Is this worth pursuing?

[Anonymous]

I'm looking at buying bank-owned residential property located in Danvers MA that carries a 1904 appurtenant easement running front to back of property 12’ X 158’.  The appurtenant easement benefits the landowner behind who owns a stretch of land along the rear side of bank owned residential property. He uses the land as a storage/junk yard. The appurtenant owner is not landlocked and does have full access via city street, with two road ways.  Appurtenant owner has no ingress/egress issues.  

All property in front of appurtenant owner's property is residential housing facing a city street. The easement has long since been abandoned prior to the appurtenant owner buying the property in recent years.  Fornmer owners of the bank-owned residential property used a portion of the easement area for parking at the side door of the property.  The easement now removes all parking for the property.  Once the bank-owned residential property became vacant, the appurtenant owner broke down rear 16' X 8' and front 16' X 8' sections of cedar plank fence belonging to the bank-owned residential property,  paved over the lawn seizing the easement this past winter.  I have Google and Bing satellite photos that clearly show during past seasons the easement was not used, not paved and the fence intact.  

I believe the appurtenant owner took advantage of the bank owned residential property being vacant and used brute force to access the easement and likely filed Quiet Title knowing the bank would not spend the money to challenge/defend.    

The easement is a 12' strip running 158' and represents 1896 sq feet of 9900 sq ft total land or 19.5%.  The land of 9900 sq feet is valued at $165,400 and building is valued at $201,500 - total property valuation of $377,900 with taxes assessed of $4,484.

Question:  Can this appurtenant easement be set aside?  Is he responsible for the damage to the fence he tore down not to mention 158' of 8' cedar plank fencing now on the outer side of the paved easement?   Who pays the taxes on that property?  My property has been devalued substantially.

 Is setting aside the easement a long shot or worth pursuing?  Thanks for advise!

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

Wish I knew your questions answers, I would definitely consult with a real estate attorney in the Danvers area.  It sounds like you stand to lose/gain quite a bit if it indeed was handled inappropriately.  I know of an attorney in Salem who does real estate closings if you'd like a recommendation, not sure if she is an expert in real estate as we didn't have any legal issues during our loan closing.