Week 5 Easements and Covenants 2

Question 1

Issue of Scope may include:

Area of dominant parcel

Division of dominant parcel so as to increase number of users

Nature and extent of use rights included

True or False

Answer 1

Treu

Question 2

Example: if I have acquired an easement to access the water and I have a tiny cottage on a big piece of land, but it is separated somehow like I can see the water, but I can’t get there from here. I may seek an easement that allows me to get to the water. What happens if I decide that it might be easier to be independently wealthy than a law professor?

Image that at the time I am drafting this easement, I am thinking about what about a hotel on my piece of land and it has 30 units, I will get a lot of money if I can advertise waterfront views and waterfront beach access.

If I am negotiating with the person who owns the land in between my lot and the water, I might be thinking about selling the tiny cottage to a developer to build the hotel on. They won’t buy the lot without waterfront access. Thinking ahead to when I am negotiating the scope of the easement with the person that owns the land between me and the water.

We need to make sure everybody is clear on the scope of the easement. The owner of the land might say you and Annabelle and her friends or your mom and dad that is fine, low-cost easement.

But if I tell them I am going to sell to a developer who is going to buy the land. Now we have 120 people who are going to walk across – they are vacationing tourists. Tourists who use land in different ways. Break laws and leave trash or bonfires that maybe a homeowner might not do. A lot to think about when negotiating. More money if I can advertise as having access to the water, I have to make sure the other person is aware of that because my easement is going to be violated and revoked.
!!

Answer 2

!!

Question 3

An easement to drive across parcel A (on the left) to get to parcel B (on the right) automatically extends to access parcel C (on the far right) when it is acquired by the owner of parcel B.
A. True
B. False

Answer 3

B. False

Question 4

You can’t automatically extend it to the new parcel you acquire. True or False.

Answer 4

True

Question 5

Majority rule – you can’t do that. It is not okay. An _______ ____________ to one parcel of land may not be extended by the owner of the dominant estate to other parcels owned by him.

Answer 5

easement appurtenant

Question 6

Majority rule – you can’t do that. It is not okay. An easement appurtenant to one parcel of land may not be extended by the owner of the dominant estate to other parcels owned by him. True or False.

Answer 6

True

Question 7

You cannot extend the area of the __________ property over the ________ property because that is not what was negotiated.

Answer 7

benefited

burdened

Question 8

Brown v. Voss

Bake the people something and negotiate an additional easement. Lasagna, Coke Cake, Pumpkin Bread.

Be friendly, don’t just assume that you can do stuff. 50K – 100K in legal fees. So much they couldn’t pay for the land or taxes anymore.
!!

Answer 8

!!

Question 9

Brown v. Voss:
Under these facts, the holder of a private road easement can traverse the servient estate to reach not only the dominant estate, but a subsequently acquired parcel when those two combined parcels are used in such a way that there is no increase in the burden on the servient estate.

This is NOT the majority rule!!

Answer 9

!!

Question 10

Scope of USE:
1. ?
2.

Answer 10

1. Look at the language of easement document.

Question 11

Scope of USE:
1.
2. ?

Answer 11

2. If language ambiguous, then, look to surrounding circumstances

Question 12

Can you modify the location of the easement?

Yes, if the servient estate holder wants to modify it.

Yes, if the dominant estate holder wants to modify it.

No, never.

Not unless both the benefited and burdened estates agree to modify it.

Answer 12

Not unless both benefited and burdened estates agree to modify it

Question 13

Answer: the owner of the servient estate may want to modify if it runs through their backyard – if you want to put a pool in or create a patio and don’t want easement to run through the pool. You can’t just ___________ make that decision both parties have to agree.

Answer 13

unilaterally

Question 14

1) What if the use changes instead of the area? (O wants to subdivide her land into 100 parcels.)

Answer 14

Owner of the dominant estate can modify the use to accommodate normal development of the property.

Question 15

Owner of the __________ estate can modify the use to accommodate normal development of the property.

Answer 15

dominant

Question 16

Owner of the dominant estate can modify the use to _______ ______ _______ of the property.

Answer 16

accommodate normal development

Question 17

I used to drive through to get to my house but now I want to turn my house into 2 duplex’s.
Do you think that would work?

Answer 17

Wouldn’t work with a prescriptive easement because it is narrow.

Question 18

If you can’t tell look at the circumstances surrounding the creation of the easement.

Conversations that were overheard by others that could say you told me, you might put up two duplexes one day. My advice is if you are going to be the dominant estate holder, be specific enough to include the possibility of ___________ because you don’t want to lose the value of your land because now somebody’s in a bad mood and they don’t want three extra cars driving across their land.

Answer 18

development

Question 19

2) Will a private easement of way allow you to install above or underground utilities?

Answer 19

Usually not. Those are usually for entrance and exit of vehicles. If you want to be able to install above or underground utilities a general easement might be better.

Question 20

3) What is the scope of an easement created by prescription?

Answer 20

What the servient landowner might reasonably expect to lose by not interrupting the prescriptive use.

Question 21

Example: angel sees Annabelle and I walking to the elementary school – no problem.
Is the motorcycle driving across? Not horse or monster truck. No none of that. !

Answer 21

!

Question 22

Can you modify the location of the easement?

Answer 22

No not without both the dominant and servient estate holder agreeing to modify the location.

Question 23

Negative Easements
Historical Development: In England: recognized only 4 negative covenants (but not more). The right to prevent others (stop your neighbor) from:
1. ?
2.
3.
4.

Answer 23

1. Interfering with view through window

Question 24

Negative Easements
Historical Development: In England: recognized only 4 negative covenants (but not more). The right to prevent others (stop your neighbor) from:
1.
2. ?
3.
4.

Answer 24

2. Interfering with air flowing to your land in a defined channel

Question 25

Negative Easements
Historical Development: In England: recognized only 4 negative covenants (but not more). The right to prevent others (stop your neighbor) from:
1.
2.
3. ?
4.

Answer 25

3. Removing the support of your building, e.g., by excavating or removing a supporting wall

Question 26

Negative Easements
Historical Development: In England: recognized only 4 negative covenants (but not more). The right to prevent others (stop your neighbor) from:
1.
2.
3.
4. ?

Answer 26

4. interfering with the flow of water in an artificial system (water rights provide protection on natural stream)

Question 27

Negative Easements
United States:

The 4 negative covenants from England generally accepted.

In addition, new negative covenants occasionally accepted:
1. ?
2.
3.
4.
5.

Answer 27

1. historic preservation easement

Question 28

Negative Easements
United States:

The 4 negative covenants from England generally accepted.

In addition, new negative covenants occasionally accepted:
1.
2. ?
3.
4.
5.

Answer 28

2. express easement of unobstructed view

Question 29

Negative Easements
United States:

The 4 negative covenants from England generally accepted.

In addition, new negative covenants occasionally accepted:
1.
2.
3. ?
4.
5.

Answer 29

3. remove TV antennae

Question 30

Negative Easements
United States:

The 4 negative covenants from England generally accepted.

In addition, new negative covenants occasionally accepted:
1.
2.
3.
4. ?
5.

Answer 30

4. solar easement preventing a person from blocking a neighbor’s solar collector and

Question 31

Negative Easements
United States:

The 4 negative covenants from England generally accepted.

In addition, new negative covenants occasionally accepted:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. ?

Answer 31

5. conservation easement

Question 32

Negative easements can be acquired through prescription?
A. True
B. False

Answer 32

F. False

Then I could say to my neighbor you are not allowed to build a 2-story garage because for the last 20 years you haven’t. you can’t develop that land because you haven’t developed it before – that would be crazy.

Question 33

_____ ______ cannot be acquired through prescription.

Answer 33

negative easements

Question 34

Easements could be __________ through an express conveyance back from the grantee to the grantor. I don’t need this anymore.

Answer 34

released

Question 35

It might ________ at the end of the stated term. It might only last for 6 months or a year, so the easement has ended.

Answer 35

expire

Question 36

Situation where the __________ ends, and we have an implied easement by strict necessity. That would by a way that the easement could end because the necessity has gone away.

Answer 36

necessity

Question 37

__________- servient or burdened estate owner relies upon a statement made by the dominant estate holder and detrimentally relies on it and then it would be unfair to deny that the statement was made. If I am the burdened person and I say I want to put a pool in can I put it in the easement and the dominant says no problem so I spend 75K to put in a pool they can’t say you put the pool where the easement goes because I detrimentally relied upon their statement.

Answer 37

Estoppel

Question 38

Prescription – in some places a prescriptive easement will end by ___________ upon non-use for the statutory time.

Answer 38

abandonment

Question 39

The idea that – I stole this easement from you, but I didn’t use it for 20 years. Have you stolen it back from me? ________ prescription in some places you can do that.

Answer 39

reverse

Question 40

_____ ___ ______ dominant and servient become owned by the same person the easement goes away.

Answer 40

Doctrine of merger.

Question 41

________ _________ – if the government take spart of my neighbor’s land to widen the road and now what was a small road is now a four-lane road – it might not be safe for me to walk across 4 lane to get to school faster. If the purpose for which the. Government has taken the land for ED is inconsistent with the continued use of the easement then ED can make the easement go away too. Wouldn’t be safe for me to walk across the highway where I used to walk across my neighbor’s land.

Answer 41

Eminent Domain

Question 42

Termination of Easements
1. ?
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Answer 42

1. Release

Question 43

Termination of Easements
1.
2. ?
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Answer 43

2.Expiration

Question 44

Termination of Easements
1.
2.
3. ?
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Answer 44

3. Necessity Ceases W/RE Implied Easement by Necessity

Question 45

Termination of Easements
1.
2.
3.
4. ?
5.
6.
7.
8.

Answer 45

4. Estoppel

Question 46

Termination of Easements
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. ?
6.
7.
8.

Answer 46

5. Abandonment: Requires: plus acts reflecting an intent to abandon (examples: letter to the burdened property: not my intention to continue using, or buys another means of access and paves it).

Question 47

Termination of Easements
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. ?
7.
8.

Answer 47

6. Prescription

Question 48

Termination of Easements
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. ?
8.

Answer 48

7. Merger

Question 49

Termination of Easements
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. ?

Answer 49

8. Eminent Domain