·      the right to use another person's real property for a particular purpose

·      creates limited rights for the easement holder related to land surface, airspace or subsurface

·      considered an encumbrance since it encumbers (burdens) a real property owner’s title

·      they are created by express grant, express reservation, implication, necessity, agreement or prescription

·      They are terminated by release (should always be recorded), merger (two properties under one person), abandonment, prescription (loss after 10 years of non-use), court action or failure or expiration of purpose.

·      can be:

o   public (power lines)

o   private (access to a landlocked parcel)

o   put into a deed before a transfer of property occurs or created separately as an agreement between parties

·      An easement in gross burdens one parcel of land for the benefit of an individual or corporation such as a utility company

·      Personal easements in gross cannot be sold or passed on

·      A physical object intruding on the neighbor’s property and is considered a form of trespassing before the law.

·      It is not an encumbrance.

·      A temporary, revocable no-assignable permission to enter another’s land for a particular purpose. Unlike an easement, it does not create an interest in a property and is not an encumbrance.

·      It differs from an easement in that it is temporary, can be created by oral contract, does not need to run with the land, can be revoked, and becomes invalid if the licensee dies.

·      Nonpossessory interests and financial encumbrances such as mortgages, mechanic’s liens, tax liens, etc.

·      They can be voluntary (such as a mortgage) or involuntary (such as mechanic’s or tax liens), which are used to secure payments.

·      They can be general (attaches to all property, personal and real) or specific (attaches only to a specific property).

·      They can be categorized by priority. They are generally paid in the order that they are attached to the land, but the property tax lien always takes priority.

·      Liens intended to prevent transfer of property pending the outcome of litigation and may involve a notice of lis pendens to serve notice to potential buyers that there is a lawsuit pending.

·      Rights that go with real property (s/a air rights)

·      Affects two parcels of land owned by different people; burdens the servient tenement to benefit the dominant tenement

·      A right that goes with land ownership (s/a air rights, view easement).

·      Can be affirmative (allows someone to do something) or negative

·      They are established by express grant (seller retains easement on former land)

·      by implication (implies that when land is divided, there is a long-standing apparent use for the enjoyment of the land usually by original owner)

·      easement of necessity (if land would be completely useless without the easement, such as a landlocked property with no access)

·      easement of prescription

·      party wall easement (when a wall is shared between two connected properties)

How long is a mechanic’s lien good for?

A utility company has the right to come in to inspect a property through what easement?

·      When you acquire the title to someone else’s real property through open, notorious, hostile and continuous use of it for ten years (like a prescription easement)

·      Similar to prescription easement with the exception that you do obtain the title

·      Ex. When you beautify and use a piece of otherwise neglected property.