The case involves a disputed easement and whether a developer of two adjacent properties in Columbia County reserved usage rights in a riverfront common area in his first development, which he later conveyed to purchasers in his second development. The trial court granted summary judgment against the developer after concluding that the easement he retained did not include a right to use the common area. We now reverse and remand because the scope of the easement retained by the developer is ambiguous on its face and was ill-suited for resolution by summary judgment.
I.
Some time ago, H.A. Buie, Sr.
When Mr. Buie later developed his second property, the Bluebird Preserve (Preserve), the Buie Family Trust conveyed a perpetual non-exclusive easement and rights “of use and ingress and egress” in the Bluebird Landing Common Area to those who purchased lots in the Preserve. The grant of these rights to Preserve owners caused the Landing Association to initiate • legal action against both the Buie Family Trust and individual lot owners in the Preserve, because the Landing Associ
Old Republic National Title Insurance Company defended the Preserve’s individual owners in the action brought by the Landing Association. And it ultimately settled the owners’ part of the case by paying the Landing Association $55,000 to quiet the right of Preserve lot owners to use the Common Area — basically giving Preserve lot owners what they thought they had purchased from the Buie Family Trust in the first place. Old Republic then filed a cross-claim, as a subrogee of the Preserve’s individual lot owners, alleging that the Buie Family Trust had breached warranties by conveying hollow easements and use rights to Preserve lot owners. Old Republic later sought summary judgment on its cross-claim and succeeded. The trial court granted its motion, concluding that the Landing-related easement originally reserved to the developer did not include rights of use in the Common Area. Thus the Buie Family Trust had breached the warranty and covenant of title in the deeds they had given to lot owners in the Preserve by purporting to convey rights in the Common Area that they didn’t possess. Mr. Buie, Sr. and the Buie Family Trust appealed.
II.
A.
We review issues arising from the grant of final summary judgment and involving the interpretation of property agreements de novo, as if considering the question for the first time. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp. v. Mallett,
B.
The sole issue to be determined in this appeal concerns the breadth of the easement reserved by the developer and Buie Family Trust in the Bluebird Landing Common Area. When the developer in this case conveyed the Common Area to the Bluebird Landing Association, he did so under the following terms:
Developer hereby reserves for himself, his heirs, successors and assigns, a perpetual, non-exclusive easement and right of ingress and egress over and across all ... Common Areas.
The parties dispute the scope of this reservation and specifically whether the easement included a right of use in the Common Area. When determining whether an easement conveys a particular right, the rules of contract interpretation apply, giving effect to the plain meaning of the terms as stated. Sandlake Residences, LLC v. Ogilvie,
Which leads to the issue of what to do about an “easement” granted in the absence of a stated purpose. The term “easement” encompasses the right to use the land of another. One Harbor Fin. Ltd. Co. v. Hynes Properties, LLC,
In cases like this “where the wording is ambiguous such that the scope of the easement cannot be determined from the plain meaning of the language employed, the legal extent of the right must be ascertained from the intention of the parties [when the easement was created].” Walters v. McCall,
III.
We thus REVERSE and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Notes
. Appellants filed a notice on May 14, 2015, alerting the court to the death of Mr. Buie, Sr., who had been an appellant in this matter. His son, the personal representative of his estate, has been substituted as a party. Prior to die litigation, Mr. Buie, Sr. conveyed the property interests at issue in this case to the Hugh A. Buie, Sr. Irrevocable Family Trust (Buie Family Trust).
