2014, 03-18 Easement Ltr from HomeownerDear Mr. Doug Powell:
Project #
RECEIVED
MAR 202014 March 18, 2014
CSV PERMIT CENTER
SUB z" r -1 REV. #
This is in regards to the access easement located on the property
at 3715 S. Woodruff Rd., Spokane Valley, WA 99206. Parcel
45321-2302.
The house was purchased in the summer of 2003. At the closing
meeting with the agents, we were in the process of signing
papers when my now late husband, Rick, noticed the plat map
showed a dashed line for a 15' access easement along the north
boundary of the property. The house was built in 1990 and to our
knowledge, this wasn't disclosed or noticed earlier by the prior 3
owners of the house or their realtors. The 15' easement was
clearly located through the living room, dining room, kitchen and
deck of the house. Rick refused to complete signing the papers
until we talked with our realtor. This caused an issue with the
title insurance and Rick had many conversations with our realtor
and an attorney, Pam Rohr, who he hired to help sort out the
problem.
Rick was angry at the seller's realtor - last name Thoen - who
worked with John L. Scott as this should have been pointed out in
disclosure. I remember him not being too pleased with our
realtor, Gayle Earling, either. Since our house was built on the
last piece of property on Woodruff, it was evident that the 15'
access easement was put on it to allow county or city vehicle
access to remove limbs and debris from the running creek/swale
area on our neighbor's property. This supposed swale has never
even puddled or otherwise had standing water on it since we
purchased our home in 2003 - over 10 years ago. As I said
before, the swale in question is not even located on our property.
We signed paperwork that addressed a vacation of the easement
that our neighbors, Joe and Alice Espinoza, and Rick and I
completed before a notary. The swale area was once farmland
and orchards and was originally owned by Dr. Gudgel and
subsequently purchased by the Espinozas.
We lived here for six years when Rick died suddenly in April of
2009. During that six year period of time, no mention was made
about anything regarding the swale or the access easement. No
county or City of Spokane Valley vehicle has ever driven on our
property to access anything beyond our property line/fence line
on the east side of our property. I assumed that the paperwork
we had notarized removed the 15' access easement on the north
side of our property.
My fiance, Larry Hoffman, and I have been together for several
years. Larry sold his house last spring and we made plans to do
an addition to my house here on Woodruff. As you know, part of
the process of a major remodel was to get a building permit. So
in the summer of 2013, we applied for a permit at the City of
Spokane Valley permit center. Karen Kendall pulled the area plat
map up on her computer and she informed us that the 15'
easement still existed on the north side of our property. I told
her that we had signed papers to vacate that access easement
back when the house was purchased in 2003. She checked with
the auditor's office along with others in the permit center and
concluded that the easement had not been vacated or if it had,
the change had not been recorded.
Since the planned addition to our house was on the south side of
the property and within the original footprint of the foundation,
we were granted the permit and given the go ahead to have our
general contractor begin.
Larry paid for the addition and we want to add him to the title of
the property. We want a clean title to the property free of any
easements, so I pursued the issue of finding out why the 15'
access easement on the north side of the property was still
showing up on the plat map. Karen Kendall told me to go to
Simpson Engineering and talk to them. I spoke to Duane there
and we agreed to do what was necessary to deal with the
easement issue. I believe they went to the extent of redrawing
the plat without the swale and easement and then ordered the
property certificate. It was when Simpson Engineering received
the certificate that they found out the easement had been moved
to the south side of the property. I have no paperwork to
document that move. Karen Kendall and the permit people have
no record of it, nor could they see it on their computer. The roof
line and support posts of our already completed addition are now
inside that apparent 15' easement on the south side of the
property.
Larry and I have spent a significant sum adding on and
remodeling our house. We made our plans based on information
we were given by the permit center at the City of Spokane Valley.
I recently received a $1,382.50 invoice from Simpson Engineers
dated 2/3/14 for services rendered 10/29/13 - 11/22/13. This is
referring to the plat alteration that I have never been given and
that should have never been done had the property certificate
been pulled before Simpson made any assumptions or did
anything. Why would I agree to pay $1,382.50 for something
that hasn't benefited us in the least and should have been
addressed by the county or city years earlier?
We are asking that the City of Spokane Valley re -survey our
property and remove the aforementioned access easement.
Furthermore, we in no way feel obligated to pay any fees for the
survey or process of eliminating the access easement as this is
clearly the result of mistakes and omissions made by the county,
the city, or both.
We have made many plans and final decisions based on
information from the City of Spokane Valley that was totally false
and technically incorrect. We were directed to deal with an
engineering firm that apparently doesn't know what they are
doing.
Karen Kendall reviewed our case with a co-worker from her office
who was supposed to contact me within a week. I believe his
name is Scott Kuhta. I have yet to hear from him. My last phone
conversation with Karen occurred in September or October of
2013.
We by no means mean to imply that Karen was anything but
professional in our dealings with her. She was pleasant and as
helpful as possible given the information she was able to gather.
If you wish to discuss this further, please contact Larry at
(509)869-4999; but we wish to be clear that this issue needs to
be resolved in the next 60 days so we can move forward to
pursue a clean title on our property. Otherwise, we will hand this
off to our attorney who specializes in this type of legal matter.
Regards,
Barbara Berkseth
Larry Hoffman
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