If you own a property and are thinking of entering an easement agreement with another party or working to update an old easement, you’ll want to be as specific as possible with the language of the agreement, which is why it can be so helpful to bring a title company aboard to assist with the process. An easement agreement is essentially a contract between two parties, and if you don’t have an airtight contract that protects your best interests, you, your family and your financial situation can suffer. Below, we dive deeper into why it’s so important to have a highly specific easement agreement.
Easements - Why Detailed Agreements Matter
They say that the devil is in the details, but the truth of the matter is that you may run into a lot of trouble with your easement if you neglect to keep it highly detailed.
Remember, an easement is an agreement between two parties that dictates how one party can access and use someone else’s property. For example, you as a property owner may allow a neighbor to access your land for hunting purposes, or an easement may spell out how a shared driveway is used. If you’re not detailed in your description of how easement access is granted, the servient party may access your property in ways that you wish they wouldn’t. You may politely ask them to access your land in a different manner, but if the easement allows them free use of the property, you may not be able to ensure they comply.
Let’s use the two above examples to further explain why detailed easements are so important.
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Hunting Access - Don’t just create an easement that says your neighbor and their sons have access to your farmland for hunting purposes. This could cause them to enter and exit as they please, potentially going places you’d rather they not. Instead, let’s imagine you have a highly specific easement agreement that states specific individuals can access your property from a precise entry point. They are then required to cross your land in a certain manner in order to get to their hunting location. The easement may also say that they only have access to this easement during specific hunting seasons or for an exact purpose (like to set up a stand or to hunt or remove game on the property). A detailed easement ensures you know who is coming and going, where they are entering, and when they are on your property.
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Shared Driveway - Let’s say you live on a property with a shared driveway, and you are seeking to update the agreement with a neighbor. Instead of saying that your neighbor can access the area as they see fit, spell out exactly how the driveway is to be used. If you don’t spell out that the shared roadway is for transport purposes only, you may find that your neighbor ends up parking their motorhome on this shared road, which could be a hazard or simply an eyesore. Be very detailed in writing your easement so that a kind gesture doesn’t come back to haunt you.
Again, it’s highly likely that you aren’t well-versed in developing a descriptive and protective easement agreement, but we are. Let us help with the completion or updating of your easement agreement so that you don’t run into any unexpected issues in the future. For more information on how we can help, or for assistance with a different aspect of commercial real estate, reach out to the team at Commercial Partners today at (612) 337-2470.