QIM 33 | Real Estate Litigation | Law Desk

Ava: Michael, this is the neighborhood feud that never ends: five houses share one private road, it's falling apart, and nobody agrees on who pays. Does California actually have a rule, or is it just whoever yells loudest?

Michael Benavides, Esq.: There's a real rule — Civil Code section 845. It says the owner of a private right-of-way, or of land the easement is attached to, has a duty to maintain it in repair. And when the road is shared by owners of different parcels, the cost of keeping it up is shared — first according to any agreement the owners made, and if there's no agreement, proportionately to the use each owner makes of the road.

Ava: "Proportionate to use" — so the person at the far end who drives the whole length pays more than the person near the entrance?

Michael Benavides, Esq.: That's the intuition, yes. Courts have recognized that an owner generally is only responsible for maintaining the segment of the road between their driveway and the public road — the part they actually use to get in and out. So the family at the back end, who travels the entire road, typically bears responsibility across more of it than the family whose driveway is near the street. Heavy users — say, someone running trucks in and out — can carry a larger share than a household that drives a sedan twice a day.

Ava: And when they still can't agree?

Michael Benavides, Esq.: Section 845 has a built-in referee. Any owner can apply to the court for the appointment of an impartial arbitrator to apportion the cost — and that application can be made before, during, or after the work is done. If the owners don't accept the arbitrator's award, the court can enter a judgment setting each owner's proportionate liability. So no single neighbor can hold the road hostage by refusing to chip in.

Ava: Best way to avoid the fight entirely?

Michael Benavides, Esq.: A recorded road-maintenance agreement — spelling out cost shares, who arranges the work, and how disputes get resolved — is worth its weight in gold, and lenders increasingly want to see one. Honest caveat: section 845 sets the default, but a written agreement can change the allocation, and "proportionate use" can itself be litigated. Getting it in writing beats arguing about potholes every winter.

Talk it through with Law Desk. If a shared private road is falling apart and the neighbors can't agree on the bill, a California real-estate attorney can apply the section 845 framework or paper a maintenance agreement. Schedule a consultation with Michael Benavides, Esq.

Disclaimer

Attorney advertising. General information about California real-estate and easement law, not legal advice; reading it creates no attorney-client relationship. Cost-allocation questions are fact-specific and depend on use, agreements, and the road's configuration; statutes and case law change and are applied differently to different facts — confirm the current rules with a licensed California attorney before acting. Michael Benavides, Esq. — California State Bar No. 270714 — is the only licensed attorney and the source of every legal statement here. Ava Benavides is an editorial brand voice, not an attorney, and does not give legal advice in her own name.