Complaint Review: Kevin Pizutto et al.

Unusual Rip-offs. Rotten Neighbors

File# 3-31-2000 CA James Shelby 619 258-1122

My name is Fireman Jim Shelby. My wife, two daughters, and myself were loved by our neighbors. Why not, I did alot of manual labor for them... free. I love helping people, it's my profession.
Last year, to my suprise, we were served a lawsuit signed by eleven of the twenty-two neighbors that share a private easement for ingress and egress purposes only. The easement is discribed at a strip of land thirty feet wide. Across from our house it is only 16 feet wide. I found this out after my daughter was almost hit by a car on her bicycle going around a car parked in the narrow easement. I asked a couple of neighbors if the could please park where the easement was wider.
Boy did this upset a couple old folks. "How dare you imply where we can and can't park."
The nighbor across from me told me that he moved his fence out because my nextdoor neighbor used to park his boat behind his fence. I replied, "People still park there, and now you've created an unsafe situation. The fire code states, '20 feet unobstructed access shall be maintained.' I then offered to pay to move his fence, and asphalt the dirt area. He slapped my face and said, "I'm not moving my fence." Then he and his nextdoor neighbor hired a very creative lawyer and requested a survey of our property. We complied... 2000 dollars later we found out that we were 2 - 3 feet behind the line. I then extended out driveway out this distance to be uniform and so that a fence could be constructed on our property line. That was our whole intention in the first place, to keep our girls out of the street. Next thing we know we are being sued for a strip of land 4 feet by 80 feet, the full width of our property.
16 plus 4 equals 20 feet (Fire Code) We'll first off, we didn't move our fence out 4 feet. Second, They moved their fences out into the easement. If they get our property, we will be parked illegally as our cars parked in front of our garage would be sticking out into the easemtent. Their cars however, parked in front of thier garage will have an extra 14 plus feet behind them. They are using a 140 year old prescriptive easement law that has no value in today's society, what with property monuments and lines. Where is the justice? We have already spent $9000.00 on the attorney who is countersuing for them to move their fences back, and get nothing but lip service from the title policy attorney who say that we have a weak case and will probably lose our land. What a crock.
The properties are 80 feet wide. The encroached fences are about 50 to 60 feet wide. How much constitutes taking the whole width of property? They've taken an easement and are trying to make it a different kind of easement. The easement was originally taken off their properties in 1948, so how can they take land that was already theirs? Prescriptive easement being the taking or using of anothers property by open, notorious, and hostile use.
A nation-wide cry should ring out against this rip-off. Where property lines and markers exist, the person or persons wishing to build, plant, or anything should pay for a survey and stay within their borders. Please Help.
Sincerely,



James Shelby (619) 258-1122