Editorial standards and sourcing
Easement information is only useful if you can check it. This page explains who writes the material on this site, what we will and will not publish, which primary sources we work from, and how to get something corrected.
Who writes and reviews this
The easement library — the type guides, the state law pages, the county recording guides, the glossary and the homeowner questions — is written and maintained by the Easements.com editorial team, working from statutes, county recorder publications and standard appraisal practice rather than from other websites.
The library was last reviewed end to end on September 9, 2026. Individual pages carry that date at the foot so you can see how current the material is before you rely on it. When a state amends a statute or a county changes its filing process, we update the page and the review date together.
We are not a law firm and we do not represent anyone. Nothing here is legal advice for your property. Easement outcomes turn on the exact recorded wording and on your state's law, and a licensed attorney or surveyor in your state is the right person to apply either to your situation.
The rules we hold ourselves to
- 1We cite the primary source. Where a page states a statutory period, a recording requirement, or a filing procedure, it links to the state code section or the county office that publishes it.
- 2We do not publish dollar figures that go stale. Recording fees change without notice, so county pages point at the office's current fee schedule instead of quoting a number that will be wrong next year.
- 3We do not invent people, firms, reviews or credentials. Directory listings are only published after a human reviews the application and checks the license number given.
- 4We label estimates as estimates. The valuation calculator shows its inputs, its math and its assumptions, and says plainly where an appraiser's judgment would replace a default.
- 5We write general information, not legal advice for your situation. Easement outcomes turn on the exact recorded wording and on state law, and we say so on every page that touches a legal question.
- 6We correct errors in public. If you find something wrong, tell us what page and what source contradicts it and we will fix or remove it.
Primary sources we work from
These are free and public. Where a page makes a state- or county-specific claim, it links to the specific section or office rather than to this list.
- State legislature and statute portals
Prescriptive periods, recording requirements and abandonment rules are quoted from each state's own published code.
- County recorder, clerk and register of deeds offices
Filing steps, index coverage and copy procedures come from each office's published guidance.
- Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP)
The before-and-after framework used by the valuation calculator follows standard partial-acquisition appraisal method.
- Federal Highway Administration right-of-way guidance
Public-agency practice for corridor acquisition, damages and remainder effects.
- USDA NRCS conservation easement programs
Terms, term lengths and appraisal expectations for conservation easements.
Corrections
If a page is wrong, tell us which page it is and what source contradicts it, and we will correct or remove the claim. Fee schedules, office addresses and statutory periods are the three things most likely to drift, so those reports are especially welcome.
Send corrections through support. Directory listings are reviewed separately: firms apply through the listing application, and we check the license number given before anything is published.
How our tools state their limits
The valuation calculator produces an appraisal-style estimate, not an appraisal. It shows every input, the before-and-after math, and the jurisdiction assumptions applied, so a professional can see where their own judgment would replace a default. Parcel geometry comes from free public sources and is shown with its own accuracy caveats; it is not a survey and does not replace one.
Where we cannot verify something, we say so rather than filling the gap with a plausible number. That is why county pages point at a current fee schedule instead of quoting a price, and why the directory was emptied rather than populated with example firms.