Easement
A recorded right for someone else to use part of your land for a specific purpose.
Easements let a utility run a power line across a field, let a neighbor cross your land to reach theirs, or let a county drain water through a ditch. They are usually recorded with the county and normally stay with the land when it is sold. Conservation easements work the other way round, giving up the right to develop part or all of a property, often permanently.
Why it matters
An easement can put a pipeline corridor through the middle of the only building site, or rule out clearing a strip you planned to use. It can also be the thing you need: a parcel with no road frontage depends on an access easement for legal access. Easements are found in the title search and shown on a survey, not on most public maps.
Related terms
- Legal access
A recorded right to get to a parcel from a public road — not merely a track that happens to reach it.
Articles on this topic
- Analyzing a property with Terranown: a walkthroughSeptember 30, 2026
- What a land report should tell you — and how to judge oneJuly 28, 2026
- How to research a property yourself, step by stepMay 20, 2026
- Why you should analyze land before you buy itMarch 12, 2026
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