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Notation on deed did not create public easements
Ingress-egress and “turnaround” easements created by notations on a subdivision plat did not create public easements because the notations did not indicate that intention. Overview Appellants own Lot 29 in Brentwood, a residential development. Appellees own Lot 28. Both lots are improved. The lots were created by a deed of dedication, which included a subdivision […]
Chancery commissioner’s fees taxed in title dispute
Where appellant was divested of title to property in an equity action, appellant was correctly taxed $6,000 to satisfy the commissioner of chancery’s fee and expenses. Overview Appellant Elliot owned two residential lots, Lot 5 and Lot 6. When he refinanced the loan, secured by Lots 5 and 6, the property’s legal description “mistakenly” omitted […]
Damages awarded for ‘lollipopped’ trees
Where contractors that defendants hired trespassed onto plaintiffs’ property and trimmed pine tree limbs, plaintiffs are entitled to $26,800 in damages. This represents the diminished value of the real estate after the trees were removed, and the aesthetic value of the trees “as a sight and sound barrier,” along with the cost to remove the […]
Court erred creating new property boundary line
The Court of Appeals of Virginia reversed in part a decision from the Fairfax County Circuit Court, finding that the trial court erred in declaring a new boundary line between neighboring properties in a nuisance and trespass case.
Court could not establish new boundary line
The court lacked jurisdiction to declare a new boundary line between the parties’ properties because this relief was not requested as a cross-claim in this nuisance and trespass case. Overview The parties own adjacent properties. Appellees constructed a fence between their yard and the appellants’ property. Appellants repaired the roof of a utility shed. The […]
Subdivision deed was misinterpreted
Where subdivision lot owners, relying on the word “modified” in the subdivision deed, added a new restrictive covenant limiting appellants’ intended use of their property, the trial court erred by denying appellants declaratory and injunctive relief. The plain meaning of the term “modified,” as applied in this case, permits amendment of a restrictive covenant rather […]
Silence doesn’t bar right of first refusal
A Virginia circuit court has overruled a plea in bar based on equitable estoppel where a landowner contracted with a third party to sell real estate that was occupied by a company with a right of first refusal in its lease agreement. Because the lessee was silent about the sale — aside from saying they […]
No estoppel by silence in right of first refusal matter
Where plaintiff had a right of first refusal to buy property it had been leasing from defendant and sued after defendant contracted with a third party to sell the property, defendant’s plea in bar based on an estoppel by silence theory is overruled. Overview Boone and Beckner (Boone) leased property from Rudder. Rembold, Rudder’s manager, […]
All elements of adverse possession claim established
In this adverse possession case, appellees’ exclusive 15-year possession of a disputed area was unaffected when they granted appellant, the adjoining landowner, permission to install a drainage pipe in the area. Overview In 1996, Tarek and Kye Abboushi, the appellees in this case, bought property adjacent to land (the Veldhuis property) owned by Joe Carroll. […]
Intervention denied in adverse possession case
Where a county sought to claim by adverse possession a 25-foot circle of land containing a Confederate memorial statue, the trial court correctly denied appellee’s motion to intervene in the county’s adverse possession suit. Appellee did not assert any right involved in the county’s suit. Background “By deed of June 19, 1900, the County’s Board […]
Character of community nixes homestay exception
A county board of supervisors correctly considered neighborhood character as part of public welfare when it denied a homeowner’s application to rent five of his guestrooms on a short-term basis known as “homestays,” the Court of Appeals of Virginia has held. The homeowner argued that consideration of neighborhood character as a component of “the public […]
Public welfare includes character of neighborhood
Where county supervisors denied appellant’s special exemption request to rent bedrooms in his house after determining the proposed use would harm the public welfare, the determination correctly included consideration of the neighborhood’s character. Background Appellant Harris bought a house on a two-acre parcel, improved it and sought to rent individual bedrooms. The zoning code allowed [&hel[...]
Verdicts & Settlements
- Driver fell asleep, causing significant auto accident — $1M settlement
- Defense verdict returned for company in rear-end crash — Defense verdict
- Cauda equina syndrome developed after procedure — $625,000 settlement
- Passenger died months after sustaining multiple injuries — $725,000 settlement
- Plaintiff injured in crash with oncoming vehicle — $235,000 settlement
- Driver killed in rear-end collision with tractor-trailer — $1.5M settlement
- Man died from pancreatic cancer after delayed response — $1.8M settlement
- Worker fell off roof, rendering him a paraplegic — $1.25M settlement
- Driver sustained permanent hearing loss after traffic collision — $240,000 settlement
- Plaintiff suffered concussion in rear-end collision — $81,000 verdict
- Builder misrepresented home status to buyers — $675,000 verdict
- Low potassium led to cardiac arrest, death of patient — $1M settlement
Opinion Digests
- Company owner dodges breach of contract suit
- Employee’s own allegations doom minimum wage claim
- Federal government defeats former employee’s claims
- Principal wasn’t entitled to exclusively remote work
- USPTO properly redacted info in responsive documents
- Untimely lawsuit allowed to proceed
- Engineering consultant dismissed from suit
- Rule 60 motion was filed too late
- Nonprofit directors immune from ex-employees’ claims
- City, employees immune from whistleblower claims
- Experts excluded in condemnation damages suit
- Judgment entered against company for horse’s death
