What is the average cost of hiring a Real Estate Lawyer? -

I m involved in a dispute over the interpretation of an easement agreement pertaining to the one driveway and parking area on the property where my half of a duplex sits. I own the majority of the driveway property, however, the owner of the other side of the duplex has the right to park (2) cars and I m not to block him in. He interprets the agreement to read that although I still own 2/3 of the driveway, previous owners of my half relinquished exclusive use of the driveway to his half, and I cannot use the driveway at all. I ve contacted a lawyer, and will be meeting to consult with him for free in a few days. I m just concerned about how much this entire disagreement could end up costing me in legal fees.

Consult the specific covenants, restrictions, and conditions of the easement. An easement is defined as a right created by grant, reservation, agreement, prescription, or necessary implication, which one has in the land of another. It is for the benefit of land (appurtenant), such as right to cross A to get to B, or quot;in grossquot;, such as a public utility easement. Dominant tenement is a parcel of land which benefits from an easement. For example an easement exists over parcel A for access to parcel B. Parcel B is the dominant tenement; parcel A is the servient tenement. Servient tenement is an estate burdened with a servitude. Most commonly a parcel of land burdened by an easement. Take the easement and go talk to a real estate attorney that is giving you the free consultation. If you can t block him in, he can t just park on your 2/3 and block you access to your land. You and he have to share and both of you need to understand that. The easement agreement passed to you from the previous owner. It does not matter what the previous owners did - they don t own the land now you do and you bought that chunk too. It can get pretty expensive, but see if he ll do it for a flat rate of about $500. Otherwise, try a quiet title action, as long as the other owner is not landlocked. I don t know whoever thought up the idea of splitting the ownership of a duplex and not building separate drives/yards for same, but they need to be kicked, LOL!

Ask about fees up front! You should be able to get a written estimate of the costs before any work is done.

I ll give you my scenario. House purchased in 2005, Katrina damaged (Builder didn t fininsh installing up-stairs window.) Couldn t get him to repair correctly. Tried to file complaint, he isn t Licensed. And the City Inspector Knew it. Hired Attorney, fast forward to 2007. Attorney has $15,000.00 of our money. (Retainer is $5,000.00 every 6 month s or so.) The quot;Builder squot; building bigger houses, with no License still. The Attorney has new bigger, better offices. And we re broke, in worse shape ( house has Fire-Code/Building Code violations.) No Court date. And everyone but us, has what they want.

yteah im thinking 2000 maybe? wow that sucks

Most quot;goodquot; real estate attorneys won t charge less than $200.00 per hour. And yes, this disagreement will likely cost you and your neighbor substantial legal fees if there is no other way to settle this.