
Modern negative easements are generally associated with:
- Viewing access;
- Access to solar energy or other alternative energy; and
- Environmental conservation efforts.
What does it mean when a property has a "easement"?
Rules Of Property Easement
- Buying A Home With A Property Easement. Before you purchase a home, you’ll read through documents called disclosures. ...
- Abiding By An Easement. An easement is legally binding and must be followed. ...
- Challenging An Easement. An easement can be challenged, but it’s an extensive process that may involve going to court. ...
What impact does an easement have on my property?
- How common are easements in your area? If every property in the neighborhood has an easement they may be so common that no one cares about it and it has ...
- How big is the easement? ...
- What impact does the easement have on the use of the property? ...
- What are the terms of the easement? ...
How does an easement affect your property?
What Are The Different Types Of Easements?
- Utility Easements. A utility easement is created by state or local law, and it gives utility employees the right to access infrastructure located on private properties.
- Private Easements. Private easements are property rights that can be created and sold or given by the property owner to another party.
- Easements By Necessity. ...
- Prescriptive Easements. ...
What happens if you build on an easement?
Some of these may include lines, pipes, dishes, meters, or tanks for:
- Electricity
- Gas
- Propane
- Sewer
- Water
- Telephone
- Internet and cable television
- Satellite television companies
- New utilities as technology changes

What are examples of negative easements?
An example of a negative easement would be an easement for light. Another example of a negative easement would be an easement that prevents someone from constructing his or her building in a manner that would block your view.
What are 4 types of negative easements?
As such, the courts have largely limited the use of Negative Easements to a small list that includes Easements for air, the flow of an artificial stream, light, and for Subjacent or Lateral Support.
What is the difference between an affirmative and negative easement?
Easements generally come in two varieties — either an affirmative easement or a negative easement. An affirmative easement allows the holder to do a thing as it relates to a property. A negative easement restricts the owner from taking certain actions with the property.
What is the difference between a negative easement and a covenant?
Covenant can be called as a promise made by a single party either to engage or refrain from conduct. Easement can be called as the right for using the property of another without possessing it. 3. Easement can also be called as a person's interest in another one's land for some specific purpose.
What are the three types of easements?
There are several types of easements, including:utility easements.private easements.easements by necessity, and.prescriptive easements (acquired by someone's use of property).
Why is an easement of way a negative obligation?
While an affirmative easement creates a right to use or cross over another person's real property, a negative easement creates an obligation or a restriction on the real property owner. This restriction is to not use their own property in a particular way that would otherwise be legal to do so.
How do I remove an easement from my property?
There are eight ways to terminate an easement: abandonment, merger, end of necessity, demolition, recording act, condemnation, adverse possession, and release.
What is an easement in simple terms?
An easement is the grant of a nonpossessory property interest that grants the easement holder permission to use another person's land.
What is an appurtenant easement?
An easement appurtenant is a specific type of easement where two properties are linked together as servient tenement and dominant tenement estates. The servient estate is the estate that allows the easement, where the dominant estate is the one that benefits from the easement.
What is a positive easement?
Easements can be positive or negative. A common example of a positive easement is a right of way a dominant owner might enjoy over servient land. A negative easement might be a right to receive light or support from the servient land.
What is a negative covenant in property?
Related Content. A negative covenant that restricts the way in which a party can act, for example the way in which land may be used or what an employee can do.
What is a reciprocal negative easement?
A reciprocal negative easement arises when the developer fails to record the restrictive covenants in the chain of title for one or more of the parcels. In that event, in certain conditions, a court will find that the parcels are bound by the restrictions even though the restrictions don't appear in the chain of title.
How is a Negative Easement Created?
Negative easements are generally created through binding legal documents such as a deed or private contract. Sometimes an easement that has not been expressed through a legal writing may be recognized but only upon meeting certain legal requirements in the form of easements by necessity, prior use, or even by the government.
What can a real estate lawyer do for a negative easement?
A qualified real estate lawyer can help you with the creation of a negative easement, ensuring a negative easement continues or understanding and complying with your obligations of a negative easement.
What happens if you don't comply with an easement?
Failure to comply with the easement can result in a lawsuit and you may liable to your neighbor for damages. Modern negative easements have focused on some of these important values such as: Viewing access; Access to solar energy or other alternative energy; and. Environmental conservation efforts.
What to do if you are considering parceling land?
If you are considering parceling your land, buying a property subjected to an easement or dealing with a negative easement dispute, a lawyer can prepare legal documents and represent your interests.
What is an affirmative easement?
Where an affirmative easement creates a right to use or cross over another person’s real property, a negative easement creates an obligation or a restriction on the real property owner to not use their own property in a particular way that would otherwise be legal to do so.
What is an easement?
An easement is the right to use or affect the use of another person’s real property. While there have been many variations of easements over time, negative and affirmative easements are usually opposites.
What is the purpose of easements?
The purposes of such easements are to ensure that the parties cannot do something to their land that may hurt the adjacent landowner which is why the restriction is created . A common example includes restrictions on size, height and style of buildings that may block the view of your neighbor.
Find a legal form in minutes
Browse US Legal Forms’ largest database of 85k state and industry-specific legal forms.
Negative Easements
A negative easement is a promise not to do something with a certain piece of property, such as not building a structure more than one story high or not blocking a mountain view by constructing a fence.
Affirmative Easements
An affirmative easement gives the easement holder the right to do something, and requires that the property owner do something -- such as allowing another access to or across a certain piece of property. Most easements fall into this category.
Negative Easements
A negative easement is a promise not to do something with a certain piece of property, such as not building a structure more than one story high or not blocking a mountain view by constructing a fence.
What is negative easement?
A negative easement specifies what not to with land governed by the easement. By placing limitations on the defined easement area, the dominant tenant restricts modifications that would otherwise be legal. Negative easement restrictions can be used to:
What is the purpose of an easement?
No matter if the land is governed by an affirmative or negative easement, the overall goal of the easement is to prevent future conflicts between property owners over the affected area. Thus, whether property owners formalize the easement through deed or a private contract, the language used within the document and the description of the easement should be clear and consistent to prevent a real estate litigation issue later. Issues to address include the exact area of the easement, what activities are contemplated by the easement, how long the easement will run, and maintenance of the easement. All of these issues should be carefully considered, and the solutions carefully drafted, in order to ensure there are no conflicts about the easement in the future.
How to prevent an obstructed view?
Prevent an obstructed view or preserve a scenic view by limiting building and structure heights or prohibiting the erection of new structures
Is an affirmative easement negative?
Both kinds of easements can be “negative” or “affirmative” easements. The more well-known “affirmative easement” grants the dominant tenant the right to use the defined easement area for a limited purpose. Affirmative easements can be used to:
What does negative easement mean?
A negative easement may mean that even though you bought the land intending to build a giant dinosaur theme park, you have come to find you are not allowed to build structures that are higher than 16 feet above grade. In this scenario, you might choose to build smaller dinosaurs or scrap the dream of the dinosaur theme park, opting instead to build a little league baseball field (in either case, you’ll want to check zoning laws, which are a different thing entirely).
What is an easement in real estate?
An easement in real estate is essentially an agreement about the use of property that can take authority over the owner’s rights. Easements generally come in two varieties — either an affirmative easement or a negative easement. An affirmative easement allows the holder to do a thing as it relates to a property. A negative easement restricts the owner from taking certain actions with the property.
