real covenant Flashcards
What is a real covenant?
A real covenant is a promise written into a deed or a separate agreement that relates to land and can bind future owners of that land.
What are the requirements for a real covenant to run with the land?
The requirements can be remembered with the acronym PINT: Writing, Intent, Touch and Concern the Land, Privity, and sometimes Notice.
What does ‘Writing’ mean in the context of a real covenant?
The covenant must be in writing to satisfy the Statute of Frauds, usually in the deed or another signed document.
What does ‘Intent’ refer to in a real covenant?
The original parties must have intended that the covenant would bind their successors, often explicitly stated in the agreement.
What does ‘Touch and Concern the Land’ mean?
The covenant must directly relate to the use, enjoyment, or value of the land, not a purely personal promise.
Give an example of a covenant that touches and concerns the land.
A promise not to build a structure over a certain height.
Give an example of a covenant that likely does NOT touch and concern the land.
A promise to pay a neighbor’s personal debt.
What is Privity in the context of real covenants?
Privity refers to a legal relationship between certain parties, with horizontal and vertical privity being relevant.
What is Horizontal Privity?
It concerns the relationship between the original parties who entered into the covenant, traditionally requiring the covenant to be part of a conveyance of land.
What is Vertical Privity?
It concerns the relationship between an original party to the covenant and a subsequent owner of the land.
What is required for the burden of a covenant to run?
Strict vertical privity is often required, meaning the successor must acquire the entire estate that the original burdened party held.
What is required for the benefit of a covenant to run?
Many jurisdictions require only relaxed vertical privity, meaning the successor needs to acquire only some portion of the original benefited party’s estate.
What does ‘Notice’ refer to in the context of real covenants?
In some jurisdictions, the subsequent owner must have had notice of the covenant at the time they acquired the property.
What is the Burden of a real covenant?
The burden is the obligation or duty that the covenant imposes on the owner of a particular piece of land.
Give an example of a Burden.
Alice sells a plot of land to Bob and includes a covenant stating that Bob will not build any structure taller than two stories on the property.
What is the Benefit of a real covenant?
The benefit is the right or advantage that the covenant provides to the owner of another piece of land.
Continuing the example, what is the Benefit for Alice?
Alice’s land would be benefited by Bob’s promise not to build tall structures, preserving her view or sunlight.
Summarize the difference between Burden and Benefit.
The burden is the duty to do or not do something related to the land, while the benefit is the right to have that duty performed or not performed by someone else.
