Yolo County Easement Disaster and a New Kitten

Yolo County seizes property for an easement and makes owner suffer more when it’s not needed.

You can’t make up stories about a Yolo County easement. If you think dealing with the Sacramento County offices for certain things is time consuming, it seems Yolo County is no relief, either. True tale. About 40 years ago, Yolo County seized part of a property in West Sacramento, probably under eminent domain, which means the government has the right to waltz in and claim your property, whether you like it or not. Then, when they abandon the plan for the property, they can make you pay absorbitent amounts to get the easement released.

Is there a word for when they screw you coming and going? It’s probably not printable. One of my clients who bought property in West Sacramento purchased said property subject to an easement for a road. When he questioned the use of the easement, he was informed the county no longer needed the easement because the land behind it had been divided, and the plans for the property no longer required a road.

OK, fine, says, he, can you abandon the easement then so the property is buildable? Well, only if the owner pays for a surveyor to survey the easement. Oh, and pay another $800 because they need to see profit on that $10 recording fee. Surveyors are expensive. Like a few grand. The easement is already spelled out in the title insurance policy by a metes and bounds description that is very easy to draw and understand.

This is a Yolo County easement process for you. Ridiculous.

Horatio might become our new kitty.

On the other hand, my husband and I are in the process of trying to adopt a cat. Just a regular cat, my husband says, an ordinary cat, this time. No purebreds. OK, I can live with that. I’d rather not fly to LA to get a kitten. But when you’ve had cats for as many years I have, you want a cat that doesn’t look like a cat you once had. A different cat. And that’s really hard because I’ve probably had dozens and dozens of cats in my life.

I searched and searched and found just the right age and sex for our family. We need a male kitten so Tessa won’t have a hissy and so Jackson will accept him. Our cats are 3 and 6, so it’s best to introduce a kitten or at least a cat under a year. Tessa is so dominant, she might hate another female.

Here is a photo of the kitten we are going to meet on Sunday. His name is Horatio, and he’s a lavender siamese and a mutt mix. His mom was rescued while pregnant so Horatio has led a pretty cushy life so far, but he’s still a rescue kitten. Just not one that was abused, tortured, abandoned, disfigured . . . You would think you could say, OK, I’ll adopt him, but no. That’s not how it works. This is not 1950. First, we had to fill out an application that asked all sorts of personal questions. After that, a phone interview. Passed those hurdles.

Why don’t they do this when they allow people to vote? No, I don’t really mean that. That would result in discrimination, and we don’t need to discriminate.

Next, we meet the cat in person. If we all get along, then the rescue organization will come to our house to inspect it and to meet our cats, just to make sure we’re not crazed animal killers or drug addicts who squat in a home without sanitation. But I don’t mind jumping through a few hoops, even if I feel the rules don’t really apply to us. Their group, their rules.

It’s better than trying to battle a Yolo County easement process. I suggested my former client contact a council member who represents his district. He might get further with that route than trying to reason with a government worker behind the counter at Yolo County.