Dietrich Int'l Truck Sales, Inc. v. J.S. & J. Servs., Inc.
California Court of Appeal
5 Cal. Rptr. 2d 288 (Ct. App.), review denied (1992)
Dietrich (plaintiff) had driven trucks across part of a truck stop's leased property since 1967 to access its own service bays, and when the truck stop's environmental upgrades threatened to block that access, Dietrich sued to quiet title to a prescriptive easement against both the tenant Terminal and the landlord Brown (defendants); the trial court found a prescriptive easement against both, but Brown argued he couldn't be bound since he had no legal ability to exclude Dietrich from possessory use of the property until his lease with Terminal expired in 2005.
Whether a prescriptive easement can be obtained against a landlord while a tenant is in possession of the property.