As you have learned throughout this course, there are various methods in acquiring property. Similarly, there are various rights and duties associated with property acquisition and ownership. These rights and duties are created in situations such as adverse possessions, property purchases, licenses, easements, encumbrances, etc.
Easement agreements are simply contractual agreements. Easement agreements must conform to the specific contractual requirements, especially relative to Statute of Frauds. Therefore, the traditional contractual principles will apply here, in addition to state statutory authority that clarifies these same aspects.
Suppose the owners, Mr. Land and Mrs. Acre, of two houses (124 West Main Street, Your town, Your state, which is House 1, and 126 West Main Street, Your town, Your state, which is House 2,) that share a common driveway come to your office for the preparation of an easement. Mr. Land owns House 1, and Mrs. Acre owns of House 2. The driveway really belongs mostly to Mr. Land, but Mrs. Acre would like to use it to get to the back of her home. The parties want to formally put their agreement in writing, as Mrs. Acre intends to pay Mr. Land $2,000 for the easement right.
Prepare and submit a joint driveway easement that would cover their rights to use the joint driveway, which includes the following information within the agreement itself:
Please submit same within the applicable Dropbox for grading by the end of Unit 3.
Tips and Suggestions
(1) Be sure to refer to your state’s statutes that may address the parties’ rights and that may assist in adhering to your state’s standard on document preparation relative to Statute of Frauds, agreements involving real property and the recording of same.
(2) Remember that this agreement is a contractual one, so you want to provide the necessary elements and incorporate the necessary contractual principles in this agreement. For a review of contract principles go to pages 66 through 79 in the text
(3) Be creative. Consider the various factors in this scenario that may affect each party’s rights and obligations relative to this easement agreement.
(4) Create an organized and formatted agreement.
(5) Samples are provided at the following resources, which provide a variety of easements (commercial, conservation, etc.):