Ownership/Title

Easements
An easement is a non-exclusive right to use someone else's real property for a particular purpose. It is usually appurtenant to adjoining property or can be in gross (i.e. in favor of a person or entity).  It can be set forth in a deed and recorded, or not expressed.  Rights of way, and for ingress and egress are examples of typical expressed easements. Non-expressed easements consist of implied easements, easements by necessity (landlocked situation) and easements by prescription (usage for a prescriptive period of 5 years). Any loss to a property owner resulting from a non-expressed easement would not be covered by a standard title policy, but would be covered under an extended title policy unless the easement was known to the buyer prior to the consummation of the sale and not known and not disclosed in writing to the title company prior thereto.

Legal proceedings concerning an easement include the seeking of an injunction to prevent over usage and declaratory relief to establish its existence if not expressed. 

Interferences
Encroachment and nuisance are basically interferences with one's rights to the use of one's real property. An example of an encroachment  is where a wall on one person's real property abuts on the neighboring party's property. A nuisance is an interference with the senses and can be public or private. It can be in the form of noise, pollution, or dangerous activity. The remedies for a nuisance or encroachment consist of damages and/or an injunction to prevent its continuance.

Title Issues
There are instances where a deed which on its face conveys title, conveys only 'legal' title that is subject to a beneficial interest of another. By way of examples this can occur when the grantee obtains title by way of a fraudulent inducement, or, for a limited time under an oral agreement and the grantor and grantee are in a confidential relationship (e.g. close relatives); in such instances title to the property would be held by the grantee as trustee under a constructive trust for the benefit of the grantor (the beneficial owner).

Where one party puts up the downpayment/closing costs to purchase real property and title is taken in the name of another and a gift is not intended, title is held by the grantee as trustee under a resulting trust for the benefit of the party (the beneficial owner) that put up the downpayment/closing costs.

However, in the aforementioned trust situations a good faith (bona fide) purchaser  ('bfp'), (i.e. one who has no actual, constructive or inquiry notice of the beneficial owner's claim), of the property from the current title holder (the trustee) takes title to the property free of   the claim of the beneficial owner.  Title may be validated by the bfp by means of a suit for quiet title .   When there is not yet a bfp, the beneficial owner can bring a court action for imposition and enforcement of a constructive or resulting trust as the case may be, whereby the court will declare the existence of the pertinent trust and order that the property be conveyed to the beneficial owner.

It is also possible for one to obtain title to property other than by deed; such is the case when acquiring ownership by adverse possession .  That happens when a person takes open and notorious possession of premises of another in a hostile and adverse manner under claim of right or color of title for a period of 5 years while paying the property taxes during that time. Such ownership is perfected by way of a suit for declaratory relief or quiet title.

Your deed to property may be defective , that is void , irrespective of whether you or a prior title holder is a bona fide purchaser. Examples of this would be when the deed in question or prior deed in the chain of title was not 'delivered' (no intent to convey), or the grantor's signature thereon was forged, or the grantor did not have the capacity or authority to convey, or was signed by the grantor on the basis of a representation by the grantee that the deed was something other than a conveyance (this is fraud in the factum). Your basic title insurance policy, however, will cover you for any loss resulting from such a void conveyance.  You may however be on the other end of the problem, for example by claiming that a deed purportedly signed by you was a forgery in which case you would need to file suit for quiet title  to establish title in your name.

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