South Carolina — Neighbor Is Physically Blocking My Driveway And Access To My Property. His Easement Was Terminated. Where Do I Go For Relief?

Location: South Carolina

I purchased an undeveloped 5-acre rural property in South Carolina this year and I keep getting bounced around trying to figure out who I’m actually supposed to go to for help with this. Sheriff says it’s civil, court says it’s the Sheriff’s issue.

The short version:

-There’s a private road that runs about 15 feet inside the back edge of my property.

-Around 2000, a nearby property owner was granted an easement over that road for ingress and egress to a single property.

-That easement was later terminated in 2004 because of violations, including adding more dwellings and utilities. He is well aware of this.

-The original easement, the termination, and the surveys/plats filed with them show the road running through what is now my property. There was also an updated survey in 2004, when he lost the easement, showing the easement being removed. The county GIS agrees with all of my documentation.

-This neighbor doesn’t actually share a property line with me at all, not even a corner, nor does he or his relatives own anything connected to me. He is not even the owner of record of the property he drives to. I have never cared if he drives down the road to get to his house, even though his easement was terminated. My issue is that he apparently has a problem with me using my own property. We’ve tried to engage him with no success.

-He parked a pickup truck and flatbed trailer across my driveway/access and left them there for about six weeks and has pointed several “No Trespassing” signs within our property - pointing in at us.

-He then built a substantial fence, about 30 feet long, across the same area and only moved the truck and trailer once the fence was up.

-I called the sheriff and showed them the recorded documents and survey. I was told they wouldn’t take action because my survey was “too old.” This is the survey/plat that conveyed with the property when we purchased it this year. The place where he built the fence was well within the property, not at the edge of it. Maybe 25 feet or more from the edge of my property.

-I went ahead and paid for a new survey anyway. The surveyors have already been out, have done the fieldwork, but they are telling me an official survey is weeks out.

So my question is: where am I actually supposed to go for relief?

I am absolutely certain I own it. I used the opportunity to write a 65 page report detailing the history of every plat surrounding us and prior easements, active easements -
there are none. I also had title send me their abstract. I am so familiar with it that I found a numerical error in the plat recordings.

I’m not really asking anyone here to decide where my property line is. I have the deed, the recorded documents, the existing surveys, and now a new survey in progress with the boundaries being sometime in the next few weeks, as an extra measure.

I am trying to figure out what I’m supposed to do when someone keeps physically blocking my driveway and preventing me from accessing part of my own property.

Do I go to Circuit Court? Is this something where I would ask for a temporary restraining order or injunction? Is there some other process I’m missing?

Do I really have to wait several more weeks for the final copy of the new survey before I can do anything while he continues blocking my access?

I feel like I keep getting sent in circles, and at this point I just want to know where I’m supposed to go to get someone with the authority to make him stop. I don’t want any monetary relief, just for him to stop bothering us and definitely do not build on my property.