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STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS

JOHN T. RUDY and ANN LIZETTE RUDY, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v DAN LINTS and VICKI LINTS, Defendants-Appellants, and TREVOR LINTS/ESTATE OF TREVOR LINTS, Defendant.

UNPUBLISHED February 22, 2011

No. 293501 Cass Circuit Court LC No. 08-000138-CZ

Before: OWENS, P.J., and MARKEY and METER, JJ. PER CURIAM. Defendants Dan and Vicki Lints1 appeal as of right from a judgment wherein the trial court ordered, following a bench trial, that defendants' lake-access easement over plaintiffs' property was limited to pedestrian access only and that defendants did not have a right to maintain the easement. The trial court awarded plaintiffs treble damages of $30,300 for damage defendants caused to two trees located on the easement. We affirm in part and reverse in part. The parties own residential properties in the Cavin Cove Subdivision in Cass County. Plaintiffs own a parcel of property that abuts Eagle Lake (Lot 9). Defendants own two parcels of property located directly behind plaintiffs' property (Lots 19 and 20). In a 1970 circuit court case, the trial court described the easement as follows:

Not all the defendants joined the appeal in this case, but for ease of reference we will simply use the term "defendants" in this opinion.

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