Landlocked parcel
A landlocked parcel has no legal right of access to a public road. It may sit next to one, and it may be reachable by driving across a neighbour's field, but the right to do that is what it lacks.
Physical access is not legal access#
The distinction that costs people money.
A track that has been used for forty years, with the neighbour's tolerance, is not a right. It is a permission that can be withdrawn — and it usually is withdrawn when the neighbouring property sells to someone with different plans.
At that moment the parcel becomes what it always legally was: unreachable.
What landlocking prevents#
Building permits. Cities and counties generally require legal access.
Financing. No lender writes a mortgage on a parcel that cannot be reached.
Insurance, on any structure built there.
Sale, at anything approaching the value of a comparable parcel with access.
The routes to access#
A recorded easement, negotiated with the neighbour. The clean answer, and it costs whatever the neighbour asks — which, once they understand the position, can be substantial.
An easement by necessity. Where the parcel became landlocked when a larger holding was divided, courts may find an implied easement across the retained land. That is a genuine remedy and it is litigation, requiring a court determination rather than existing automatically.
Purchase of a strip from a neighbour, which requires a subdivision or lot split and county approval.
Each takes time and money, and none is certain before it is done.
Why they cluster in tax-forfeited inventory#
The logic is circular and it is why county land sale lists look the way they do.
A parcel nobody can reach is worth very little. Nobody wants to hold it. Taxes go unpaid because the owner sees no reason to pay them. It forfeits to the state.
Then it sits in county inventory, because the same problem that made the previous owner abandon it makes it hard to sell.
Before bidding on rural land#
Establish access before the auction, not after.
Look for a recorded easement in the chain of title. Ask the county. Look at the plat. If access crosses private land and there is no recorded right, assume there is none.
A cheap parcel with no access is not cheap. It is priced correctly for something that cannot be used, and the discount reflects a problem that may cost more to solve than the parcel is worth.