Easement
A legal right for someone else to use part of your land for a specific purpose.
An easement gives another person, a utility, or a government body the right to use a defined part of your property for a defined purpose. You still own the land. You simply cannot block the use the easement protects.
Most easements are recorded, which means they appear in the county land records and travel with the property when it sells. A few are created by long use or by necessity and never appear on paper at all.
Why it matters when you buy
An easement can decide where you may build, fence, plant, or pave. Often on the most usable part of a lot.
How it reads in a real document
“Subject to a 10 foot easement for ingress, egress and utilities along the southerly line of Lot 12, as shown on the recorded plat.”
Three facts define any easement: who holds it, what they may do, and where. Here it is a 10-foot strip along one boundary usable for both travel and utilities — which means the strip must stay clear and reachable.
The mistake people make
Believing an easement can be removed by buying the property or fencing the strip. Recorded easements run with the land and survive every sale.
What to do next
- Identify the holder and the recorded document number for each easement on Schedule B-II.
- Map the strips against your lot to find what is left over — the buildable envelope.
- Where an easement looks abandoned, ask the holder for a written release; do not assume disuse ends it.
What it does to value
The effect on value depends far less on the existence of an easement than on where it sits. A utility line along the rear boundary of a large lot may be worth nothing in lost value; the same easement crossing the only place a house will fit can take a meaningful share of the land's worth.
What is not true
It is not true that an easement transfers ownership. You keep title, keep paying taxes on the strip, and keep every use that does not interfere with the holder's rights.
Questions people ask
Can I build over an easement?
Sometimes, with the holder's written consent, and almost never without it. Utilities occasionally allow fences, driveways and landscaping while refusing permanent structures, because they must be able to dig. Anything you build without consent can be removed at your expense when the holder needs access.
Does an easement end when the property is sold?
No. A recorded easement runs with the land and binds every future owner. That is exactly why it appears as an exception on the title commitment rather than as a personal agreement between the last two owners.
Can I be paid for an easement across my land?
For a new easement being negotiated, yes -- compensation is the norm, and it usually covers both the strip and the damage to the rest of the property. For an easement already recorded against your title, you bought the land subject to it and there is nothing further to collect.
Related terms
Where this comes up
Homeowner questions where “easement” decides the answer:
- What is a utility easement on my property?
- How do I find easements on my property?
- Can I build a shed over an easement?
- Easement vs right-of-way: what is the difference?
- How close to the property line can I build a fence?
Time limits differ by state - see the prescriptive easement period where your property is.
Wondering what an encumbrance like this is worth? Estimate the effect on property value.
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.
Know your easements before you close
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