Easement & title glossary

Title documents are written for underwriters, not buyers. These are the terms that actually change what you can build, fence, or pave — each one in plain English.

• Adverse possession

  A claim to ownership — not just use — earned by occupying land for the statutory period.
• Appurtenant easement

  An easement that benefits a neighboring parcel rather than a person or company.
• Buildable envelope

  The part of a lot left over once setbacks, easements, and corridors are removed.
• Dominant estate

  The parcel that benefits from an appurtenant easement.
• Easement

  A legal right for someone else to use part of your land for a specific purpose.
• Easement by necessity

  Access granted by a court when a parcel would otherwise be landlocked.
• Easement in gross

  An easement held by a person or company rather than by a neighboring parcel.
• Encroachment

  A structure that extends onto land it does not belong on.
• Encumbrance

  Any claim or right held by someone other than the owner that affects the property.
• Prescriptive easement

  A use right earned by open, continuous, unpermitted use over a period set by state law.
• Restrictive covenant

  A recorded private rule limiting how land in a subdivision may be used.
• Right-of-way

  The right to travel across land, and the strip of land set aside for that travel.
• Schedule B

  The section of a title commitment listing what the policy will not cover.
• Servient estate

  The parcel burdened by an easement.
• Setback

  The minimum distance a structure must sit from a property line or right-of-way.
• Title commitment

  The insurer's written promise to issue a title policy, subject to listed conditions.
• Title policy exception

  A specific risk the title insurer refuses to cover.
• Utility easement

  A strip of land reserved so a utility can install and maintain its lines.

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.