Property Descriptionmedium11.8% of exam

An easement appurtenant differs from an easement in gross in that the appurtenant easement:

Correct Answer

A) Benefits a neighboring parcel and transfers with it automatically

Why this is correct: An easement appurtenant benefits a specific neighboring parcel of land (the dominant tenement) and is automatically transferred with the ownership of that benefited parcel. It 'runs with the land.' Why the other choices are wrong: 'Belongs to a utility or company rather than to any parcel of land' describes an easement in gross. 'Expires at each transfer of title' is false; appurtenant easements are perpetual and transfer automatically. 'Must be re-recorded every decade' is not a standard requirement. Exam tip: Appurtenant = attached to the land. In gross = personal to a company or person. Ask: Does the benefit go to a parcel or a person/entity?

Answer Options

Benefits a neighboring parcel and transfers with it automatically

Belongs to a utility or company rather than to any parcel of land

Expires at each transfer of title

Must be re-recorded every decade

Why This Is the Correct Answer

Option A states both halves of the definition correctly: the benefit runs to a neighboring parcel, and it transfers with that parcel automatically. The presence of a benefited parcel is the defining feature, and automatic transfer is the consequence that follows from the benefit being an incident of land ownership rather than a personal right. An appraiser valuing the dominant parcel must consider the access, view, or drainage right the easement supplies, and one valuing the servient parcel must consider the corresponding encumbrance. Nothing in the appurtenant relationship depends on the identity of the current owner, which is exactly why it survives a sale.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

Option B: Belongs to a utility or company rather than to any parcel of land

This is the definition of an easement in gross, not an easement appurtenant. A utility company holding a line easement has no dominant tenement, so there is no parcel for the benefit to travel with; the right belongs to the company itself. The option is a true statement attached to the wrong term, which is the classic way this pair of definitions is tested.

Option C: Expires at each transfer of title

An appurtenant easement does the opposite: it survives transfer of title, which is the whole point of saying it runs with the land. A right that expired at each conveyance would have to be renegotiated by every buyer, which would make it useless as permanent access. This option confuses an easement with a license, which is personal and revocable and does not survive a transfer.

Option D: Must be re-recorded every decade

There is no general re-recording requirement for easements. Once an easement is properly created and recorded it remains of record until it is released, terminated by merger, abandoned, or extinguished by another recognized means. The option invents a maintenance formality that has no basis in property law and would defeat the permanence easements are designed to provide.

Land Loves Land

Appurtenant sounds like appended, and what it is appended to is a parcel of land. If you can point at a second piece of ground that gets the benefit, the easement is appurtenant and it travels with that ground. If the only thing you can point at is a company logo or a person's name, the easement is in gross.

How to use: When a question describes an easement, ask who or what is benefited. A neighboring lot means appurtenant and automatic transfer; a utility, a railroad, or a named individual means in gross. Once you have the family, the transfer consequence follows without further reasoning.

Exam Tip

Read the answer choices for the word that names the beneficiary. Choices describing a utility or company are describing an easement in gross even when the stem asks about the appurtenant type.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

-Deciding the easement type from what the easement is used for instead of who is benefited
-Assuming an easement must be restated in each new deed to survive a sale
-Treating a revocable license as though it were an easement running with the land

Concept Deep Dive

Analysis

This item tests the single distinction that separates the two families of easements: whether the benefit attaches to a parcel of land or to a person or entity. An easement appurtenant always involves two parcels, a dominant tenement that receives the benefit and a servient tenement that carries the burden, and the benefit is treated as an incident of ownership of the dominant parcel. Because it is an incident of ownership rather than a personal right, it passes automatically with title to the dominant parcel without needing to be named in the deed, which is what appraisers mean when they say the easement runs with the land. An easement in gross has no dominant tenement at all; the benefit is held by a person or a company, which is why utility and pipeline easements fall into that category. For the appraiser this classification is not academic, because an appurtenant easement can add measurable value to the dominant parcel and subtract it from the servient one, and both effects have to be reflected in the description of the rights appraised.

Background Knowledge

You need the vocabulary of dominant tenement, the parcel benefited, and servient tenement, the parcel burdened, along with the fact that appurtenant easements pass with title to the dominant parcel without express mention. You should also know that an easement in gross has only a burdened parcel and that its benefit is held personally by an individual or a commercial entity, with commercial easements in gross generally being transferable. Finally, know that easements are part of the bundle of rights and must be identified when the appraiser states the property rights appraised.

Real-World Application

An appraiser valuing a landlocked residential lot finds a recorded driveway easement across the adjoining parcel. Because it is appurtenant, it passes to the buyer automatically and the lot can be appraised as having legal access rather than as landlocked. Valuing the neighboring servient parcel on a later assignment, the same appraiser deducts for the strip of ground committed to the driveway and the loss of siting flexibility it causes.

easement appurtenanteasement in grossdominant tenementservient tenementruns with the land

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