New owner of land used as a passageway for a long time claims ‘use fee’... Court says, “Exclusive right to use and benefit is not recognized”

New landowner demands toll fees from adjacent building owners using the passageway
Suwon District Court “Provided for use by the general public...infringement of public interest”

A ruling dismissed both the first and second trials of the land owner's claim for usage fees, saying that the new owner's belated imposition of tolls on land that had been used as a passageway for adjacent buildings for a long time constitutes an infringement of public interest.

It was confirmed that the 1st Civil Division of the Suwon District Court (Presiding Judge Soon-han Kim, and Judges Cho Jeong-min and Cho Hyeon-ju) passed a ruling dismissing the plaintiff's appeal on January 8, with the same purpose as the first trial, in the appeal trial for a usage fee lawsuit filed by a landowner in Gyeonggi Province, Mr. A, against 30 people, including Mr. B, the owner of a building on an adjacent land.

Mr. A took issue with the fact that part of the land purchased in 2019 was used as a road leading to Mr. B's buildings, and filed a lawsuit for usage fees, demanding that he pay 7 million won in usage fees that had accumulated previously and continue to pay 300,000 won in monthly usage fees thereafter.

In this lawsuit, the defendants, including Mr. B, the owner of an adjacent building, emphasized the ‘public nature’ of the road, saying, “The road in question connects each building owned by Mr. B and others to a public road, and people and vehicles entering and leaving these buildings, as well as nearby residents, have used the passage for a long time.”

Judge Kim Min-cheol of the Suwon District Court, who was in charge of the first trial of this case, dismissed Mr. A's toll claim. Judge Kim Min-cheol ruled, “There was an implicit agreement regarding the waiver of exclusive use and profit rights.”

Exclusive use and beneficiary rights are the rights that allow landowners to prevent others from using or profiting from their land without permission. It is protected by law, but may be limited depending on public interest.

Mr. A, who was dissatisfied with the first trial ruling, immediately appealed, but the appellate court also dismissed the plaintiff's appeal, ruling that “the imposition of tolls on the land in this case is a violation of public interest.”

Attorney Park Se-hoon of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. B and others in this trial, said, “If the road could not be used, the free passage that had been maintained for decades would be restricted, threatening to infringe on the convenience of nearby residents.” He added, “We were able to win the appeal by proving that if the road was being used as a public road for residents’ passage, the land owner could not exercise the exclusive use right.”

Reporter Son Dong-wook (twson@lawleader.co.kr)

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New owner of land used as a passageway for a long time claims ‘usage fee’... Court: “Exclusive use and beneficiary rights are not recognized” (Shortcut)