A key issue regarding boat docks is whether they are considered personal property or real property in your state. The reason for this is that you can finance the construction of a boat dock with a home loan if your water access right is considered in your state to be real property. Also, there are differing tax issues associated with real and personal property as well as issues of how the marine structure is conveyed when buying and selling the home.
Here at Decks & Docks Lumber Company, a premier supplier of deck and dock construction materials in Florida and the Southeastern U.S., we answer a lot of questions from customers who need to know if docks are considered personal or real property in their state. The following is some general guidance about the legal status of decks and docks. but does not constitute legal advice. You need to consult a lawyer from your state about legal matters regarding the legal designations of docks.
Changing Laws and Regulations
The information in this article is as of December 2019. Laws can change. In fact, LakeExpo is reporting in Missouri in 2009, a new law passed that makes docks real property as opposed to personal property. The change, though, does not apply to individual condominium owners nor to individual homes under a homeowners’ association. The law only applies to owners of single-family residences.
The reason that there was a push to change the Missouri law is that homeowners were unable to obtain financing for their dock-building efforts from either Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae as long as docks were considered personal property.
Condominium and Homeowner Associations
As the Missouri law cited above implies, there is often an issue when individual condominium owners or owners of homes in HOAs seek to have their docks considered real property. Often, states do not allow such considerations because the shoreline for an HOA or condominium is considered communal. Often, the HOA or condominium association will assign docks to owners, but these are not considered their real property.
The Case of Marinas
As with condominiums and HOAs, in the case of marinas, Nest Realty explains that someone purchasing a slip at a marina is getting a membership certificate, not a real estate deed. Thus, the slip owner does not receive any rights to the land or the sea at the marina by virtue of their slip ownership.
Single-Family Residences Adjacent to Waterways
Nest Realty explains that, in states like North Carolina, the only landowners who are actually granted riparian rights to the waterway are often those whose single-family residence is adjacent to the water. In this case, they are granted riparian rights to the water. This allows such owners to build docks and deny others access to the physical structure. They cannot, though, deny the public access to the water under or around their docks.
The law about not denying the public access to the body of water in North Carolina is for any navigable water, even if the water is only navigable by a kayak or canoe.
Also, there is a set limit in states to the area of the structure. There are limits as to how far you can extend from the shoreline and limits to its width. This further enforces the public’s ability to access navigable waters.
Deeded Access Issues
If you are looking for property to buy and you read that you have “deeded lake access,” it does not mean you will own the access, if you buy the land. It means there is an easement that solely allows you an access pathway to the lake. It can get really tricky if you want to construct a dock on the deeded lake access. Before you start constructing a marine structure on your easement access, you will need to speak with a lawyer that knows the specific laws regarding the use of such easements in your state.
Even Muddier Issues
Sadly, you may, in your state, have the right to consider your water access real property for the purposes of building a slip, but there are legal cases in which this was denied because of the manner in which the current or former landowner dealt out the water access.
As you can see, knowing if docks are considered real property or personal property is based upon the state you live in and the type of home that you have. It may also be dictated by former land subdivisions that occurred before you purchased the land. It is important to seek competent legal advice from a lawyer well versed in property rights before you purchase land that is adjacent to a navigable waterway.
Although we are not lawyers at Decks & Docks Lumber Company, we supply award-winning brands of decking and hardware as well as deck furniture to make your dock construction last. Contact us for all your marine structure needs
