A property is subject to a recorded easement that allows the local utility company to install and maintain power lines across the rear 10 feet of the lot. The easement was created by express grant in 1972 and runs with the land. Which of the following BEST describes the nature of this easement?
Correct Answer
B) An appurtenant easement burdening the servient estate
An easement appurtenant benefits a dominant estate and burdens a servient estate; it runs with the land and is transferable. Here, the utility easement is recorded, created by express grant, and attached to the land—not personal to the utility as an individual or entity—making it appurtenant (though often treated functionally like an easement in gross for utilities, under USPAP and property law fundamentals tested on the AQB exam, a recorded express easement benefiting a utility *and running with the land* is classified as appurtenant unless explicitly held by a non-landowner entity without a dominant parcel—which this scenario does not indicate). Option A is incorrect because while many utility easements are classified as easements in gross under modern statutes, the question specifies it 'runs with the land'—a defining trait of appurtenance. Options C and D fail the factual requirements: no landlocking is described (necessity), and no facts support adverse, continuous, open, and notorious use (prescription).
Why This Is the Correct Answer
An easement appurtenant benefits a dominant estate and burdens a servient estate; it runs with the land and is transferable. Here, the utility easement is recorded, created by express grant, and attached to the land—not personal to the utility as an individual or entity—making it appurtenant (though often treated functionally like an easement in gross for utilities, under USPAP and property law fundamentals tested on the AQB exam, a recorded express easement benefiting a utility *and running with the land* is classified as appurtenant unless explicitly held by a non-landowner entity without a dominant parcel—which this scenario does not indicate). Option A is incorrect because while many utility easements are classified as easements in gross under modern statutes, the question specifies it 'runs with the land'—a defining trait of appurtenance. Options C and D fail the factual requirements: no landlocking is described (necessity), and no facts support adverse, continuous, open, and notorious use (prescription).
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