Party Wall - Creation, Duration, Manner Of Use, Destruction And Rebuilding, Addition, Alteration, And Repair
land boundary partly cross
A partition erected on a property boundary, partly on the land of one owner and partly on the land of another, to provide common support to the structures on both sides of the boundary.
Each person owns as much of a party wall as is situated on his or her land. The wall is subject to cross-easements—reciprocal rights of use over the property of another—in favor of each owner for the support of his or her building or for the maintenance of the wall. A party wall can also be owned by adjoining tenants pursuant to a TENANCY IN COMMON, or the wall can belong entirely to one of the adjoining owners, subject to an EASEMENT or a right in the other owner to have it maintained as a dividing wall between the two tenements.
FURTHER READINGS
Jacobus, Charles J. 1986. Real Estate Law. Paramus, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Kraut, Jayson, et al. 1983. American Jurisprudence. Rochester, N.Y.: Lawyers Cooperative.
Additional Topics
Row houses in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C., share a wall in common, or a party wall. Whether the wall is owned jointly or wholly by one tenant, each party is entitled by easement to enjoy full use of the wall—on his own side. ALAN SCHEIN PHOTOGRAPHY/CORBIS
or that it is to stand partly, usually equally, on both parcels. Under a typical arrangement, one party builds the wa…
A party wall is for the mutual benefit and convenience of both owners. Each adjoining owner has the right to its full use as a party wall in the improvement and enjoyment of his property. Neither owner can use the wall in a manner that impairs the other's easement or interferes with his or her property rights. An adjoining owner is not entitled to extend the front wall or rear wall of his b…
Ordinarily neither of the adjoining owners has the right to destroy or remove a party wall, but if a fire or other casualty causes the wall to become useless to either owner, it can be removed. In a number of states, even though a party wall is sufficient to support existing structures, an adjoining owner can replace it with a stronger wall to support a new structure requiring greater reinforcemen…
In some jurisdictions, an adjoining landowner who uses a wall built partly on his or her land by the other adjoining landowner has no duty to contribute to the cost of construction of the wall. If there is no evidence of the conditions under which the wall was built, courts presume that each person owns as much of the wall as is situated on his property and has no obligation to contribute to the o…
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