How long does it take to create a prescriptive easement in District of Columbia?

15 years of open, notorious, continuous and adverse use is the period generally applied in District of Columbia, commonly cited to D.C. Code § 16-1113; common law prescription. The clock only runs while the use is visible and without the owner's permission; written permission restarts it.

Can someone take ownership of my land in District of Columbia, not just a right to cross it?

A prescriptive easement only creates a right of use after 15 years. You keep title. Ownership claims run through District of Columbia's separate adverse possession rules, which require possession of the strip itself rather than a shared use of it.

What has to be proven for an easement claim in District of Columbia?

Fifteen years of open, adverse, continuous use. Claims against District-owned property are barred.

Where are easements recorded in District of Columbia?

Easements are recorded at the county level. For the District of Columbia counties we cover that means DC Office of Tax and Revenue, Recorder of Deeds. 1 of those counties publish a free public parcel viewer you can check before you order title work.

Does a District of Columbia title commitment list every easement on the property?

Schedule B lists the recorded exceptions the title company found, which covers most utility, access and drainage easements. It will not show a prescriptive easement created by 15 years of use with nothing on paper, and it rarely tells you where on the lot the easement actually sits. That takes the recorded instrument plus a survey.

Which District of Columbia law actually sets the clock?

D.C. common law applying the fifteen-year limitations period of D.C. Code § 12-301 to prescriptive easements, see Smith v. Tippett, 569 A.2d 1186 (D.C. 1990). In District of Columbia the operative rule is judge-made rather than written into a single statute, so the period comes from decided cases reading that limitations section.

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District of Columbia prescriptive easement law

Q: What does it cost to record an easement in District of Columbia?

District of Columbia records with the Recorder of Deeds, D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue. The Recorder of Deeds publishes the operative schedule: $150 to record a deed of trust or mortgage and $25 for most other recordable documents, including deeds, plus a surcharge.

D.C. Code § 16-1113; common law prescription

Prescriptive period

15 years

What actually decides a claim here

Fifteen years of open, adverse, continuous use.
Claims against District-owned property are barred.

The District of Columbia law in its own words

District of Columbia does not spell the prescriptive-easement period out in a single statute. The 15-year clock comes from decided cases reading D.C. common law applying the fifteen-year limitations period of D.C. Code § 12-301 to prescriptive easements, see Smith v. Tippett, 569 A.2d 1186 (D.C. 1990), which means the elements a judge will hold you to are found in the opinions rather than in the code book.

We link D.C. common law applying the fifteen-year limitations period of D.C. Code § 12-301 to prescriptive easements, see Smith v. Tippett, 569 A.2d 1186 (D.C. 1990) rather than quoting it, because we could not confirm a clean verbatim sentence from a free official source. Read it at the link below before you rely on the wording.

Open D.C. common law applying the fifteen-year limitations period of D.C. Code § 12-301 to prescriptive easements, see Smith v. Tippett, 569 A.2d 1186 (D.C. 1990)

Recording an easement in District of Columbia

District of Columbia records at the Recorder of Deeds, D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue. The Recorder of Deeds publishes the operative schedule: $150 to record a deed of trust or mortgage and $25 for most other recordable documents, including deeds, plus a surcharge. See the fee authority.

Need the document itself? Follow the step-by-step records walkthrough to pull the recorded easement on your parcel from free county, state, and federal sources.

How District of Columbia compares with the rest of the country

At 15 years, District of Columbia sits right at the national median, which is also 15 years. 8 states in total use a 15-year period. Nationally the periods run from 5 to 30 years, and 18 states are quicker than District of Columbia.

Easements you actually see on District of Columbia title work

Across the District of Columbia counties we publish guides for, these are the exceptions that show up most often in Schedule B: Historic preservation easements held by nonprofit holders, Party wall and shared alley rights on rowhouse lots, Pepco and Washington Gas utility easements, Public space and vault easements under sidewalks. The recorded instrument controls the width and location. A plat note or a county parcel viewer is only a starting point.

County-by-county recording rules in District of Columbia

Easements are recorded county by county, and the filing rules are set by the office that takes the document. Not by the state. Open a county to see who records there, how that office structures its fees, what makes a document get rejected, and where the free official index and parcel viewer live.

Look up District of Columbia county records to jump straight to a county page with its recording rules, typical strip widths in feet, and the steps for disputing an easement.

Browse free District of Columbia easement records and parcel GIS sources

District of Columbia easement questions

Read the official District of Columbia code Estimate the value impact Check a property in District of Columbia

Common questions from homeowners

Related terms

prescriptive easement

easement by necessity

right of way

encroachment

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.