Easements and Covenants

A short reply to the question what are Easements andtenement. The personal servitude is a limited real right
Covenants sounds: Easements are documents thatgranting the servitude holder specific entitlements of
provide a person with a rights to property, Covenantsuse and enjoyment of a movable of immovable
are document that contain rules limiting the usage ofproperty for a specific period of time (in some cases
the property. A more detailed answer follows.lifetime) for a maximum of 100 years.
EasementsCovenants
In the common law tradition Easement (in someIn the common law tradition Covenant is a document
jurisdictions - servitude) is defined as athat runs with the land. It is an agreement between
non-possessory interest to use real property inadjoining landowners to do something (affirmative
possession of another person for a stated purpose.covenant) or to refrain from doing something
This document is considered a property right in itself at(restrictive covenant) with relation to the land. Every
common law and is still treated as a type of propertycovenant has two sides – burden and benefit. The
in most of existing jurisdictions. Easement does notburden holds the promissors duty to perform the
give the holder the right of "possession" of thepromise and the benefit the promisee's right to enforce
property, it provides only with a personal privilege tothe promise. The covenants are tied to the land and
use land for a limited purpose. Also the easementnot the owner, so any successor of the land will be
provides that the benefits of most easementsable to enforce the covenant or be burdened by it. In
(appurtenant easement) flow to an adjacent parcel oforder for the burden of covenant to be legal the
land, not to a specific person.following requirements must be met. The covenant
As for the one province that has a Civil Law traditionmust be in writing, the original parties must have
– Quebec, in the Civil Code of Quebec it is namedintended that successors be bound by the agreement.
servitude and described in the article 117 as following:The document must relate to the use or enjoyment of
“A servitude is a charge imposed on an immovable,the land. The owner also must have an actual notice,
the servient land, in favour of another immovable, theinquiry notice, or constructive (record) notice of the
dominant land, belonging to a different owner.”covenant at the time of purchase. In order for the
There are two types of servitudes - personalbenefit of the covenant to run with the land, the
servitudes and land (praedial) servitudes. The praedialfollowing requirements must be met. The document
servitude provides a limited real right to the land ofmust be in writing and must meet the appropriate
another, which confers on the owner of the dominantrequirements similar to requirements of the burden to
tenement, in principle, permanent, defined entitlementsbe enforceable.
of use and enjoyment with regard to the servient