Otero v. Pacheco
New Mexico Court of Appeals
612 P.2d 1335 (N.M.1980)
The Pachecos (defendants) built a home partly on a second lot where their septic tank sat, then ran a sewer line from that home under the second lot to the street after the city discontinued septic use; they later built a separate home on the second lot connected to the same sewer line and eventually sold that second home to the Oteros (plaintiffs), who bought it without knowledge of the sewer line running beneath their property. After the sewer line repeatedly backed up and damaged the Oteros' home, they sued for damages, and the Pachecos counterclaimed asserting an easement over the Oteros' property; Severo Otero testified he did not learn of the sewer line until nine years after purchasing, but the trial court found the Pachecos held an easement by implied reservation and ruled for them, and the Oteros appealed.
Whether an easement by implied reservation exists in favor of a landowner who retained a portion of land requiring continued use of a utility line running across land later conveyed to another, where the necessity is reasonable rather than strict, and whether the subsequent purchaser is charged with constructive notice of that easement.