What is an Easement?
“My neighbor asked me to give him an easement across my property so he can run a sewer line to the street - what does that mean?”
Most simply, an easement is a right for somebody to use the land of another person for some specific purpose. But an easement is different from permission, which may be revoked at any time by the landowner. For example, if I tell my cousin he can cross my land to get to the beach, I could revoke that permission after he beats me at poker. However, if I grant my cousin an easement to cross my land to get to the beach, then he has a right to access which I cannot revoke.
Another consideration for an easement is whether it is granted to a particular person or group or whether it is granted to benefit a property. In our example above, the easement is granted to a specific person, my cousin. Absent further agreement between me and my cousin, he cannot give that easement to anybody else and it is his alone to enjoy. This type of easement is an “easement in gross.”
The more common type of easement is an “appurtenant easement” or an easement that “runs with the land.” This type of easement is granted to the owner of a property, usually a neighboring property to the grantor’s, but then the easement is passed down for the benefit and to the burden of future owners of each property. It is important to note that if both properties are ever owned by a single owner, called “unity of title", then the easement may be extinguished.
Common types of appurtenant easements are for:
“Ingress and Egress” meaning the easement holder has the right to enter and leave the property - usually by a private road or driveway;
Electricity lines;
Internet or phone lines;
Sewer pipes;
Natural gas pipes; and
Water pipes
Once an easement is granted, the grantor cannot obstruct the grantee’s use of the easement. So, if anybody asks you to grant an easement, it is important to remember that you are giving up a potential use of your property and you should be compensated for that. For example, if you grant somebody the right to use your private road, you may lose the right to put up a gate or park on this road. If you grant somebody the right to run a gas line through your property, you will not be able to build any structures that put load on the gas line and you may be required to grant access to maintain or repair the pipes.
There are many legal issues and other things to consider when granting, describing, and registering an easement. Just like any transaction involving land, the ramifications of granting an easement or how it is drafted can have implications on property forever. So, I recommend that you seek legal advice whenever you are considering granting or receiving an easement.