Easements & Legal Descriptions

Easements

Easements refer to the right to utilize a section of land without having its ownership rights. Although an easement may have a significant impact on a property’s real-time value, in most cases it is a necessity. The logic behind easements is to permit land access to the authorities for repair of general utilities like water, gas and sewage pipes. From a homeowner’s perspective, it is crucial to know the exact positions of easements because they can present considerable impediment to your intended construction plans.

Types of Easement Rights

There are myriad of easements legally possible. Here are a few examples:

• Express Easement Right: It is usually a written document (e.g. a deed), and refers to a scenario when a land-owner reserves the rights to use a piece of land even after selling it.
• Implied Easement Right: If a land owner sells his property to two different parties by dividing it into two separate plots, then an Implied Easement may be required. It allows easements, such as an access path, to be created so that both owners can access their property reasonably. It is also called ‘Easement by Necessity’.
• Permissive Easement Right: In this case, an individual is granted authorization to use another person’s property. Also referred to as licenses, permissive easements can be snatched by the property owner any time.
• Prescriptive Easement Right: It is created under ‘The Doctrine of Adverse Possession’ and does not require the owner’s consent. Here, a person is granted permission to use another person’s land for a pre-determined period of time. In addition, the land use must be continuous, open and exclusive.
• Gross Property Easement Right: These are issued to a definite entity or a person and cannot be passed onto subsequent owners. On the other hand, appurtenant easement rights can be accessed by subsequent owners also.

Prior to buying real estate, a thorough land survey can inform you about any easements related to the property. Land or title surveys can provide you with precise information regarding potential and existing easements.

Legal Descriptions

A legal description is defined as "A written statement acknowledged by law as to the definite location of a tract of land by reference to a recorded map, survey, or adjoining property." (Source: BLM Surveying and Mapping Terms). In layman terms, it is used to indicate how to discover a particular land parcel relative to other buildings on the face of the earth.  

Together, the legal description and land survey merge to create the legal framework foundation of the property being purchased. This property documentation provides detailed information regarding the land’s boundaries. Therefore, even a minute error on the part of the surveyor can cost a lot down the road.

Generally, surveys and property descriptions being interrelated help a buyer decipher the property’s boundaries, easements, and construction. The legal description must absolutely match with the calls deduced during the survey. Any discrepancy must be corrected prior to the sale of the property to avoid any title problems in the future.

Our Services

Nationwide Surveying is well versed in interpreting easement clauses, writing perfect legal descriptions, and ascertaining reversionary rights. Our easements surveys and legal description are in complete accordance with Californian Records of Survey Guidelines and Professional Land Surveyor’s Act. Some of the services offered by us are:

• Metes and bounds
• A Strip Legal Description
• ‘Bounded By’ Legal Description
• Lot and Block survey system
• Subdivision into platted plots description
• Sections