When you buy a piece of residential real estate, it’s easy to think that you have complete and absolute control over your property. However, the reality is often more complex. Various legal concepts can affect your property rights, and one of the most important of these is the concept of an easement. If you’re not familiar with the term, don’t worry! Let’s break it down in a casual, easy-to-understand way.

What is an Easement?

An easement is a legal right for someone else to use your property for a specific purpose, even though you still own the land. Think of it as giving someone permission to cross through your yard to get to their house. Easements can be created through agreements, necessity, long-term use, and other legal mechanisms. While you might not be thrilled about someone else having rights to your property, easements are quite common and often essential for practical reasons.

Now, let’s dive into the different types of easements you might encounter in residential real estate: utility easements, easement by necessity, private easements, and prescriptive easements.

Utility Easement

A utility easement is one of the most common types. It allows utility companies to install and maintain infrastructure such as power lines, water pipes, sewer lines, and gas lines on your property. Here’s why they’re important:

• Access to Services: Without utility easements, you wouldn't have access to essential services like electricity, water, and gas. These easements ensure that utility companies can install and maintain the necessary equipment to provide these services to your home and your neighbors.

• Maintenance and Repair: Utility easements give companies the right to enter your property to perform maintenance or repairs. For instance, if a power line needs fixing, the electric company doesn’t need your permission each time—they already have a legal right to access your property.

While utility easements are crucial, they can sometimes be inconvenient. You might find that certain areas of your yard are off-limits for building structures, planting large trees, or other activities that could interfere with the utilities.

Easement by Necessity

Easement by necessity occurs when a property owner must cross another person’s land to access their own property. This type of easement typically arises in situations where a piece of land would be completely landlocked without it. Here’s a practical example:

Imagine you buy a plot of land behind another property, and the only way to access your land is by crossing the neighboring property. If there’s no other reasonable access point, you may be granted an easement by necessity. The key aspects include:

• Essential Access: This easement is strictly for access to your property. It’s not a free pass to use the neighbor's land for any other purpose.

• Legal Right: Easements by necessity are typically established through court orders or legal agreements to ensure that property owners aren’t landlocked and can access their property reasonably.

Private Easement

A private easement is created between two parties, often neighbors, through a mutual agreement. It allows one party to use a portion of the other’s property for a specific purpose. These easements can be customized to fit the needs of both parties involved. Here are some common scenarios:

• Driveways and Paths: If your driveway partially overlaps with your neighbor’s property, a private easement can formalize your right to use that portion of their land to access your garage.

• Shared Amenities: Sometimes, neighbors might share a garden, pool, or other amenities that require formal access rights. A private easement can outline these terms.

Private easements are flexible and can be negotiated to suit specific needs. They are usually detailed in the property deed, ensuring both parties understand and agree to the terms.

Prescriptive Easement

A prescriptive easement is somewhat unique because it’s established through long-term, continuous use without the property owner's explicit permission. This can sound a bit strange, but it happens under certain conditions:

• Continuous Use: The use must be continuous and uninterrupted for a specific period, which varies by jurisdiction but is often around 10-20 years.

• Open and Notorious: The use must be obvious enough that the property owner could notice it. It can’t be hidden or secretive.

• Adverse: The use must be without the property owner’s permission, effectively “adverse” to their interests.

Imagine someone has been using a path across your property for many years, and you never stopped them. After a certain period, they might gain a prescriptive easement, giving them the legal right to continue using that path.

Wrapping Up

Easements might seem like a legal headache, but they play a crucial role in ensuring that properties can be used efficiently and that everyone has access to necessary services and pathways. Here’s a quick recap of the different types:

• Utility Easement: Allows utility companies to install and maintain infrastructure on your property.

• Easement by Necessity: Grants essential access to landlocked properties.

• Private Easement: A mutually agreed-upon right between neighbors for specific uses.

• Prescriptive Easement: Established through long-term, continuous, and obvious use without permission.

Understanding these easements can help you navigate property ownership with greater confidence and ensure that you’re aware of any existing rights or obligations tied to your land. So, next time you’re walking across that neighbor’s path or wondering why a utility truck is in your yard, you’ll know exactly why they have the right to be there!

After years in advertising and marketing, living and working for companies in Georgia, North Carolina, and China, I decided to acquire my real estate license so I can use my established marketing and communications skills to help others and work for myself.

For many people, buying and/or selling their home is one of the most important and most stressful times of their lives. Having an advocate and an agent who has experienced years of corporate marketing, managing teams through challenging projects with tight deadlines, and negotiating complex deals - will aid in the home buying or selling process.

If you or anyone you know is interested in real estate investment, a personal real estate search, or property management, please reach out to me directly - I would love to provide my services to help find your goal property as soon as possible.

David “Bo” Hardegree, NC Real Estate Broker
Espin Realty
[email protected]
704-748-0958