A worn driveway leading to a landlocked parcel can look like proof of access, but it is not proof of a legal right to use it. Before closing on Mississippi property surrounded by other land, a buyer needs to know whether a recorded easement exists and, if not, what it would take to get one.
The safest form of access is an express easement recorded in a deed or separate agreement. Mississippi’s recording statutes, Mississippi Code § 89-5-1 and § 89-5-3, protect purchasers who rely on properly recorded instruments while leaving unrecorded conveyances vulnerable to later purchasers without notice.
Without an express easement, access might come from necessity, long-term use, a negotiated agreement, or a statutory private road, but none of these should be assumed just because the property is surrounded by other land.
Mississippi treats each type of access differently. A recorded easement’s own language sets its scope, and courts will not read in rights the document leaves out, as TransMontaigne Operating Co. v. Loresco I, LLC confirms.
Where no easement exists, a buyer might argue for one born of necessity. Word v. U.S. Bank, N.A. requires proof that the two parcels were once one tract, split apart at the moment that the access right arose, not simply that the land sits surrounded today. Long-term use is trickier still.
Ten years of open, hostile, uninterrupted use can create a prescriptive easement, but Mississippi Sand Solutions, LLC v. Otis makes one thing clear: Permission kills the claim, however long it lasted. A landowner with no other option can also petition for a statutory private road, though that carries its own costs and limits.
Order a full title examination and a boundary and easement survey, confirm the easement reaches a public road without gaps, and check separately whether utility lines are covered, since a right to drive across land does not automatically include water, sewer, or power access.
At O’Brien Law Firm, LLC, we help Mississippi buyers review title and easement documentation before the inspection period ends. Call us at 662-672-7619 or reach out through our contact form to review your contract.
Chapter 13 does not freeze a homeowner’s life for three to five years. Selling, refinancing, or otherwise dealing with the house is often possible mid-plan, but it usually cannot happen the way an ordinary transaction would.
This article looks at why bankruptcy-court approval typically comes before closing, what the court and trustee tend to review, and what a Mississippi homeowner should line up before signing anything.
Under Chapter 13, a debtor keeps possession of estate property, but the authority to sell or encumber it is a trustee’s power the debtor exercises under 11 U.S.C. § 1303. Mississippi’s standard Chapter 13 plan and confirmation order keep property in the bankruptcy estate until discharge, rather than returning it to the debtor earlier as 11 U.S.C. § 1327otherwise permits.
In Meza v. Truman, the Fifth Circuit found that debtors who refinanced an exempt home to pay off their plan should have sought court permission first.
A motion to sell under 11 U.S.C. § 363(b) generally requires notice and a hearing opportunity. It should lay out the buyer, price, existing liens, estimated net proceeds, and whether a plan modification is needed.
Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 2002 typically calls for at least 21 days’ notice to creditors, and a sale order is ordinarily stayed 14 days under Rule 6004. A refinance creates new debt and a new lien, so Mississippi’s Local Rule 4002-1(d)(6) requires a motion and proposed order for a consumer debtor.
Mississippi Code § 85-3-21 protects up to $75,000 in qualifying homestead equity, and § 85-3-1(b)(i) can extend that protection to sale proceeds, though the transaction still must be disclosed.
At O’Brien Law Firm, LLC, we help Mississippi Chapter 13 debtors prepare the motion and proposed order the trustee and court will expect, and we work out the timing so a sale or refinance does not put your existing plan at risk. Call us at 662-672-7619 or reach out through our contact form so we can look at your sale or refinance plans before you sign anything.
