward Jump to the Wisemans in 1922, the Wisemans to the Smiths in 1945, the Smiths to the Lockwoods in 1951, the Lockwoods to the Andrews in 1970. The Andrews subsequently divided the property and sold it in a number of separate parcels some of which were later divided further.

Sometime in the mid-1980's, Floyd Audette (Audette), a previous property owner in the Mack's Creek area and Marvenna Hodgins' immediate predecessor in interest, built a small hydroelectric power project on the Forest Service land. This facility provides electricity to the parcel now owned by Marvenna Hodgins. The project includes a diversion and a power generating plant, which are accessed via the road over the Sales' property. The diversion must be accessed frequently, sometimes twice a day, for maintenance.

In 1991, Property Owner, Tim Seybold, began maintaining the full length of Mack's Creek Road on behalf of a number of landowners in the Mack's Creek area. In 1994, the landowners began keeping records of the amounts collected and paid for such road maintenance. In 1995, these landowners formally incorporated the Mack's Creek Property Owner's Association and began collecting dues and road maintenance fees through this organization. Tim Seybold maintained the full length of Mack's Creek Road on behalf of the Mack's Creek Property Owners' Association through at least 1999.

The Sales purchased the subject property on December 29, 1997, by warranty deed from the Lees and McGraws. This deed does not identify the easement at issue but specifies the property is subject to easements of record. The warranty deed through which the Lees obtained the property from the Andrews, identifies the property as "[s]ubject to the easement for the existing road going through the property."

In August 1999 the Sales placed a locked gate across the road at the point where the road enters their property. The placement of the gate precipitated this lawsuit.

At a bench trial, the district judge heard testimony from each of the Property Owners but none of the earlier predecessors in interest testified. The district judge ultimately denied the claimed express easement and granted the claimed prescriptive easement for use of the road through the Sales' property. The Sales appeal the district judge's finding of a prescriptive easement, and the Property Owners argue the district judge's judgment can be upheld on either a theory of easement by prescription or an express easement.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A district court's decision that a claimant has established a private prescriptive easement involves entwined questions of law and fact. Marshall v. Blair, 130 Idaho 675, 679, 946 P.2d 975, 979 (1997). On appeal, this Court will not set aside findings of fact, unless they are clearly erroneous. Id. (citing I.R.C.P. Rule 52(a)). If a district court's findings of fact are supported by substantial and competent, though conflicting, evidence, this Court will not disturb the findings. Marshall v. Blair, 130 Idaho at 679, 946 P.2d at 979. Furthermore, this Court gives due regard to the district court's special opportunity to judge the credibility of the witnesses who personally appear before the court. Id. (citing I.R.C.P. Rule 52(a)). In contrast, this Court exercises free review over the district court's conclusions of law. Marshall v. Blair, 130 Idaho at 679, 946 P.2d at 979.

III. DISCUSSION

A. The District Judge Erred in Holding the Property Owners Were Entitled to a Prescriptive Easement Over the Sales' Property.

An easement is the right to use the land of another for a specific purpose that is not inconsistent with the general use of the property by the owner. Abbott v. Nampa School Dist. No. 131, 119 Idaho 544, 548, 808 P.2d 1289, 1293 (1991). To establish an easement by prescription, the claimant must prove by clear and convincing evidence use of the subject property, which is characterized as: (1) open and notorious; (2) continuous and uninterrupted; (3) adverse and under a claim of right; (4) with the actual or imputed knowledge of the owner of the servient tenement (5) for the statutory period. See I.C. § 5-203; Baxter v. Craney, 135 Idaho 166, 173, 16 P.3d 263, 270 (2000). Each element is essential to the claim, and the trial court must make findings relevant to each element in order to sustain a judgment on appeal. The trial court below made findings that the Property Owners use of the road was open and adverse, but did not make specific findings with respect to the remaining elements. Without such findings, the decision is in error.

In addition, where there is more than one claimant to a prescriptive easement, the trial court must make findings sufficient to support each claim. The easement alleged is best described as a shared, private right of way.¹ Further, it is permissible for a trial court to make findings of fact common to all property owners asserting prescriptive rights in the same property. Walker v. Hollinger, 132 Idaho 172, 173, 968 P.2d 661, 662 (1998). Nonetheless, where, as here, the claimants purchased their property at different times and used the subject property for different purposes and with different frequency, the trial court must make findings specific to each Property Owner's claim. Such findings are necessary, in part, because prescriptive rights are defined by the actual prescriptive use of the property over the statutory period. See Loosli v. Heseman, 66 Idaho 469, 475, 162 P.2d 393, 399 (1945). Therefore, the district judge must make findings of fact relating to each claimant, at least in order to define the scope of the right acquired by each Property Owner. Again, without such findings, the decision is in error.

B. The District Judge Correctly Treated the Alleged Easement as an Easement Appurtenant and Evidence of Tacking was Appropriately Considered.

Because the Property Owners have argued for an easement inextricably tied to their ownership of property in the Mack's Creek area, they have argued for an easement appurtenant. There are two general types of easements: easements appurtenant and easements in gross. An easement appurtenant is a right to use a certain parcel, the servient estate, for the benefit of another parcel, the dominant estate. Abbott v. Nampa School Dist. No. 131, 119 Idaho at 550, 808 P.2d at 1295. Essentially, an easement appurtenant serves the owner of the dominant estate in a way that cannot be separated from his rights in the land. Id. When an appurtenant easement is created, it becomes fixed as an appurtenance to the real property, which is subject to the prescriptive use and may be claimed by a successor in interest. Marshall v. Blair, 130 Idaho at 680, 946 P.2d at 980. In contrast, an easement in gross benefits the holder of the easement personally, without connection to the ownership or use of a specific parcel of land. King v. Lang, 136 Idaho 905, 909, 42 P.3d 698, 702 (2002). Thus, easements in gross do not attach to property. Id. In cases of doubt, Idaho courts presume the easement is appurtenant. Nelson v. Johnson, 106 Idaho 385, 387-388, 679 P.2d 662, 664-665 (1984).

The easement at issue is appropriately characterized as an easement appurtenant. Each of the Property Owners argued for an easement based on their ownership of property in the Mack's Creek Area. The Property Owners testified that they purchased their property based on access to public lands via the road traversing the Sales' property. In addition, based on their testimony, it appears the Property Owners would not have used the Sales' property but for their ownership of property in the Mack's Creek area and their belief that they had a reciprocal easement for the purpose of using the road. Therefore, while there was some testimony presented regarding the use of the Sales' property by others to access the public lands, each of the Property Owners' claims is tied fundamentally to the Property Owners' ownership of land in the...