What is a landlocked parcel, and how do I fix access?

Physical access is not legal access. A gravel lane you have driven for twenty years means nothing at closing unless there is a recorded easement, a public road dedication, or a prescriptive right a court would confirm. Title companies will list "lack of access" as an exception, which is the red flag to act on before you wire funds.

The cures, in order of preference: negotiate and record an express access easement from the neighbor (cleanest, often costs a few thousand dollars plus survey and legal); establish an easement by necessity — courts imply one where a landlocked parcel was split from a parcel that had access, tracing the common ownership back through the chain; or prove a prescriptive easement from decades of open, continuous use. Several states also offer statutory private condemnation of a way of necessity.

Easement by necessity litigation runs months and five figures, so price it into any landlocked purchase. The better play is making the recorded easement a condition of closing — sellers are motivated to solve it while they still want your money. Have a title company or real estate attorney confirm the access status early in escrow.