If there is a survey for the property you purchased, the following are or should be on the survey: 

• utility easements; 
• pipeline easements; 
• driveway easements
• boundary agreement

Each of these are shown as exceptions on your title insurance policy. 

Many times there are unrecorded easements created either by a grant of use or by prescriptive use (adverse use similar to adverse possession).   Those documents are not shown on your title insurance policy.  

That means due diligence as a buyer of property means as a prospective buyer you should investigate the nature and extent of any use on the property and carefully review unrecorded easements shown on the title commitment or in the survey.  

A title search of both the dominant and servient property may be necessary to help determine access documents that affect property you are interested in buying. Ask your prospective neighbors about use, whether there are covenants and what historically has been access to the property.  

The best practice is that due diligence is performed before you purchase real property.  

Law Offices of Gayla K. Austin LLC 

307.200.1914