What Is an Easement on a Property?

An easement is a legal right that lets someone other than the property owner use part of the land for a specific purpose. The owner still holds the title and can use the property, but they must allow the easement holder, a neighbor, a utility, or the public, to use the easement area in the way the easement describes.

Two terms come up constantly. The property that benefits from the easement is the dominant estate, and the property that carries the burden is the servient estate. If your neighbor has a driveway crossing your yard, your yard is the servient estate. The easement runs with the land, meaning it stays with the property when it sells, unless the parties agree to end it.

The most common easements in Pennsylvania are practical necessities. Utility easements let electric, gas, water, and sewer companies run lines across your property. Most homes have them on a side yard or rear line, and they rarely bother anyone until repairs are needed. Access and driveway easements give a neighbor the right to cross your land, often because their property is landlocked or the drive is shared. Drainage and sewer easements protect the path of stormwater or sewer pipes.

You will also see conservation easements that limit development to protect open space, view easements that prevent blocking a scenic view, and public easements for sidewalks and trails. Pennsylvania's older towns, including many Philadelphia suburbs, have long-established easements for utilities and street access that predate the current homes.

Easements surface in two places: the title report and the survey. The title commitment lists recorded easements, and the survey shows exactly where they lie on the ground. Buyers should read both. A utility easement along the back fence is usually a non-issue. An access easement crossing the backyard, or an easement that runs under the house or a planned garage, can change the value proposition of the property.

Ask three questions about any easement: Who benefits? Where exactly does it sit? And what activity does it allow? A sewer easement that permits heavy equipment access could mean excavation in your yard one day. A driveway easement for the neighbor could mean you cannot fence that side of the lot. Knowing the boundary of the easement ahead of time prevents rude surprises.

In Pennsylvania, easements can be express, created in a deed or separate written agreement, or implied and prescriptive, created by years of use or necessity. Recorded easements are the ones a title search will find. Unrecorded or prescriptive easements are why the survey and a good title company matter: a driveway used openly for decades can ripen into a legal right even if no document exists.

Pennsylvania courts generally enforce easements according to their terms and will not let the easement holder use the property in ways beyond what was granted. If a neighbor claims a right your title does not show, that is a legal question for a real estate attorney, not a handshake conversation. An encroachment, a fence or building intruding onto the easement or your land, is a separate issue the survey usually catches.

Most easements have little effect on value. A utility line across an undeveloped rear strip changes nothing about how you use the home. But a large access easement, a conservation easement that blocks an addition, or an easement that crosses the only buildable part of the lot can make the property less attractive to a specific buyer.

For sellers, disclose what you know. Pennsylvania's Seller's Property Disclosure Statement asks about easements and other matters affecting the property, and the title work will show the recorded ones anyway. Trying to hide an easement only creates a contract problem. Buyers should remember that nearly every home in the Philadelphia region carries at least one easement, usually a polite utility line, and that alone is not a red flag.

Easements are part of nearly every property, and most are friendly. Sort them with these questions.

• ✓ Who benefits: utility companies, neighbors, or the public hold most easements
• ✓ Where it sits: the survey shows the easement's exact footprint on the ground
• ✓ What it allows: read the title report for the permitted use and any restrictions
• ✓ Runs with the land: recorded easements survive every sale until formally ended
• ✓ Check the exceptions: the title commitment lists each easement and restriction on your property

A utility line along the back fence is life in the suburbs; an access easement under your planned addition is a conversation before you buy.