Easement explained

An easement is a non-possessory right to use and/or enter onto someone else’s real property without actually owning it. It’s “best exemplified in one landowner’s right of way.” It is comparable to real covenants and equitable servitudes; the Restatement (Third) of Property in the United States attempts to integrate these ideas into servitudes.

Easements are useful for connecting two or more pieces of land, allowing people to access other properties or resources, such as fishing in a privately held pond or having access to a public beach. At common law, an easement is regarded a property right in and of itself, and it is still treated as such in most jurisdictions.

The rights of an easement possessor differ significantly depending on the jurisdiction. Historically, only four forms of easements were enforced by common law courts:

• Right-of-way (easements of way)

• Easements of support (pertaining to excavations)

• Easements of “light and air”

• Rights pertaining to artificial waterways

Types of Easements

Affirmative and Negative Easements

A positive easement is the right to use another person’s property for a certain purpose, whereas a negative easement is the right to prevent someone from doing something that is otherwise legal on their own land.

A negative easement, on the other hand, might prevent landowner A from erecting a wall of trees that would impede landowner B’s mountain view. B has granted a negative easement to A.

Dominant and Servient Estate

A positive easement is the right to use another person’s property for a certain purpose, whereas a negative easement is the right to prevent someone from doing something that is otherwise legal on their own land.

A negative easement, on the other hand, might prevent landowner A from erecting a wall of trees that would impede landowner B’s mountain view. B has granted a negative easement to A.

Public and Private Easements

Private persons or entities own a private easement. A public easement is a legal document that offers a right of access to the public for a specific purpose, such as allowing the public access to a private property.

Appurtenant and in Gross Easements

An easement appurtenant in the United States is one that benefits the dominant estate and “runs with the land,” transferring automatically when the dominant estate is conveyed. An appurtenant easement enables property owners to gain access to land that is only accessible through the ownership of a neighbor.

An easement in gross, on the other hand, benefits a person or a legal body rather than a dominant estate. The easement can be for personal or commercial usage (for example, an easement to use a boat ramp) (for example, an easement to a railroad company to build and maintain a rail line across property). Historically, a gross easement could not be assigned or passed down, but commercial easements can now be freely transferred to a third party. They are divisible, but they must be exclusive (the original owner no longer uses it, and the easement holder is the only one who may divide it), and all easement holders must agree to divide. The easement applies to each subdivided parcel if it is subdivided.

Floating Easement

A floating easement exists when the right of way has no set location, route, method, or limit. A right of way may, for example, span a field without a visible path or allow egress through another structure for fire safety reasons. A floating easement might be public or private, attached or free-floating.

Easement process

A typical easement agreement describes a method of payment by the petitioner to the owner for the right to use the subject of easement for a certain purpose, and it is used to express a high-level agreement between the owner of a property and another party—either a person or an organization.

An easement is a one-of-a-kind contract between the two parties concerned. As a result, easement agreements are written in such a way that the property’s specific use is specified and the property owner is granted the option to terminate the easement. Such agreements are occasionally transferred as part of a property sale, so potential buyers should be aware of any easements on the property under consideration.

Easement due diligence before closing

If you have any other questions regarding an Easement or for any of your mortgage needs contact the mortgage experts at 864-397-8500 or click Mortgage Rates Today!