Easements in Fulton County, GA
Wooded, sloped lots in and around Atlanta make sanitary sewer and stream buffer easements the recurring theme in Fulton County title work.
Fulton County Clerk of Superior Court
The county publishes a free public parcel viewer showing platted easement strips.
About 20 years of open, continuous, adverse use is generally required.
Ga. Code Ann. §§ 44-9-1, 44-5-163
Read the Georgia rulesEasements you'll see most often here
- Sanitary sewer easements crossing rear yards
- Stream buffer and drainage easements
- Electric and gas utility easements
- Shared driveway easements on infill lots
Local things to watch for
- Sewer easements often run through the back of a lot with no visible surface marker.
- State stream buffers restrict clearing in addition to any recorded easement.
Check your own lot
Upload your title commitment and we'll translate Schedule B into plain English, then map the easements against your parcel boundary — free.
Common questions
How do I find out if my Fulton County property has an easement?
Start with the title commitment or owner's policy from your purchase — easements are listed in Schedule B. Recorded easements are also indexed by the Fulton County Clerk of Superior Court, and the county's free public parcel viewer usually shows platted easement strips. A current survey catches anything used on the ground but never recorded.
What easements are most common in Fulton County?
Sanitary sewer easements crossing rear yards, Stream buffer and drainage easements, Electric and gas utility easements, among others. Sewer easements often run through the back of a lot with no visible surface marker.
Can a neighbor gain a permanent right to cross my Fulton County land?
In Georgia, open, continuous, and adverse use generally has to run for about 20 years before a prescriptive easement can be claimed. Permission given in writing usually stops the clock, because the use is then no longer adverse.
Does an easement lower property value in Atlanta?
It depends on where it sits and what it prohibits. A narrow utility strip along a rear lot line rarely affects value. An easement that crosses the buildable area, bars fences and structures, or gives someone else a driveway through the yard can meaningfully limit what the property can become.
Know your easements before you close
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General educational reference only. Prescription periods and their exceptions change, and several states set the period by case law rather than by statute. Read the linked official code and consult a licensed attorney in that state before relying on any of it.