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Could someone compare and contrast them for me? I am having some problems differentiating them. Wouldn't an express easement be essentially a covenant? What's the difference?

Been a while since I took property, but I think I remember it like this... An easement provides someone a right to use someone else's land in a particular way. A covenant is a binding restriction on the particular use of land by the landowner himself. An easement can restrict use of the land, but its real purpose is that right of access. For example:

Easement: I have a right to walk across your lawn to get to the sidewalk. (This is explicitly about preserving access to the sidewalk.)
Covenant: I have a binding promise from you not to build a wall blocking access to the sidewalk. (I want it to keep you from blocking the sidewalk, but it restricts a particular use of your land, whether I'm walking across this it or not.)

Also, because covenants are about restrictions on ownership of property (rather than rights of access), they can only be created during transfer of ownership, I think. Easements can be created expressly, but also through lots of other ways.

(If I'm wrong, hopefully someone will correct me, and then you'll still have a useful answer eventually.)

Winkie is correct.

vanwinkle wrote:Been a while since I took property, but I think I remember it like this... An easement provides someone a right to use someone else's land in a particular way. A covenant is a binding restriction on the particular use of land by the landowner himself. An easement can restrict use of the land, but its real purpose is that right of access. For example:

Easement: I have a right to walk across your lawn to get to the sidewalk. (This is explicitly about preserving access to the sidewalk.)
Covenant: I have a binding promise from you not to build a wall blocking access to the sidewalk. (I want it to keep you from blocking the sidewalk, but it restricts a particular use of your land, whether I'm walking across this it or not.)

Also, because covenants are about restrictions on ownership of property (rather than rights of access), they can only be created during transfer of ownership, I think. Easements can be created expressly, but also through lots of other ways.

(If I'm wrong, hopefully someone will correct me, and then you'll still have a useful answer eventually.)

Thanks for the response. So that seems to be an what an affirmative easement is. But what about a negative easement?

Affirmative easement: Right to do something on another's property
Negative easement: Right to prevent someone else from doing something on their property
Affirmative covenant: Promise to do something on your property for the benefit of another property
Negative covenant: Promise not to do something on your property for the benefit of another property

Okay, I think I figured it out actually. For some reason I'm having a hard time grasping this conceptually.

ph14 wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:Been a while since I took property, but I think I remember it like this... An easement provides someone a right to use someone else's land in a particular way. A covenant is a binding restriction on the particular use of land by the landowner himself. An easement can restrict use of the land, but its real purpose is that right of access. For example:

Easement: I have a right to walk across your lawn to get to the sidewalk. (This is explicitly about preserving access to the sidewalk.)
Covenant: I have a binding promise from you not to build a wall blocking access to the sidewalk. (I want it to keep you from blocking the sidewalk, but it restricts a particular use of your land, whether I'm walking across this it or not.)

Also, because covenants are about restrictions on ownership of property (rather than rights of access), they can only be created during transfer of ownership, I think. Easements can be created expressly, but also through lots of other ways.

(If I'm wrong, hopefully someone will correct me, and then you'll still have a useful answer eventually.)

Thanks for the response. So that seems to be an what an affirmative easement is. But what about a negative easement?

Affirmative easement: Right to do something on another's property
Negative easement: Right to prevent someone else from doing something on their property
Affirmative covenant: Promise to do something on your property for the benefit of another property
Negative covenant: Promise not to do something on your property for the benefit of another property

Okay, I think I figured it out actually. For some reason I'm having a hard time grasping this conceptually.

This is right, and so is VW. If it helps, the way I keep it straight is that an easement is a right to use property, but a right that doesn't include the right to possession; while a covenant is promise to do (or not do) something on the land, and one that that "sticks" to the land.

Renzo wrote:

ph14 wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:Been a while since I took property, but I think I remember it like this... An easement provides someone a right to use someone else's land in a particular way. A covenant is a binding restriction on the particular use of land by the landowner himself. An easement can restrict use of the land, but its real purpose is that right of access. For example:

Easement: I have a right to walk across your lawn to get to the sidewalk. (This is explicitly about preserving access to the sidewalk.)
Covenant: I have a binding promise from you not to build a wall blocking access to the sidewalk. (I want it to keep you from blocking the sidewalk, but it restricts a particular use of your land, whether I'm walking across this it or not.)

Also, because covenants are about restrictions on ownership of property (rather than rights of access), they can only be created during transfer of ownership, I think. Easements can be created expressly, but also through lots of other ways.

(If I'm wrong, hopefully someone will correct me, and then you'll still have a useful answer eventually.)

Thanks for the response. So that seems to be an what an affirmative easement is. But what about a negative easement?

Affirmative easement: Right to do something on another's property
Negative easement: Right to prevent someone else from doing something on their property
Affirmative covenant: Promise to do something on your property for the benefit of another property
Negative covenant: Promise not to do something on your property for the benefit of another property

Okay, I think I figured it out actually. For some reason I'm having a hard time grasping this conceptually.

This is right, and so is VW. If it helps, the way I keep it straight is that an easement is a right to use property, but a right that doesn't include the right to possession; while a covenant is promise to do (or not do) something on the land, and one that that "sticks" to the land.

Thanks a bunch. That's definitely a helpful way to think about the 2 concepts to keep them straight.