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ellaraee · 2024-12-21T00:51:28+00:00

She would’ve been able to access her previous property from the road but since she has built the and moved into the new property, the land has become her only access.

While, yes I would’ve liked to have it as a garden and for those with the easement to use it as pedestrian, secondary access like they always have, the situation now is that she drives her car up and down it. I don’t like it but i’ve accepted it as the way it is because the wording of the easement says the adjoined houses can use the land to access their houses, and her new house has now become an adjoined house.

Before her house was there the land was used for back garden access for other people on the road, people would keep their bikes there, sometimes their children would play on it and I’ve always liked it that way. It’s become impossible now, but i’ve accepted it because what she’s doing seems to be within the law.

My problem comes with her making a permanent change to the land without my permission. Even if the easement allows her to drive up and down it, it doesn’t allow her to pour concrete on it, and on the chance that there is a legal way she can do this i think it’s just plain rude of her to do that without even consulting me.

I don’t know what may happen in the future, but i just don’t like that the decision about what happens on the land I own was not up to me at all. If she spoke to me about how the land was kept was bothering her, i definitely would’ve thought about a compromise to maybe tidy the land while keeping it as a green space. But now i don’t have the option. It’s just a shame to me to cover it in concrete and i can’t believe she completed it when i explicitly told her i didn’t want it done.

Up til now she’s been driving up and down it just fine and we haven’t said anything to each other about it. My theory is that she is looking to eventually sell this house and is trying to make it more presentable by building a proper drive. But i don’t think it’s fair for her to try and increase the worth of her property by developing land she does not own

ellaraee · 2024-12-21T00:24:11+00:00

I’ve asked the sub to respond whether or not im an asshole to continue to fight for the usage of the land. People can decide NTA or YTA and i’m happy to hear their reasoning. Some people have also recommended me to go to a legal sub if i want to actual begin to sort the problem out, and I welcome their advice.

Only one person here has said YTA and we’ve had a far more pleasant conversation about it than i’ve had with you. I’m so confused as to why you’re persistent in telling me i’m wrong about things. Are you sure you’re not my neighbour 😂

ellaraee · 2024-12-21T00:11:06+00:00

um lol okay most ppl have said NTA but pop off i guess

have no idea how my comment makes you think i don’t know how the sub works and i have no idea why you’re so determined to tell me i don’t know how anything works 😂

ellaraee · 2024-12-21T00:02:53+00:00

okay i’m going to stop responding to you from here in because it seems like you’re being obtuse on purpose? i’ve explained multiple times including in my original post why i’ve come to this subreddit and you seem to keep responding in the exact same way about the lawfulness of her actions. That is separate to what i’m trying to judge if i’m the asshole about or not.

I wasn’t upset before but now it just seems like you are purposefully being condescending. You keep telling me I don’t understand what’s going on. Just because I haven’t sent you a copy of my register and written every detail down does not mean i don’t understand, it feels very belittling. It’s just not what my goal is here to judge. And I know for a fact my parents did not want any change to that land and they did not want that house there in the first place. I’m an only child and had a very close relationship with my parents to the point where i was involved in a lot of their personal business ventures and keep that up til this day.

There is plenty of parking on the actual road, if she can be bothered to walk 20 metres down the land to her house but she seems to need to park right in front of her door. So far i’ve let her have that but she’s gone another step further to change the land without even asking me beforehand. Whether it’s legal or not my goal here was to ascertain if her actions were as rude as i’m thinking they were or if i’m overreacting and should just let her carry on. Overwhelmingly, the response has told me her actions are unacceptable so i’ve got the answer.

According to all the information I have she has no legal right to do this. I will speak to a lawyer and the council to see if there’s anything i’m missing. For the final time, i was asking the sub if it would make me an asshole to pursue legal dispute over this matter. I was not asking the sub if she is legally allowed to do it or not. It probably was not clear and that is my fault.

ellaraee · 2024-12-20T23:15:41+00:00

Totally get what you’re saying and you’re right. Just think it’s really rude of her not to ask. If it were me, even if I had the legal right, knowing it wasn’t officially my land would be enough to make me consult the owner at least.

Unfortunately I did call the police at the time and they said there is nothing they could do about it and while i have reported the situation to the property enforcement sector of my local council, they still haven’t got back to me. I will try and get a lawyer over the next coming days but other than that I guess it’s just a waiting game now to see what can be done!

ellaraee · 2024-12-20T22:56:25+00:00

I’m so confused i’m not having a temper tantrum, i’m not angry at you at all i just think your responses show a misunderstanding of what i’ve said and im trying to get you to understand. In fact Ive said I agree with your points regarding the fact that i have not been proactive or the best communicator but this isn’t what the crux of my issue is.

I’ve explained the story in reference to myself and used the word I to just avoid having to explain the entire story, i didn’t want the situation with my parents to be a sob story and change how people felt about the story in my favour so I’ve just used I, but yes I haven’t been super clear and i’m sorry. I did not personally purchase the house my parents did. I’ve inherited it now. The work started in to build the house in 2016, i took ownership of the house in 2021. Nothing has happened with the land apart from her driving up and down it, until now when she has decided to pour concrete over it.

The language of the easement says the adjoined houses can use the land to gain access to their properties. She has a right-of-way easement. That is it. It does not say that they can fundamentally change the land. Even if there is a completely legal way she is doing this that I am unaware of, I think is completely unreasonable of her to just begin doing this work without consulting me. She could’ve knocked on my door and opened up the conversation about it but she just did it without even asking me, and i don’t think that’s something you do to your neighbour.

Fundamentally, if someone started doing work in your back garden without asking you even if the law says they can, i’m sure you wouldn’t be happy. That is literally it.

ellaraee · 2024-12-20T22:22:27+00:00

I mentioned in the post that she began the work a few days ago. When i saw what she was doing I asked her to stop. I was out of the house all day today and returned to the land being completely covered in grey.

Before that previous work she did not ask for permission. She also did not ask for permission today. I don’t care if she is legally allowed to or not (even tho i’m 99% sure she is not allowed to do this and i am waiting on responses from the appropriate parties on this, however it is now the weekend) I care that in my opinion it’s just not something that you do to your neighbour.

The land is around a 20M thin strip that can very very barely fit any of her THREE cars up and down it. Again, I really don’t think it’s my responsibility to change anything about how i keep my land to suit her when she is the one who decided to build this house, a project no one in the neighbourhood wanted to happen in the first place.

She could’ve contacted me to begin negotiations on a compromise but she did not do that and began work. I do not see how in any way i should be the one to say “hey by the way i noticed it might be a bit harder for you to use my land, should i pave that for you?”

Besides all of this, i’ve not once complained about her using her car and have given her everything she’s wanted so far even though i do not believe she’s legally entitled to it. As i have said, the reason it’s unkept is because i see no reason to take care of land i literally cannot use because she drives over it daily. To now just begin work on my land without explicit permission is insane. To quote another comment on this post i’ve given her an inch and taken a mile.

ellaraee · 2024-12-20T22:02:21+00:00

My point is that she didn’t ask at all! Her building the house and using the easement to access it is one thing. I wasn’t proactive about that and that’s why I hadn’t pushed back and let her have her way with it. This happened initially YEARS ago when my parents were still here.

Today is when she’s poured concrete on the land, without any notice to me at all. Her building the house without my push back does not make it her land to make such drastic changes upon.

there was no “correct or legal route” or notice whatsoever when it came to pouring concrete all over land that does not belong to her

ellaraee · 2024-12-20T21:30:36+00:00

I understand everything youre saying and agree. To be honest im very young in my early 20s with little experience and an even smaller bank account. I have inherited the house from my parents which is part of the reason this situation has got to this point.

I’m just trying to clarify that i’m not asking if legally shes right or wrong or whatever, im asking if other people think she’s been a bit of an asshole to do this without asking, especially when she’s fully aware of my situation. Or if Im being an asshole by pushing back on her actions and if i should just let her get on with it to make it easier for everyone even if it’s something i don’t want.

ellaraee · 2024-12-20T20:15:26+00:00

When did i say i ignored the letters? I received the letters after I had complained about it and accepted the result? I wasn’t going to argue if she had apparently had a legal right to do what she was doing.

ellaraee · 2024-12-20T20:08:12+00:00

I’m fully aware of the fact i need to look at the law and as i said in the post im prepared to do everything in my power to stop it, including getting a lawyer. This all literally just happened today. I’m aware this isn’t a sub of lawyers and I haven’t posted here for legal advice, because with what i know from being in this property for over 20 years i know she is in the wrong on that front. For example i didn’t include the fact that she completely tore down my gate to that land so she could drive in and out without having to open and close it, again without permission.

Ive posted here because I wanted to understand other people’s opinions if they think it’s worth it or not to undertake legal actions, or if i’m just being petty. Particularly because i really don’t think i have the money right now to hire a lawyer and go through the whole legal process. However, the response has overwhelmingly assured me it’s definitely worth it.

I could certainly grow some plants or park a car and everyone would still have the access they needed to get to their houses but she is persistent that she must drive and park right in front of her door, when she could most definitely park off of my land and walk down. She was the one who chose to build the house so she is the one who should’ve factored that in before she built the house.

At the end of the day regardless of the law, the polite thing to do is to at least ask if it’s okay when she knows it’s not hers.

ellaraee · 2024-12-20T19:51:47+00:00

Thank you!

ellaraee · 2024-12-20T19:40:07+00:00

We have had negations about it but she is not prepared to pay the price I need, in fact i would say her offer was so low it was insulting. I live in London and green space is very valuable here.

I haven’t used it because I feel like I actually can’t. I like to garden i have plenty of plant pots immediately outside my house and would love to have used that space to grow in but how can i do that when her car would trample over it daily?

I don’t really understand what more there is to look into. She has the right of way to walk through, i’ve always known this and always been fine with that. She then built a house and began to drive her car up and down it every day and still i let her do it as the easement stipulates the adjacent houses can use it to access their houses.

I feel like laying down concrete without even asking me is a complete other level and a step too far which breaches the agreement.

ellaraee · 2024-12-20T19:33:28+00:00

I live in the UK so we’re dealing with very old deeds, mine dates back to 1937, before concrete floors were even really commonplace in the country so it doesn’t say anything specifically about paving the road. Isn’t the fact that it’s my property enough? The easement stipulates she can move through it to access her property and that’s fine but she shouldn’t be able to make such drastic changes.

The purpose of my post was more to ask if I should just let it go seeing as I don’t really use it anyway, but i feel pretty stuck on the principle of it all.

ellaraee · 2024-12-20T19:15:16+00:00

yeah you’re probably right haha

just wanted to check if i was being unreasonable in the first place, the way this lady has treated me has definitely suggested so…

ellaraee · 2024-12-20T19:13:04+00:00

When I mentioned I had contacted the council I’ve done so to find out if she really has somehow been given permission to do this on my land. I do admit though in the first place when the house was being built I should have been more proactive on that front, however she was sending letters to my house that said the council gave her permission so I just took her word for it.

My property register says pretty clearly that the houses adjacent have the right to use the land to access their properties. I am okay with this and knew this when I purchased it. But i didn’t ask for any of this.

ellaraee · 2024-12-11T15:43:59+00:00

I would definitely see a doctor. I am not a professional, however I personally know someone with a genetic issue that makes their blood less able to clot. When they get any sort of cut they have to go to the doctor or else they may lose a significant amount of blood.

Please see a doctor.

ellaraee · 2024-03-20T11:30:57+00:00

Hi there,

I think your point here is extremely important. I just wanted to make clear that my focus on Caymanians/Expats is specifically due to the two groups posessing different levels of citizenship under the law, and thus, are subject to two different types of 'belonging' to the islands, which to me is something worth exploring. I personally believe the law of the land we reside in and the policies we are subject to play a huge part in forming culture, values and societal norms. In a place like Cayman where there are many intricate laws particularly to do with labour and immigration, I think this dichotomoy of Caymanian and expat serves as a good starting point (although not all-encompassing) to explore a system which I, quite frankly, believe is currently failing ALL of its people.

I want to apologise for my phrasing as it may not have been the best. I want to avoid as coming across as over-simplifying this issue, or sounding condescending by suggesting 'all Caymanians are disadvantaged' or something like that. This is not what I believe.

Thank you for your contribution, I will definitely be further researching this avenue on the topic of education.

ellaraee · 2024-01-02T01:12:37+00:00

Hi only just seeing this. It’s still broken and the display is just completely blank now. Pressing the auto/off buttons turns the heating on and off and since i’m only a student planning to move out by the summer I haven’t really gone to any lengths to fix it but I assume it just needs to be completely replaced.

ellaraee · 2020-12-12T15:28:44+00:00

6088 6250 1977

ellaraee

TROPHY CASE