Easements are a common occurrence in real estate, but what
are they really?
Essentially, an easement is the right to use a property
granted by the owner of the property to a non-owner or class of non-owners. An easement
is by no means the only way for a property owner to confer use to a non-owner,
but unlike other forms used to grant usage rights, such as licenses and
permits, easements are recorded against the title of the property over which they are granted and remain in effect despite the transfer of the land. The ability
of an easement to survive the transfer of title is called “running with the land.”
Easements differ from leases, which also confer the usage rights
of a property to non-owners and also run with the land, in that easements exist
in perpetuity, whereas leases have a term with a termination date. As a result,
in order to terminate or “extinguish” an easement, an affirmative action must
be taken like merger or abandonment. A lease, however, automatically terminates
upon the end of its term, without any further action by the parties to it.
There are different types of easements and easements are
generally categorized in different ways. The first way that an easement can be
categorized is based on to whom or what the rights of usage are granted. If the
easement grants rights of usage to the owner or occupant of another property,
it is called an easement appurtenant. In this instance, the property on which
the easement is established is called the servient estate and the property that
receives the right of usage is called the dominant estate.
