Easements (Ch. 9) Flashcards
easement
a nonpossessory right to use the land of another person.
dominant/servient tenement
easement terms; the land benefited by the easment is the dominant tenement, and the land burdened by the easement is the servient tenement.
appurtenant easement
an easement which benefits the holder in her use of a specific parcel of land.
easement in gross
not connected to the holder’s use of any particular land, rather it is personal to the holder.
affirmative easement
allows the holder to perform an act on the servient land.
negative easement
allows the holder to prevent the servient owner from performing an act on the servient land.
express easement
an easement which is voluntarily created by the agreement of both parties, usually in a deed (grant), or can also be by reservation, when the dominant owner grants the servient land to the servient owner, but reserves an easement over that property.
Can an express easement by reservation be reserved for a third party?
Traditionally, no, but modern decisions tend to allow it.
Millbrook Hunt v. Smith (1998)
Smith was against fox-hunting, so he tried to get rid of the 75-year easement the Hunt had to use the land for fox hunting. Court found that b/c the Hunt clearly reserved an absolute right to fox-hunt on the land (possessory interest), it was an easement and not a license.
Difference between easement and revocable license?
An easement implies an interest in land which is possessory, while a license is simply a personal privilege to temproarily use a piece of land.
Profit
A right to enter the land of another to remove minerals, timber, game, or other natural resources (Treated the same as easements legally).
Three elements of an implied easement by prior existing use
(1) severance of title to land held in common ownership, (2) an existing, apparent, and continuous use of one parcel for the benefit of another at the time of severance, and (3) reasonable necessity for that use.
Van Sandt v. Royster (1938)
The Court found an implied easement by prior existing use for a neighbor to use the adjacent lot to run sewer pipes to the street.
reasonable necessity (for purposes of an implied easement)
Easement must be beneficial or convenient for the use of the dominant tenement, but doesn’t have to be essential.
Elements of an easement by necessity
severance of title to land held in common ownership, and strict necessity for the easement at the time of severance.
Berge v. State of Vermont
Court granted Berge an easement by necessity across D’s land b/c his only other access to a road was across a pond, which was not a “reasonably consistent, practical” means of reaching his property, as he would not be able to use the pond when it was frozen.
key distinction in an easement by necessity case
the distinction between mere inconvenience and actual necessity
Two approaches to easements by necessity
strict necessity and reasonable necessity
Who chooses the location for an easement by necessity?
Generally, the owner of the servient land is titled to select the route, as long as it is reasonable.
prescriptive easement
an easement gained by continuous, open, and notorious use of another’s land (similar to adverse posession).
elements of a prescriptive easement
open and notorious, adverse and hostile, and continuous for the statutory period.
public trust doctrine
provides that navigable waters and certain related lands belong to the government as a trustee for the benefit of the public. When the goverment sells such land, it reserves the right for the public to use the land for fishing, swimming, navigation, etc.
Kienzle v. Myers (2006)
The court established an easement by estoppel for the use of a neighbor’s land to run sewer pipes underneath because the person relied on the easement to her detriment, so the neighbor is estopped from denying the existence of the easement.
elements of an easement by estoppel
(1) a landowner allows another to use his land (creating a license), (2) the licensee relies in good faith on the license (by making improvements or incurring significant costs), and (3) the licensor knows or reasoanbly should expect such reliance will occur.
difference between an easement by estoppel and an irrevocable license
there is no difference
Marcus Cable Associates v. Krohn (2002)
Court would not allow P to use an existing easement for the purposes of transmitting cable lines because that went beyond the original intention of the easement, which was simply to transmit electricity lines.
general rule of evolution of easements
the manner, frequency, and intensity of an easement’s use may change over time to accommodate technological development, as long as it doesn’t exceed the scope of the easement’s intentions.
can the location of an easement be changed?
Yes, only if both the servient and dominant owners agree. But the Restatement provides that the servient owner may relocate an easement on his own as long as it doesn’t significantly lessen the utility of the easement or increase the burden on the easement-holder.
Preseault v. U.S. (1996)
Court held that an easement for railroad use over P’s land was abandoned b/c there was no intent to use the land for railroad use in the future, and using the land for recreational trails was beyond the scope of the easement.
abandonment of an easement
to establish abandonment, there must be nonuse, and acts by the owner of the dominant tenement conclusively manifesting either a present intent to relinquish the easement or a purpose inconsistent with its future existence.
methods of terminating an easement
abandonment, condemnation, estoppel (servient owner relies to his detriment on promise not to use the easement), merger (one person obtains title to both the easement and the servient land), misuse, and release (in writing according to SoF).
If an easement is terminated by condemnation of the land…
the easement holder is entitled to just compensation.
conservation easement
restricts the development and use of the servient land in order to preserve open space, farm land, historical sites, etc.
