On respecting your neighbor’s easement of light and view
“You may talk of the tyranny of Nero and Tiberius,” said English author Walter Bagehot. “But the real tyranny is the tyranny of your next-door neighbor.”
To be sure, your neighbor’s oppressive behavior may severely affect your rights to the property you own, including the right to easement of light and view, which the Supreme Court extensively discussed in Spouses Garcia v. Santos, et al.
In this case, Spouses Loreta and Winston Santos had constructed on their lot a two-story house, which towered over Spouses Tedy and Pilar Garcia’s neighboring one-story house.
According to Spouses Garcia, Spouses Santos’ house prevented them from enjoying the bright and natural light they previously enjoyed from their windows. For instance, the construction of Spouses Santos’ house made Spouses Garcia’s house so dark that they needed to switch on their lights in some rooms.
This constrained Spouses Garcia to file against Spouses Santos a complaint for damages before the trial court.
In their complaint, Spouses Garcia sought the trial court to, among others: (a) declare that Spouses Garcia have acquired the easement of light, air and view against Spouses Santos’ lot; and (b) prohibit Spouses Santos from constructing any structure on their lot taller than Spouses Garcia’s house.
Spouses Santos countered that: (a) Spouses Garcia failed to prove how they had acquired this easement; (b) the windows on Spouses Garcia’s house in themselves did not give rise to an easement by title since at the time of its construction, Spouses Santos had not yet constructed any tenement on their lot; and (c) Spouses Garcia failed to acquire an easement by prescription since they never asserted a formal prohibition of the construction of a taller structure on Spouses Santos’ lot.
The trial court and, upon appeal, the Court of Appeals dismissed Spouses Garcia’s complaint.
The Supreme Court reversed the lower courts’ findings and declared that Spouses Garcia enjoyed the easement of light and view on their property. In so ruling, the Supreme Court first referred to an easement as a real right on another’s property whereby the owner of the latter must refrain from doing or allowing somebody else to do or something to be done to his property, for the benefit of another person or tenement.
Easements may either be established by agreement or by law. Among those established by law is the easement of light and view, in which a dominant estate enjoys the right to have free access to light, a little air, and view overlooking the adjoining or servient estate. It has two components, such that the easement of light refers to the right to make openings under certain conditions to receive light from another’s tenement.
Meanwhile, the easement of view is the right to make openings or windows to enjoy the view through the estate of another and the power to prevent all constructions or works which would obstruct such view or make the same difficult.
The easement of light and view may be acquired by prescription—that is, it shall be reckoned from the time that the proprietor of the servient estate has been formally prohibited from violating the same. This generally relates to windows or openings found on the wall of the dominant estate.
It may also be acquired by title. Title here refers to a juridical act or law sufficient to create an encumbrance, such as establishing an apparent sign between two or more estates previously owned by the same person or within a single estate but with two or more portions owned by the same person, pursuant to Article 624 of the Civil Code. When one estate or a portion thereof is alienated in favor of another person, an apparent visible sign of an easement to light and view exists and subsists, even when the owner of the dominant estate fails to formally act so as to otherwise constitute a title thereto.
The instant case falls within the scope of Article 624, considering that Spouses Santos have previously owned both their current lot and the adjoining house and lot subsequently sold to Spouses Garcia. Moreover, both parties never agreed to the effect that Spouses Garcia should keep the windows and openings to their house closed.
Thus, pursuant to Article 624, Spouses Garcia have acquired by title an easement of light and view, from the time they purchased the subject lot from Spouses Santos. As the owners of the servient estate, Spouses Santos are obliged to allow Spouses Garcia unobstructed access to light and view in their house.
