Various Types of Easements for Real Estate, Land and Real Property

This is a helpful article on the various types of easements for real estate, land, and real property. Understand principles of how easements affect land.

There are various types of easements for real estate that you will learn about here. Easements are interests in real property, land, and real estate. Easement holders essentially hold or possess the right to access or use another entity’s land. Once granted and recorded, easements will typically stay with the title holder’s property and the easement then passes to subsequent purchasers or transferees. Let’s go over the various types of easements.

Property Easements, AKA, Easement Appurtenant is a right of way (egress or ingress) that would benefit a parcel of real property or land also known as the “Dominant tenement”, to the detriment of another parcel of real property or land, also known as the “servient tenement”.

1. Affirmative and Negative Easements:

All various types of easements are in the form of either affirmative or negative. There are many various types of easements. The most common type of easements is Affirmative easements. These types of easements grant the owner of the property the right to access or enter or cross over the adjoining property or land. A negative easement provides the holder of the easement to stop or prohibit another party from ingress/access or preventing another party of a similar action (I.E. such as blocking a view or sunlight).

2. Implied Easement:

An implied easement is an easement that is or was implied by prior use of the property. Implied easements usually arise when a property owner subdivides or splits a parcel of land into more than one parcel, selling a portion of the divided parcels yet maintains ownership of the original section or parcel. An example would be where the property owner had access or used a driveway across adjoining parcels. It is now “implied” that the owner of the second parcel also gets use of the easement because its use preexisted prior to the division or separation of the parcels.

3. Easement in Gross:

An easement is not relating to land or real estate but rather benefits an individual or entity.

4. Prescription and By Necessity:

Easements by prescriptions are very similar to the laws of “Adverse possession”. An easement by prescription is given to or granted to a party or entity when they have effectively “Adversely possessed” another person’s property for the governing statutory period or prescribed by state law. Typically, easements by prescription often arise when one’s neighbor continually uses a portion an adjoining piece of property or land. This is often seen with the use of a driveway or road which is continuously used for the duration of the statutory period. An easement by necessity is often gifted and or granted by state and federal courts when a property/landowner provides ample evidence that his property is currently landlocked and cannot otherwise use it without being granted the easement.

5. Express:

Another type of easement is an “Express easement” is and easement that is gifted or granted in a will or deed. Express easements are usually the most common type of easements. These type of easements must meet criteria to “satisfy” the statute of frauds. The statute of frauds dictates when and how certain events be in writing to be validated and be legally enforceable. To be legally binding, an easement by “Express” grant must be in writing to be valid. These easements usually include and describe the property and name the grantor(s) and the grantee(s).

6. Utility Easement:

Utility easements are easements to private land granted to municipal and utility agencies for access to land use of private property. These easements are typically implemented for use by utility companies when the property is first put on a county plat map. They are granted and designated for underground and overhead electric, phone, sewer water and cable lines.

There are various types of easements to learn and know.