{ "id": 8352839, "name": "FRANK H. R. FALKSON, KENNETH COLLIER, FRANCIS CARTER, ALBERT G. FOLCHER, III, VICTOR VANCE, BURT MOODY, AND WATERWAY LANDING- POCOSIN FARMS PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, Plaintiffs v. CLAYTON LAND CORPORATION, 3-B FARMS, INC., and JIMMY D. BRINN, JR., and wife, PAULA O. BRINN, Defendants", "name_abbreviation": "Falkson v. Clayton Land Corp.", "decision_date": "2005-11-15", "docket_number": "No. COA04-1596", "first_page": "616", "last_page": "619", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "174 N.C. App. 616" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "N.C. Ct. App.", "id": 14983, "name": "North Carolina Court of Appeals" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 5, "name_long": "North Carolina", "name": "N.C." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "384 S.E.2d 532", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1989, "pin_cites": [ { "parenthetical": "\"It is a correct proposition that the holder of an easement may seek monetary damages for wrongful interference with his use of the easement.\"" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "325 N.C. 277", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 2492089, 2492692, 2488557 ], "year": 1989, "pin_cites": [ { "parenthetical": "\"It is a correct proposition that the holder of an easement may seek monetary damages for wrongful interference with his use of the easement.\"" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/325/0277-02", "/nc/325/0277-01", "/nc/325/0277-03" ] }, { "cite": "379 S.E.2d 59", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1989, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "64-65", "parenthetical": "\"It is a correct proposition that the holder of an easement may seek monetary damages for wrongful interference with his use of the easement.\"" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "93 N.C. App. 665", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C. App.", "case_ids": [ 8528482 ], "year": 1989, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "673", "parenthetical": "\"It is a correct proposition that the holder of an easement may seek monetary damages for wrongful interference with his use of the easement.\"" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc-app/93/0665-01" ] }, { "cite": "397 F. Supp. 1351", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "F. Supp.", "case_ids": [ 3813224 ], "year": 1975, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "1358" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/f-supp/397/1351-01" ] }, { "cite": "51 S.E.2d 191", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "weight": 2, "year": 1949, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "195" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "229 N.C. 682", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 12167626 ], "year": 1949, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "687-88" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/229/0682-01" ] }, { "cite": "418 S.E.2d 841", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1992, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "848" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "107 N.C. App. 154", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C. App.", "case_ids": [ 8527276 ], "year": 1992, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "165" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc-app/107/0154-01" ] }, { "cite": "290 S.E.2d 593", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1982, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "598" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "305 N.C. 603", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8572803 ], "year": 1982, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "611" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/305/0603-01" ] }, { "cite": "563 S.E.2d 269", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 2002, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "274" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "150 N.C. App. 231", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C. App.", "case_ids": [ 9080776 ], "year": 2002, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "238" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc-app/150/0231-01" ] } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 477, "char_count": 7834, "ocr_confidence": 0.743, "pagerank": { "raw": 5.298132930532853e-08, "percentile": 0.3341963180092739 }, "sha256": "01e5390306ac2458d8d46e07a75f044b21f2563f3031f49773af1f220f452a28", "simhash": "1:e9a687db85f7e761", "word_count": 1260 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T21:19:44.302822+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [ "Judges HUDSON and STEELMAN concur." ], "parties": [ "FRANK H. R. FALKSON, KENNETH COLLIER, FRANCIS CARTER, ALBERT G. FOLCHER, III, VICTOR VANCE, BURT MOODY, AND WATERWAY LANDING\u2014 POCOSIN FARMS PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, Plaintiffs v. CLAYTON LAND CORPORATION, 3-B FARMS, INC., and JIMMY D. BRINN, JR., and wife, PAULA O. BRINN, Defendants" ], "opinions": [ { "text": "JACKSON, Judge.\nThe facts giving rise to this appeal are undisputed. Plaintiffs and defendants, through a series of conveyances, are the owners, or representatives of the owners, of parcels of property which originally comprised a single piece of property owned by the Rich family. The properties owned by plaintiffs and the properties of the owners represented by the Waterway Landing-Pocosin Farms Property Owners Association (\u201cHomeowner\u2019s Association\u201d) originally were transferred as a single parcel from the Rich family. That parcel subsequently was subdivided into two subdivisions. The original deed to the property which now comprises the two subdivisions included an easement for ingress and egress which the parties agree describes Airport Road, the subject of the instant controversy. The Homeowner\u2019s Association was formed to maintain Airport Road as well as other roads and common areas within the two subdivisions.\nTitle to defendants\u2019 properties also originated from the Rich family and the properties, collectively, are the servient estate of the easement. Defendants\u2019 properties lay between plaintiffs\u2019 properties and the public roadway and are utilized as farmland.\nAirport Road, which constitutes the easement, is a dirt road constructed by the Riches prior to any land sales to the parties to this case. The road was constructed by digging canals which were then filled with wood and topped off with dirt. Due to the manner of construction, the road is subject to developing holes where the underlying wood has rotted away. These holes normally are repaired by filling them with dirt. After the original transfer of the property constituting the dominant estate from the Riches to plaintiffs\u2019 grantor, plaintiffs\u2019 grantor improved the entire length of the road surface by placing rock on top of the dirt surface.\nThe Homeowner\u2019s Association subsequently placed rock in holes that developed in the road and sought compensation from defendants for that portion of the cost that it considered reasonably attributable to the portion of the road owned and used by defendants. Defendants refused to pay the compensation requested, contending that they had no duty to maintain the easement and that their use of it was reasonable and within the uses provided for by the language granting the easement. Plaintiffs contend that defendants\u2019 use of the easement caused substantial damage thereto and deprived them of their reasonable use of the easement, thus requiring compensation from defendants.\nPlaintiffs filed a complaint in the Superior Court of Hyde County on 14 March 2001 seeking declaratory and monetary relief. Defendants filed answers and motions to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiffs then filed a motion for partial summary judgment. On 7 June 2004, a hearing was held on the parties\u2019 motions. At the hearing, oral testimony was presented by the president of defendant, 3-B Farms, Inc., who testified generally regarding the defendants\u2019 use of the road.\nAfter hearing the testimony and arguments of counsel, the trial court denied plaintiffs\u2019 motion for partial summary judgment and granted defendants\u2019 motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiffs timely appealed the order granting the motion to dismiss.\nThe standard of review of an order granting a 12(b)(6) motion is whether the complaint states a claim for which relief can be granted under some legal theory when the complaint is liberally construed and all the allegations included therein are taken as true. Country Club of Johnston County, Inc. v. U.S. Fidelity & Guar. Co., 150 N.C. App. 231, 238, 563 S.E.2d 269, 274 (2002). In the case sub judice, the allegations relevant to this appeal are that defendants had caused substantial damage to the roadway over which plaintiffs had an easement and that such damage substantially deprived plaintiffs of the reasonable use of that easement.\nBoth parties agree that the general rule in North Carolina is that the owner of a servient estate has no duty to maintain or repair an easement for the benefit of the dominant tenant in the absence of an agreement requiring it. Green v. Duke Power Co., 305 N.C. 603, 611, 290 S.E.2d 593, 598 (1982); see also, Shear v. Stevens Bldg. Co., 107 N.C. App. 154, 165, 418 S.E.2d 841, 848 (1992); 25 Am. Jr. 2d Easements and Licenses in Real Property \u00a7 94 (2004). Both parties also agree, that the owner of a servient estate may continue to make reasonable use of the property which is subject to the easement. Carolina Power & Light Co. v. Bowman, 229 N.C. 682, 687-88, 51 S.E.2d 191, 195 (1949). A servient owner may not, however, make use of the property in such a way as to interfere with the dominant tenant\u2019s reasonable use of the easement for the purpose for which it was granted and any such use may be enjoined. Id. Webster\u2019s Real Estate Law in North Carolina provides that, with respect to this rule:\n\u201cAny activity by the fee owner which would result in increased cost or inconvenience to the easement holder in exercise of his rights or which would create a safety hazard should those rights be exercised amounts to a material impairment of the easement interest.\u201d\nPatrick K. Hetrick & James B. McLaughlin, Jr., Webster\u2019s Real Estate Law in North Carolina \u00a7 15-23 (5th ed. 1999) (quoting United States v. Sea Gate, Inc., 397 F. Supp. 1351, 1358 (D.N.C. 1975)).\nPlaintiffs\u2019 complaint plainly alleges that defendants have caused substantial damage to the roadway which is subject to the easement and that such damage has substantially deprived them of the reasonable use of the easement. Plaintiffs seek damages from defendants resulting from the damage allegedly done to the easement by defendants\u2019 use and plaintiffs\u2019 loss of use resulting from such damage. Such relief is available in North Carolina in situations where a servient tenant impermissibly interferes with a dominant tenant\u2019s use of an easement. See Williams v. Skinner, 93 N.C. App. 665, 673, 379 S.E.2d 59, 64-65, cert. denied, 325 N.C. 277, 384 S.E.2d 532 (1989) (\u201cIt is a correct proposition that the holder of an easement may seek monetary damages for wrongful interference with his use of the easement.\u201d). Accordingly, we hold that plaintiffs\u2019 complaint did state a claim for which relief could be granted and, therefore, reverse the trial court\u2019s order granting defendants\u2019 Rule 12(b)(6) motion.\nReversed.\nJudges HUDSON and STEELMAN concur.", "type": "majority", "author": "JACKSON, Judge." } ], "attorneys": [ "Geo. Thomas Davis, Jr., for the plaintiffs-appellants.", "Keith B. Mason andMcCotter, Ashton & Smith, P.A., by Rudolph A. Ashton, III, and Terri W. Sharp, for Clayton Land Corporation and Jimmy D. Brinn, Jr. and wife, Paula O. Brinn, defendants-appellees.", "Franklin B. Johnston, for 3-B Farms, Inc., defendants-appellees." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "FRANK H. R. FALKSON, KENNETH COLLIER, FRANCIS CARTER, ALBERT G. FOLCHER, III, VICTOR VANCE, BURT MOODY, AND WATERWAY LANDING\u2014 POCOSIN FARMS PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, Plaintiffs v. CLAYTON LAND CORPORATION, 3-B FARMS, INC., and JIMMY D. BRINN, JR., and wife, PAULA O. BRINN, Defendants\nNo. COA04-1596\n(Filed 15 November 2005)\nEasements\u2014 servient tenant\u2019s impermissible interference with dominant tenant\u2019s use\u2014 motion to dismiss\nThe trial court erred by granting defendants\u2019 Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss plaintiffs\u2019 complaint seeking relief for damages allegedly done to an easement by defendants\u2019 use and plaintiffs\u2019 loss of use resulting from such damage, because such relief is available in North Carolina in situations where a servient tenant impermissibly interferes with a dominant tenant\u2019s use of an easement.\nAppeal by plaintiffs from an order entered 12 July 2004 by Judge William C. Griffin, Jr. in Hyde County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 16 June 2005.\nGeo. Thomas Davis, Jr., for the plaintiffs-appellants.\nKeith B. Mason andMcCotter, Ashton & Smith, P.A., by Rudolph A. Ashton, III, and Terri W. Sharp, for Clayton Land Corporation and Jimmy D. Brinn, Jr. and wife, Paula O. Brinn, defendants-appellees.\nFranklin B. Johnston, for 3-B Farms, Inc., defendants-appellees." }, "file_name": "0616-01", "first_page_order": 646, "last_page_order": 649 }