Easement
National Real Estate Exam glossary · Land Use Controls
Definition
A nonpossessory right to use another's land for a specified purpose, such as a right of way or utility line. An easement appurtenant runs with the land and benefits an adjoining parcel; an easement in gross benefits a person or company. An easement burdens but does not transfer ownership of the servient land.
Easement in plain English
An 'easement' is permission to USE a slice of someone else's land for a specific reason, even though you don't own it — like a legal shortcut baked into the property. Common examples are a driveway crossing a neighbor's lot to reach yours, or the power company running electric lines over the edge of your yard. There are two flavors: one that's tied to a neighboring piece of land and passes automatically to future owners (an easement 'appurtenant'), and one that belongs to a person or company no matter where they live (easement 'in gross,' like the utility's line). The key point: the land it burdens still belongs entirely to its owner — the easement just lets someone else use a part of it.
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