Easements in Cook County, IL
Alleys, party walls, and rail corridors dominate Cook County easement questions, with the oldest instruments predating modern surveying standards.
Cook County Clerk's Office, Recordings Division
The county publishes a free public parcel viewer showing platted easement strips.
About 20 years of open, continuous, adverse use is generally required.
735 ILCS 5/13-101; common law prescription
Read the Illinois rulesEasements you'll see most often here
- Public alley and vacated alley easements
- Party wall and encroachment agreements
- Utility easements along rear lot lines
- Rail and transit corridor easements
Local things to watch for
- A vacated alley may have been split between neighbors with utility rights reserved.
- Party wall agreements function like easements and often go unread at closing.
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 Cook 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 Cook County Clerk's Office, Recordings Division, 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 Cook County?
Public alley and vacated alley easements, Party wall and encroachment agreements, Utility easements along rear lot lines, among others. A vacated alley may have been split between neighbors with utility rights reserved.
Can a neighbor gain a permanent right to cross my Cook County land?
In Illinois, 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 Chicago?
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
Upload your title commitment and get a plain-English easement audit in minutes.
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.