Buying Landlocked Property in Mississippi: How Easement Rights Affect the Deal
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.
A Driveway Is Not the Same as a Legal Right
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.
How Mississippi Law Sorts Out Access
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.
Confirm Access Before Your Inspection Period Ends
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.
