Opinion ID: 2561793
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Termination of an Easement by Adverse Possession

Text: We have not previously considered whether adverse use can terminate an easement under Colorado's adverse possession statute, section 38-41-101(1), C.R.S. (2007). However, we have previously determined that adverse use can create an easement under Colorado's adverse possession statute. See Lobato v. Taylor, 71 P.3d 938, 950 (Colo. 2002) (referencing Colorado's adverse possession statute in an action to create an easement by adverse possession); Allen v. First Nat'l Bank of Arvada, 120 Colo. 275, 285, 208 P.2d 935, 941 (1949) (same). In Colorado, the General Assembly has declared that the law of adverse possession extends to  any right or interest of or to real property. § 38-41-101(1) (emphasis added). The statute, which declares eighteen years to be the statutorily-mandated period of time for adverse possession, reads in full: No person shall commence or maintain an action for the recovery of the title or possession or to enforce or establish any right or interest of or to real property or make an entry thereon unless commenced within eighteen years after the right to bring such action or make such entry has first accrued or within eighteen years after he or those from, by, or under whom he claims have been seized or possessed of the premises. Eighteen years' adverse possession of any land shall be conclusive evidence of absolute ownership. Id. (emphasis added). Because the statute plainly states that it applies to any real property interest, and because the statute does not distinguish between possessory interests such as title to land and non-possessory interests such as title to an easement, we conclude that it applies to an action seeking to terminate an easement by adverse possession. To determine the elements of such a claim, we turn, as we did in Lobato, to the Restatement (Third) of Property: Servitudes (2000). See Lobato, 71 P.3d at 950 (citing both Colorado case law and the Restatement in its discussion of the elements of a claim to create an easement by adverse possession). The Restatement explains that an easement will be terminated by adverse possession if adverse use of the easement area continues for the statutorily-mandated period of time: To the extent that a use of property violates a servitude burdening the property and the use is maintained adversely to a person entitled to enforce the servitude for the prescriptive period, that person's beneficial interest in the servitude is modified or extinguished. Restatement § 7.7. The Restatement further explains that the elements of a claim to terminate an easement by adverse possession mirror the elements of a claim to create an easement by adverse possession. Id. § 7.7 cmt. b; see also Richard R. Powell, Powell on Real Property § 34.21[1] (2007) (As in the case of the creation of an easement by prescription, the uses must be adverse, continuous, uninterrupted, and for the prescriptive period.) (internal cross-reference omitted). Under the Restatement, an easement is created by adverse possession if the adverse use is: (1) open or notorious, and (2) continued without effective interruption for the prescriptive period. Restatement § 2.17. Colorado case law tracks the Restatement's language regarding the elements of a claim to create an easement by adverse possession: An easement by prescription is established when the prescriptive use is: (1) open or notorious; (2) continued without effective interruption for the prescriptive period; and (3) the use was either (a) adverse or (b) pursuant to an attempted, but ineffective grant. Lobato, 71 P.3d at 950 (citing Restatement §§ 2.16-2.17). Hence, the elements of a claim to terminate an easement by adverse possession mirror the elements of a claim to create an easement by adverse possession. Accordingly, an easement will be terminated by adverse possession upon a showing that use of the easement area was: (1) adverse to the easement holder's right to use the easement; (2) open or notorious; and (3) continuous without effective interruption for the statutorily-mandated period of time. Abandonment is not an element of a claim to terminate an easement by adverse possession, but rather is a separate and distinct method for terminating an easement. See Rivera v. Queree, 145 Colo. 146, 149-50, 358 P.2d 40, 42 (1961) (noting that an action to terminate an easement by abandonment is long-established in Colorado, and citing Hoff v. Girdler Corp., 104 Colo. 56, 59, 88 P.2d 100, 102 (1939)). While a claim to terminate an easement by abandonment focuses on the conduct of the easement holder, a claim to terminate an easement by adverse possession focuses on the nature of the use of the easement area. Compare Rivera, 145 Colo. at 149-50, 358 P.2d at 42 (requiring proof that an easement holder intended to abandon the easement), with Restatement § 7.7 (requiring proof that use of the easement area was adverse, open and notorious, and continuous).