Order the survey and title review early. The fact that someone has driven to a house for years does not, by itself, establish the permanent rights a buyer and lender need.
Define the issue in physical and legal terms
An easement grants rights over land for a stated purpose. An encroachment involves an improvement or use crossing a boundary or affecting another property interest. Access questions concern both the legal right to reach the property and whether the route works in practice.
Ask the surveyor to identify the physical facts and the attorney or title professional to explain the recorded rights. A survey line and a legal document should be read together rather than treated as competing answers.
| Finding | ** First question** |
|---|---|
| Utility or drainage easement | Does an improvement interfere with the documented rights? |
| Shared driveway | Who can use it, maintain it and bind future owners? |
| Fence or building across a boundary | Whose land is affected, and what correction or agreement is possible? |
| Private road | Are access and maintenance arrangements acceptable? |
| Apparent landlocked parcel | What enforceable access right exists or can be established? |
| Route that floods or cannot support normal access | Is practical access suitable despite a recorded right? |
Boundary and access findings belong in the title clearance process, alongside the survey and lender's collateral review. Resolve who can use and reach the property before assuming the physical route is legally sufficient.
Legal access and practical access both matter
A neighbor's verbal permission can be revocable, disputed or limited to the current owner. Ask counsel whether the buyer and future owners have an enforceable right covering the intended use.
Read the actual easement for location, width, permitted traffic, duration and affected parcels. Ask whether residential use, utilities and necessary maintenance are addressed where relevant. An easement for a narrow purpose should not be assumed to permit every use the buyer wants.
Then inspect the route itself. Condition, drainage, gates, bridges and maintenance can affect whether the property is usable and marketable. Ask the lender and insurer about material limitations rather than relying on a recorded document alone.
If access must be established through legal proceedings or a new grant, obtain the attorney's scope and realistic timing. Do not assume a landlocked property becomes financeable merely because a potential legal remedy exists.
What the survey should help clarify
Give the surveyor the title commitment and relevant instruments through the closing team's process. Ask what is covered by the survey and whether additional work is needed to depict the disputed feature or access route.
Compare structures, drives, fences and other improvements with boundaries and easements. Identify any limitation in the report, including information that needs further location or documentation.
A property appraiser map is useful for initial research, but it is not a legal boundary survey. Use the property due diligence guide to assemble records without mistaking GIS lines for a final determination.
If the seller produces an older survey, ask whether it remains appropriate for the current transaction and improvements. A pool, addition or shifted fence can change what needs investigation.
Shared roads need a maintenance plan
Fannie Mae's site guidance addresses legally enforceable private street maintenance arrangements, including cost responsibility, remedies and duration, and recognizes specified alternative treatments under its requirements. [1]
Have the lender review the actual road and documents. Do not assume every private road requires identical paperwork or that an informal promise to split costs is enough.
Ask who pays for grading, drainage, major repairs and emergency access. Determine whether the arrangement binds future owners and whether other parties' obligations can be enforced.
The maintenance cost also belongs in the buyer's ownership budget. A private road can be acceptable financing while still creating a substantial future bill if the surface or bridge needs work.
Can an agreement or title endorsement cure the problem?
Potentially, depending on the rights, facts and program. Ask counsel and title to distinguish these options:
| Proposed response | ** What it may address** | ** What it does not establish alone** |
|---|---|---|
| New recorded easement | A legally granted right for the stated use | Road condition or lender approval |
| Encroachment agreement | Defined rights and obligations concerning the improvement | Every zoning or lending requirement |
| Physical relocation | Removal of the boundary conflict | Release of a separate recorded claim |
| Governmental variance | Applicable land use or dimensional permission | Ownership of a neighbor's land |
| Title endorsement | Specified insured risk | A newly created physical or legal access route |
Fannie Mae's title guidance permits certain minor impediments under stated conditions and rejects unacceptable impediments. [2] An encroachment should be submitted with its dimensions and effect, not simply labeled minor.
Get the proposed remedy accepted by the necessary parties before treating it as the closing solution. An owner may prefer protection beyond the lender's required coverage; have the title professional explain whose policy covers which risk.
Who must act or sign?
| Participant | ** Responsibility to confirm** |
|---|---|
| Surveyor | Locates and describes the physical issue within the survey scope |
| Current property owner | Supplies records and completes an agreed seller cure |
| Neighbor or servient land owner | Grants or modifies rights where legally required |
| Other interest holders | Joins or consents if their rights require participation |
| Attorney | Establishes authority and drafts or reviews the legal remedy |
| Title insurer and lender | Accepts the resulting coverage and collateral treatment |
A neighbor's signature may be insufficient if another owner or creditor's rights also affect the grant. Counsel should establish the necessary parties and priority, not leave the buyer to collect signatures from whoever lives next door.
Marketability and appraisal value need review
The appraiser should receive accurate information through the lender's process. A documented right, physical obstruction or road limitation can affect utility, comparable sale analysis and marketability.
Do not assume an easement always reduces value or that curing a defect restores a particular amount. The effect depends on the actual property and market evidence.
The conventional appraisal guide explains the valuation process. A satisfactory value does not excuse an unacceptable title exception, and title coverage does not automatically establish the appraiser's value conclusion.
Keep legal, title and loan decisions separate
| Decision | ** Responsible reviewer** |
|---|---|
| What right exists or can be created? | Attorney using the relevant instruments and law |
| What risk can be insured? | Title insurer and closing professional |
| What physical condition exists? | Surveyor and appropriate property specialists |
| Is the collateral and value acceptable? | Mortgage lender and appraiser within their roles |
Ask each reviewer to identify the unresolved fact. A vague statement that access is fine can hide disagreement about whether it means a road exists, a right exists or the mortgage has cleared.
A cure budget example
Suppose a hypothetical proposed solution includes these estimates:
| Item | ** Assumed amount** |
|---|---|
| Additional survey work | $1,500 |
| Legal and recording work | $5,000 |
| Agreed road or physical correction | $8,500 |
| Total | $15,000 |
These are illustrative assumptions, not quotes. If the buyer originally retained $20,000 after closing and pays the entire cure outside the loan, only $5,000 remains before other changes.
Paying for survey or legal work does not guarantee that a neighbor will grant the required right. Confirm feasibility, allocation and the lender's acceptance before committing to a plan based solely on a cost estimate.
An approved contract contribution may change who pays, but financing and contribution rules still apply. A seller credit cannot create an easement by itself.
A sequence that leaves time for a real decision
First, obtain the survey, title exception and related instruments. Second, have the professionals identify the actual legal and physical problem. Third, price the feasible cure and identify necessary signers. Fourth, obtain title and lender acceptance and document the contract allocation. Finally, complete work and recording and obtain final clearance.
Coordinate the dates through the preapproval to closing process. A legal cure may take longer than an ordinary inspection correction, particularly when it depends on third parties.
Keep the survey, legal descriptions, easements, maintenance agreements, relevant correspondence, approved cure, signed instruments and recording information. Include appraisal or insurance updates requested because the facts changed.
When walking away deserves consideration
If an essential right cannot be documented, a necessary party will not cooperate, the cure is unpriced or the financing deadline cannot realistically be met, discuss your contract choices with the agent and attorney.
A late promise to resolve it after closing leaves the buyer dependent on future cooperation and possibly unavailable financing. Compare the verified exposure with your intended use and available cash before waiving protection.
I want the route you can use and the right you own to support the same purchase plan. A survey and a specific title requirement give us something useful to assess; years of informal use alone leave too much unanswered for a closing decision.
Sources
- Reviewed October 17, 2026. Legal rights and eligibility require property specific review. Example expenses are hypothetical.