Summary
This Illinois Appellate Court opinion addresses an interlocutory appeal from a trial court's grant of a preliminary injunction in a dispute over a prescriptive easement. Plaintiffs sought injunctive and declaratory relief to maintain their right to use a private road across the defendant's property to access their landlocked parcel. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's decision, finding no abuse of discretion in granting the preliminary injunction based on the plaintiffs' longstanding, uninterrupted, and adverse use of the road.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the trial court abused its discretion in granting a preliminary injunction based on a fair question that the Herrens are likely to succeed on the merits of a prescriptive easement claim.
- Whether the scope of the preliminary injunction should be limited because the defendants allege the plaintiffs’ current use exceeds the prescriptive easement.
Holdings
- The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s grant of the preliminary injunction, finding that the plaintiffs raised a fair question that they are likely to succeed on the merits of a prescriptive easement and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion.
- The appellate court affirmed that the injunction’s scope was proper; the plaintiffs’ use of the road is limited to access and does not materially alter the character of the prescriptive easement.
Key quotations
““there was not a particularly neighborly relationship between *** Patricia *** and Otto Retzer, who owned the [Beshears property] when she purchased the 10 acres in 1958” and “ ‘ample evidence of nonpermissive use’ ”” (¶ 49)
““A preliminary injunction preserves the status quo until the merits of the case are decided.”” (¶ 56)
Factual background
The Herrens own land that is landlocked and have, for more than 60 years, used a private road crossing the Beshears property to access their property. The Beshears property changed hands several times, most recently to Brent J. Beshears in 2023, who began restricting access. The Herrens sued for a declaratory judgment and a preliminary injunction asserting a prescriptive easement over the road.
Procedural history
The trial court entered a preliminary injunction granting the Herrens use of a private road across the Beshears property. The defendant appealed, arguing the injunction was an abuse of discretion and that its scope should be limited.