You may have purchased a property that is subject to an easement or contemplating purchasing one, and not know what that means.
An easement is a right for another landowner (or a utility) to use part of your property for a specific purpose. A driveway easement across one property to another property is a common example of an easement. This type of easement may also be referred to as a Right of Way. A Right of Way, when properly worded, is an easement for the purpose of passing over certain lands. Other types of easements might be the right to run water lines, sewer lines, utility lines/poles, etc. There may also be easements that deal with encroachments of fences, sheds or garages from one property onto another. These are simply some examples of the various types of easements, but the actual list of types of easements is much longer.
Easements for water, sewer and utility lines are very common and are generally viewed as a necessity for the use and enjoyment of any property. That being said, you should be aware of the full impact of these or any other types of easements that affect properties that you may be looking at purchasing. What an owner can do with the portion of his land where the easement lies varies from situation to situation and may impact your future use of the property. These issues should be discussed with a lawyer as soon as possible.
For more information on easements, please contact a member of our Real Estate Team.