Contact UsSan Francisco Real Estate Attorney Answers, “What Are Easements?”
The first time many people really notice easements is when they see the Preliminary Title Report on the first property they buy. I see this often as a San Francisco real estate attorney. It is not unusual for California properties, particularly in urban or suburban areas, to have a half dozen or more easements of record showing. But what exactly are they, and why should owners (or prospective owners) care?
Basically, an easement is the right for someone to use property that belongs to someone else. For example, many properties have power lines and other utilities running across part of their property. This is almost always accomplished by having a utility easement (usually created when the property was developed), which allows the utility company to have those poles and power lines on your property.
Easements found on your title report are known as easements “of record,” because the details of the easement have been written down and recorded to ensure that all future owners know what the restrictions are. When purchasing property, it’s important to know about these easements and to consider whether they will have any negative impact on the use you plan to make of the property.
For example, if you are planning to remodel or add on to the property, you need to know where the easements are, because with most types of easements you can’t put permanent structures in the easement area. Why not? Because every easement (by law, even if it doesn’t say so in the document) includes the right to maintain the intended use and to access the easement for maintenance and use purposes.
If you put your building under the power lines, the power company may not be able to access those lines for necessary maintenance. Landscaping can also be impacted, since trees can interfere with wires and roots can affect underground utilities. In most cases, people feel that the benefits of having utilities outweigh any restrictions on the use of their land, but if you have particular plans, it’s best to find out before you buy.
A utility easement is just one example, and easements can be much less concrete than this. For example, the CC&Rs present in many subdivisions are a sort of easement (in part). The important thing to remember is that easements may substantially impact how you (and other people!) use your property, so it’s important not to gloss over them in the purchase process.
If you have any questions about easements on a property you own or are looking to buy, or want to create an easement, call our office and we’ll be happy to help. Next time, a word about the “secret” easements you won’t find on your title report.
Comments (3)
Good morning
I live in a condominium. We have easements on either side of the street. There two gas stations one on one side and the other on the other side. Can we get at lease from both gas stations? Also does a city have to say anything about these easement rights? Thank you for your time.
David Matthews
These are great questions, but the answers will be very specific to the facts of your situation. Usually they can be answered in the context of an initial consultation meeting.
My church in SSF, has a utility pole easement in our yard where the adjacent neighbor shares that easement, their house is located at the lowering level downhill from the church. They built a fence and deck on the church sides and also planted trees, plants in the easements. The fence is now leaning towards them and they claimed that the church soil is falling in their yard, we were told that there is pressure from soil causing some displacement. He wants some excavation of soil and retaining wall in the easements to relieve the pressure of soils at the church expense. We don’t know if there’s an easement agreement and I want to know if the church is responsible to fix the problem they created. They are now harassing the church, leaving us messages and even yelling at our members and contractors when they see someone in the church yard. We recently paved the yard and now they got the City involved with their issues and the city is now requiring us to do an additional work because of their complaints.