Fiber Installation

Your local government that controls easement and ROW access

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What is an easement?

An easement gives legal rights to someone to use your land for a specific purpose.

What are some common types of easements?

• Utility Easement – It allows a utility company or local municipality to access your property for things such as power lines, water lines, utility boxes, etc.
• Private Easement – Private easement rights are granted to an individual. A property owner might grant a neighbor access to a body of water through their property. If considering purchasing a property with this type of easement, the potential buyer should carefully review the document containing the easement language as sometimes there can be limits on what the landowner can do near the easement area.
• Easement by Necessity – If a property owner is landlocked they cannot be denied access to their property.
• Prescriptive Easement – This is an easement for the use of property for a specific amount of time. It varies by state, but there can be regulations regarding the length of time a person can use the easement and the possible requirements to pay a portion of property taxes.
• Public Easement – A public easement grants the use of an area of property for public use.

What is the difference between an appurtenant easement and an easement in gross?

An appurtenant easement applies to the land, meaning that if the landowner sells the land, the easement remains with it.

While an easement in gross gives rights to an individual for as long as the owner owns the property. The easement belongs to the person rather than the land, so if the land owner sells the land or easement owner passes away the easement expires.

Affirmative Easement vs. Negative Easement

An affirmative easement, also known as a positive easement, grants permission for land to be used for a specific purpose. Without this type of easement an act may be considered trespassing or nuisance.

Examples of affirmative easements might include:

• Utility access for water, power lines, septic systems
• Right-of-way access to a neighboring property
• Access for hunting, fishing, or other recreational use

A negative easement is a restriction placed on the land. With this type of easement, there is an agreement that something ​will not be done on/with the land.

Examples of negative easements:

• Restricting building or construction (most times in order to preserve the easement owner’s view)
• An easement like this may want to preserve a lake or mountain view

What are some restrictions that an easement can have?

Unfortunately, easement rights may come with restrictions regarding construction, fencing or building setback requirements beyond the particular local ordinances.