Property Easement Agreement

A Property Easement Agreement is a document used by the owner of a property, known as a grantor, to give permission for another person, known as the grantee, to use that property, often for a limited or specific purpose. This document is an easy way to grant temporary or long-term access to land without transferring ownership entirely. For example, if neighbors share a driveway but access to the main road is only possible through a portion of the driveway owned by one of the neighbors, they could create an easement to give their neighbor limited permission to use their portion of the driveway to access the road.

This document can create two different types of easements, depending on the circumstances:

• If the grantee has a property that shares a boundary with the grantor's property where the easement is being granted, this document will create an easement appurtenant. An easement appurtenant is an easement that is not limited to a specific owner but is instead tied to the property itself. This is often referred to as "running with the land," since it remains in place even when the owners change. An example of an easement appurtenant is a property that offers the only access to a private beach shared by two neighbors. If an easement is created, when the home is sold, the new owners must allow their neighbors access to the beach via their property because the easement stays with the home. An easement appurtnant may be terminated by the parties, but if it is not terminated, it passes automatically to each successive owner of the property.
• The other type of easement is known as an easement in gross. An easement in gross is tied to a specific person or entity, not the property itself, and benefits the person who holds the easement. An easement in gross might be someone allowing their friend permission to use their property for hunting or giving a neighbor access to use their pond for fishing. Since this easement is tied only to the original grantee and grantors who make the agreement, it will not pass automatically to another party if the property is sold and its ownership changes.

A Property Easement Agreement creates clear and precise boundaries and specifies the purpose for the easement and any limitations to how it can be used. This is crucial to avoid any future miscommunication or dispute, especially since easements are often put in place for a long time and can last long enough that the parties no longer remember the original terms of their agreement. This document works for all types of properties, whether they are rural or urban, commercial or residential, as long as the person granting the easement is the owner of the property.

How to use this document

This document includes all of the information necessary to create a thorough and comprehensive Property Easement Agreement. This Agreement can be created by either the grantor or the grantee but its terms must be agreed to and signed by both parties. The document includes various options to tailor the Agreement to meet the parties' needs. The Agreement allows the Parties to specify the following important details that will guide their grantor/grantee relationship:

• Name and contact information for both Parties
• Legal description of the property where the easement is being created and a specific description of the easement itself
• Length of the agreement and how long the grantee will have access
• Whether the grantee will pay any money to the grantor in exchange for access to the easement and how that money will be paid
• Specifying the purpose for the easement and whether there are any limitations to when and how the grantee may use it
• Whether the grantee will have exclusive access to the easement or the grantor is free to grant others the same access

After inputting the required information, the Agreement is printed out and signed by both Parties, and then kept on file by both Parties for the duration of the Agreement as well as for a reasonable period of time thereafter. The completed agreement should be filed according to local rules which are different from county to county. For example, in Philadelphia, an easement should be filed with the city clerk of courts in the recorder of deeds department. Contact the local county Register of Deeds to get information about which government agency should be given the easement to file and record before being returned to the parties.

Applicable law

Easement Agreements are governed by state law. Different states have different requirements for whether and how the easement should be filed.

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.