"Unless you grant permission or insist that the neighbor remove the fence, he can acquire a permanent prescriptive easement to that 3-foot strip of your land. Incidentally, no payment of property tax is required to obtain such an easement. The legal requirements for a prescriptive easement are open, notorious, hostile and continuous use of property without the owner's permission for from five to 21 years, depending on state law."
"To stop someone from acquiring a prescriptive easement on your property, just grant written permission to use your land. Permissive use defeats the hostile requirement of a prescriptive easement. Many people confuse prescriptive easements with acquiring title by adverse possession. The time required to perfect both is usually the same. So are the open, notorious, hostile and continuous use of property without the owner's permission elements."
"If someday you want to develop your property and construct a building where the neighbor has been driving, he could stop you by going to court to get a prescriptive easement. To stop someone from acquiring a prescriptive easement on your property, just grant written permission to use your land."
A prescriptive easement allows someone to gain legal rights to use another's property without permission or payment. The requirements include open, notorious, hostile, and continuous use for 5 to 21 years depending on state law. Property owners can prevent prescriptive easements by granting written permission for any use, which eliminates the hostile requirement. A quiet-title lawsuit perfects the easement in court. Prescriptive easements differ from adverse possession, which requires property tax payments for the specified period. Owners must actively object to unauthorized use or risk losing control of portions of their land permanently.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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