Landlord–Tenant Relationship: Duties and Remedies

What is a nonpossessory interest in land?

A right to use another person’s land or restrict its use without possessing or owning it.

What is an easement?

A nonpossessory interest that entitles its holder to use or enjoy another person’s land for a specified purpose.

Does an easement permit the holder to use the land for any purpose?

No. The holder’s use is limited to the easement’s specified purpose.

What are examples of easements?

Rights to cross another person’s land, install utility lines, or swim in another person’s pond.

What are the two basic types of easements?

Easements appurtenant and easements in gross.

What is an easement appurtenant?

An easement that benefits its holder in the use or enjoyment of the holder’s own land.

What two parcels are involved in an easement appurtenant?

A dominant tenement and a servient tenement.

What is the dominant tenement?

The land that benefits from an easement.

What is the servient tenement?

The land burdened by an easement.

A has a right to cross B’s land to reach the road from A’s property. Which parcel is dominant?

A’s property, because it benefits from the easement.

A has a right to cross B’s land to reach the road from A’s property. Which parcel is servient?

B’s property, because it is burdened by the easement.

What is an easement in gross?

An easement that provides a personal or economic benefit to its holder rather than benefiting a particular parcel of land.

Does an easement in gross have a dominant tenement?

No. It has a servient tenement but no dominant tenement.

Must the holder of an easement in gross own land?

No.

A business has a right to place an advertising billboard on another person’s land. What type of easement is this?

An easement in gross, because it benefits the business rather than a dominant parcel.

What is the key distinction between an easement appurtenant and an easement in gross?

An easement appurtenant benefits land; an easement in gross benefits a person or entity independently of land ownership.

What are the four basic methods of creating an easement?

Grant, implication, necessity, and prescription.

How is an easement by grant created?

The landowner expressly grants the easement, generally through a written, signed deed.

Does an easement by grant generally require a writing?

Yes. It generally requires a written, signed deed.

What is an easement implied from existing use?

An easement arising by operation of law when commonly owned land is divided and circumstances indicate that an existing use should continue.

What circumstances support an easement implied from existing use?

A use existed when commonly owned land was divided, the use was necessary for enjoyment of the benefited parcel, and the parties apparently intended it to continue.

Does an easement by implication require an express written grant?

No. It arises by operation of law.

An owner uses a bridge on one parcel to access a road from another parcel, then sells the parcels separately. What easement may arise?

An easement implied from existing use allowing continued use of the bridge.

What is an easement by necessity?

An easement arising when division of commonly owned land leaves a parcel without access to a public road.

An owner sells a parcel completely surrounded by the owner’s remaining land. What easement may the buyer obtain?

An easement by necessity to cross the remaining land and reach a public road.

What is the central difference between an easement implied from existing use and an easement by necessity?

Existing-use implication depends on a use existing before division; necessity depends on necessary access resulting from division.

What is an easement by prescription?

An easement acquired through qualifying use of another person’s land for the legally required period.

What features of prescriptive use does the lecture emphasize?

Open use, without the owner’s permission, continued for the legally required period.

Does use with the landowner’s permission satisfy the adverse-use requirement for prescription?

No. Permissive use is not adverse.

Someone openly uses a shortcut across a neighbor’s land without permission for the required period. What interest may arise?

An easement by prescription.

Does an easement by prescription give ownership of the land?

No. It gives a right to use the land.

What is zoning?

Governmental regulation of land use through rules specifying permitted or prohibited uses in particular areas.

What levels of government enact the zoning regulations discussed in the lecture?

State and local governments.

What interests may zoning regulations protect?

Public health, safety, morals, and welfare.

How do zoning laws regulate land use?

They divide areas into zones and specify which uses are permitted or prohibited in each zone.

What are examples of zoning restrictions?

Restrictions on liquor stores near schools, chemical plants near homes, or large hotels in residential areas.

Can zoning permit several types of land use within the same area?

Yes. A zone may permit homes, apartment buildings, shops, and restaurants.

What is the difference between an easement and zoning?

An easement gives its holder a specific right to use another person’s land; zoning regulates land use through governmental rules.