PP501: Professional Practice

Lecture 7
 Module 5
1. Arbitration – Principles, Indian Arbitration act, Powers and duties of arbitrators,
Revoking authority, Umpire and Award.
2. Valuation – Purpose, Value, Factors affecting value, Value classification,
Classification of Ownership, Valuation reports, methods of valuation.
3. Easement – Definition, various types, essential conditions for enjoyment of
easements, Valuation for Easements.

Ongoing Lecture Assignment Completed Upcoming/Self study

Easement
Easement
• An easement is a non possessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property
of another without possessing it.
• It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the
land of another, B".

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Easement: Definition
• Easements are categorized as being either affirmative or negative.
• An affirmative easement entitles the holder to do something on another
individual's land, whereas a negative easement divests an owner of the right to do
something on the property.
• For example, the owner of land might enter into an agreement with the owner of
an adjoining piece of land not to build a high structure that would obstruct the
light and air that go onto the adjoining owner's land.
• This easement of light and air deprives the property owner who gives it up from
enjoying ownership rights in the land to the fullest possible extent and is labeled a
negative easement.
Easement: Definition
There are various ways in which easements are created.
• An express easement is clearly stated in a contract, deed, or will.
• An easement by implication occurs when the owner of a piece of land divides such
land into smaller pieces and sells a smaller piece to another person, retaining a
right to enter such piece of land.
• For example, a seller divides his or her property and sells half to a purchaser. The
piece that the purchaser buys has a sewer pipe beneath it that serves both pieces
of property. The seller has an implied easement to use the sewer pipe that runs
under t he purchaser's land.
Easement: Definition
• An easement by prescription arises through an individual's use of land as opposed
to the possession thereof.
• An easement of this nature will be recognized in these instances:
1. the easement is adverse or contrary to the interests, and absent the
permission, of the landowner;
2. it is open and notorious;
3. it is continuous and uninterrupted; and
4. it exists for the period of time prescribed by state statute. If for a period of
time beyond the prescribed statutory period A creates and openly uses a
right of way across B's land without B's permission then an easement by
prescription is created
Easement: Definition
• An easement can either be terminated through the expiration of its term as
determined upon its creation or by one of several events occurring subsequent to
creation.
• Events that can extinguish an easement include these:
1. the same individual becoming the owner of the dominant as well as the
servient estate when an appurtenant easement existed;
2. the owner of an easement in gross obtaining ownership of the servient
estate;
3. the owner of the dominant tenement executing a deed or will releasing the
easement in favor of the owner of the servient tenement; and
4. the Abandonment of an easement.
 Easement: Types
• A utility easement is a common type that gives local utility companies the right to use parts of a
piece of land.
• There may be pre-existing utility easements on a property at the time of purchase.
• Utility easements are necessary for the existence of electricity, television, telephone, water, and
sewer systems on the property.
• Utility easements exist for the benefit of the community, as it is more efficient and cost effective to
run utility lines straight through a neighborhood rather than around individual pieces of property.
• This easement does not give utility companies free rein to do as they wish on your property, but
they may do things for the good of the community.
• For example, the company may install underground lines or utility poles without your permission.
• The easement also restricts what you may do to your property. You could not, for example, plant a
tree so that it will directly interfere with power lines.
• Utility easements generally don’t affect the value of a property unless it imposes tight restrictions
on what the property owner may and may not do
 Easement: Types
• In some areas, the general public has the right to use certain areas, streets, and paths.
• In these cases, a public easement would give the public the right to use a part of the property.
• This may be the case in the event of protected land, such as a reservation or park.
• A public easement may also be necessary to establish a parking lot or touring location.
• Public easements often come into play when the government dedicates certain areas of land for
public use.
• In some cases, public easements appear after years of the public using an area of private property.
• For example, beach access paths that are technically on private land, but have been used by the
public for years, may be subject to such public easements.
• Whether the public easement affects property value depends on how much access the public has to
the land, and how this restricts property ownership and changes to the land.
• If many homes in the neighborhood have the same public easements, conditions would be
normalized, therefore not likely to decrease property value.
 Easement: Types
• A private easement is one the property owner sells to another individual.
• Private easements often help neighbors during building and development.
• For example, if your neighbor wants to use your land for solar access or install pipes
beneath your home for proper sewer access.
• Private easements will generally not interfere with property ownership. It’s up to the
landowner to agree or refuse to sell the private easement.
• Before purchasing a piece of property, inspect any private easements listed on the title.
Review copies of the actual easement documents to learn where they are and what
uses/restrictions they require.
• Private easements may limit what you can build or install on your property based on the
terms.
• The previous owner may not have had an issue with the easement’s restrictions, but you
might not be happy with what you can and cannot do because of your neighbor’s legal right
to the property
 Easement: Types
• Sometimes easements are unavoidable;
• For example, a neighbor who has to cross through your property to get to his/her own
house.
• In situations where access to a piece of land must go through your private property, an
easement by necessity may come into existence.
• The property owner does not have the right to stop these easements, as this would
encroach on the neighbor’s legal rights. Where land gets divided, easements by necessity
occur the most often.
 Easement: Types
• Occasionally previous landowners have easements from divided pieces of property but
forget to include them on titles and deeds.
• If another person were to purchase this land, he or she would not see any easements on
the property – only to find that a neighbor uses part of the property for one reason or
another.
• If a landowner forgets to include an easement in the deed, he/she must prove the existence
of the easement by prior use.
• To establish this type of easement, the property owner needs to show common ownership
of two properties at one time, a severance of the properties, easements before and after
the severance, notice of the easement, and that the easement is necessary.
 Easement: Types
• In some cases, an individual needs another’s land for a specific purpose.
• For example, using the driveway for accessing the individual’s own home or a path that acts as a
shortcut. If this is the case, the individual can receive an easement by using or occupying the land for a
set number of years.
• The minimum amount of time varies from state to state. It may take 10 or 20 years of using the other
person’s land to receive a prescriptive easement.
• The timeline is often the same for adverse possession, or when someone gains legal property
ownership by occupying the land.
• A prescriptive easement differs from adverse possession in a few important ways. The government does
not require property taxes on a prescriptive easement claim, but may require trespassers to pay taxes
on land they legally own by occupation. The trespasser doesn’t have to be the only one using the land
to receive a prescriptive easement – more than one person can acquire these easements on the same
piece of land.
• A property owner can prevent a prescriptive easement by giving the individual the right to use the
property.
• Easements by prescription, also called prescriptive easements, are implied easements granted after the
dominant estate has used the property in a hostile, continuous and open manner for a statutorily
prescribed number of years.
 Easement: Conclusion
• There are many types of easements that may exist on a single piece of property.
• Conducting an in-depth public records search on the property can help potential
landowners learn of easements before making a purchase.
• In most situations, easements will not decrease the value of the property.
• If the easement has strict rules or requirements the property owner must follow, however,
it can affect property value and marketability.
• The more you know about the easements on a property, the more informed you’ll be as a
buyer.
 Valuation for Easements
• Under this technique, an appraiser evaluates the estimation of a property's easements in
addition to the harms those easements cause to the rest of that property.
• Basically, the other general run for easement valuation incorporates a different harm on an
incentive not withstanding a pay esteem
Reference
• Professional Practice, 2016, Dr. Roshan H Namavati