Land USA, LLC v. Georgia Power Company, 297 Ga. 237

Background

Georgia Power operated an electric transmission line along Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway; GDOT roadwork in 2009 required relocation/clarification of rights.
Fuller was record owner in chain but after a Fulton County tax sale on March 3, 2009 Investga.com, LLC (Investga) held a tax deed; Fuller still occupied the property during the redemption period.
Georgia Power negotiated and obtained an express easement from Fuller in 2009 (including a 25-foot building prohibition) and paid $24,000; Georgia Power later dismissed a condemnation it had filed.
Investga properly served barment notices under the tax-redemption statutes; no party redeemed and Investga’s deed ripened into fee simple title.
Land USA later acquired the property from Investga and sued Georgia Power (quiet title, trespass, ejectment). The trial court granted Georgia Power summary judgment; the Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Validity of express easement obtained from Fuller after tax sale	Easement valid and enforceable against subsequent owner	Easement invalid because Fuller lacked sufficient interest after tax sale and unrecorded easement is extinguished when redemption is barred	Easement invalid: post-tax-sale express easement extinguished when redemption period was foreclosed and Investga’s title matured
Effect of OCGA § 44-9-7 on easements recorded after tax fi. fa.	§ 44-9-7 doesn’t extinguish easements generally; trial court misapplied it	§ 44-9-7, read with redemption/barment statutes, means easements not recorded prior to fi. fa. are extinguished if redemption is foreclosed	§ 44-9-7 construed with redemption statutes: express easements not recorded before fi. fa. are extinguished when redemption rights are barred
Prescriptive easement and 25-foot building prohibition	Georgia Power may have prescriptive rights including building restriction	Georgia Power abandoned adverse claim by seeking express easement; building restriction exceeds prescriptive width limits	No prescriptive easement for the 25-foot building prohibition; Georgia Power abandoned any adverse claim and proposed restriction exceeds statutory limits
Trespass and ejectment claims	Land USA: presence of energized line and building restrictions impair use -> trespass; ejectment okay if no valid right	Georgia Power: line is within GDOT right-of-way and de minimis; public-utility doctrine bars ejectment; Land USA lacks standing for trespass	Ejectment claim dismissed (affirmed). Trespass/quiet-title reversal/remand: court erred in assessing trespass as de minimis and in finding lack of standing; Land USA may pursue trespass/quiet-title remedies on remand

Key Cases Cited

Bennett v. Southern Pine Co., 123 Ga. 618 (early tax-sale principles on purchaser’s title)
Forrester v. Lowe, 192 Ga. 469 (title vests in tax purchaser after redemption rights expire)
National Tax Funding, L.P. v. Harpagon Co., LLC, 277 Ga. 41 (interaction of tax-sale deed and redemption/barment statutes)
Reece v. Smith, 276 Ga. 404 (effect of redemption on validating prior conveyances)
Faulkner v. Georgia Power Co., 243 Ga. 649 (public right-of-way and scope of actionable encumbrance)
Waldrop v. Georgia Power Co., 233 Ga. 851 (public utility use bars ejectment; damages available)
Leathers v. McClain, 255 Ga. 378 (rights of parties acquiring interests after tax sale)
MEA Family Investments, LP v. Adams, 284 Ga. 407 (prescriptive rights construed strictly)
Keng v. Franklin, 267 Ga. (abandonment of adverse claim by seeking express easement)
Jackson v. Norfolk Southern R., 255 Ga. App. 695 (statutory width limits for prescriptive easements)
Lopez v. Walker, 250 Ga. App. 706 (limitations on prescriptive easement scope)
Brown Inv. Group, LLC v. Mayor & Aldermen of City of Savannah, 289 Ga. 67 (standing issues for trespass during redemption period)
Adams v. Georgia Power Co., 299 Ga. App. 399 (remedy limited to damages where utility service is necessary)