Tashakori

INTRODUCTION

Ali and Mahnaz Tashakori purchased a property with a house on it as well as an adjoining empty lot where they intended to build another home. In 2006 they sold the property with the existing home on it, while retaining the undeveloped lot. At that time, they learned that there was no recorded easement access to the empty lot, rendering it landlocked. They brought suit seeking to establish their right to ingress and egress over a small strip of land with a driveway owned by their neighbors, John and Mary Lakis. After a bench trial, the trial court granted the Tashakoris an “equitable easement” over the driveway area.

The Lakises appeal the judgment, arguing that the trial court lacked a legal basis for creating the equitable easement over their property because they *1006 contend (1) the equitable easement theory may only be raised as a defense to a property owner’s request for an injunction ordering the removal of an encroachment; (2) the “encroaching” use was not sufficiently long-standing; and (3) the trial court erred by failing to award them damages as compensation for the use of their driveway. We hold that the trial court’s creation of the equitable…