SB 682

Current law generally bars actions affecting title to real estate that are based

on instruments executed or recorded more than 30 years prior to the commencement

of the action unless an instrument expressly referring to the existence of the claim

or defense has been recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county where

the real estate is located within 30 years after the execution or recording of the

original instrument and within each successive 30-year period thereafter. Under

current law, the recording requirement for recorded easements and covenants

restricting the use of real estate is 40 years, rather than 30 years. Current law

provides a number of exceptions to these limitation periods. For example, the

recording requirement does not apply to a conservation easement or to any interest

in real estate owned by a railroad corporation, public service corporation, or the

state.

This bill creates an additional exception to the recording requirement for an

easement that is set forth in a recorded instrument and that allows a person to travel

across another's land to reach a location or for another specified purpose (access

easement). In other words, under the bill, an action to enforce an access easement

is not barred based on the failure to record the access easement within a certain

period of time.