Hirshfield

In this quiet title action, plaintiffs appeal from the trial court’s refusal to grant an injunction compelling the removal of certain encroachments by defendants on plaintiffs’ residential property. The court granted the defendants an interest in plaintiffs’ land in order to protect defendants’ use of the disputed areas. The court labeled that interest “an easement.” However, the court recognized that it granted defendants the exclusive right to use the areas in dispute. At issue are: (1) whether the trial court applied the correct test in deciding to deny the injunction; and (2) whether recent appellate decisions holding that a prescriptive easement for exclusive use may not be awarded in residential boundary disputes apply to an interest, labeled “an easement,” which was created in equity to protect an encroacher’s use of another’s land.

We hold that the relative hardship doctrine of Christensen v. Tucker (1952) 114 Cal.App.2d 554 [ 250 P.2d 660 ] (Christensen), states the proper test when determining whether to grant an injunction ordering removal of encroachments from another’s land. We confirm that when the trial court properly denies such an injunction, it has the…