Preface and Introduction to Private Land Use Arrangements: Easements, Real Covenants and Equitable Servitudes (3rd ed. Juris Publishing 2016)

Abstract

The introductory materials to Private Land Use Arrangements: Easements, Real Covenants and Equitable Servitudes (3rd ed., Juris Publishing, 2016) include the Preface and Chapter 1 to the book. These materials provide an overview to the book’s approach and coverage of the wide range of consensual arrangements used allocate non-possessory interests in land.

Easements, real covenants, and equitable servitudes are arguably a more fundamental part of the legal landscape today than before, with new iterations being added to established uses of these devices. Consider just a few examples: these private arrangements are prerequisites to virtually all residential and commercial development today; access to energy, both traditional oil and gas pipelines and new solar and wind turbines, require easements and covenants for operation; and conservation easements - a new vehicle - have revolutionized the land preservation sector.

The book clarifies the law of easements, real covenants, and equitable servitudes. It organizes and explains the governing rules, with the goal of making them more accessible, understandable, and utilizable. It also explores the theory and policy underlying the rules when that is important in understanding the law and the direction of the courts. This approach hopefully will prove to be useful to the practicing bar, courts, and scholarly community.

This third edition reflects new developments in the courts, legislatures, and secondary sources. This edition also describes provisions of the Restatement (Third) of Property - Servitudes, adopted by the American Law Institute in 2000, and examines how some of the forward-looking positions of the Third Restatement have been received by the courts.

Keywords: Property, easements, covenants, servitudes