Easement By Prescription

A prescriptive easement allows someone other than the original property owner to gain the rights to use a property. Prescriptive easements often arise on rural land when landowners fail to realize part of their land is being used, perhaps by a neighbor.

In order to acquire a prescriptive easement, a claimant must establish (1) that the use was continuous for five years; (2) the use was open, notorious and clearly visible to the owner of the property; and (3) the use was hostile and adverse to the owner.

There is no requirement for register entries to be made in respect of prescriptive easements.Easements arising by common law prescription or the doctrine of lost modern grant will be legal interests. The purchaser of unregistered burdened land is bound by legal interests.

A property easement is generally written and recorded with the local assessor's office. The documented easement will show up when a title search is conducted and it stays there indefinitely, unless both parties agree to remove it.

However, given that a prescriptive easement is created when the requisite elements are met, and not when a court is asked to enforce the easement by legal action, the ability for a prescriptive easement to exist without being of-record actually promotes uncertainty.

In order to acquire a prescriptive easement, a claimant must establish (1) that the use was continuous for five years; (2) the use was open, notorious and clearly visible to the owner of the property; and (3) the use was hostile and adverse to the owner.The actual use depends on the type of easement.

To establish a prescriptive easement one must prove that all the requisite elements have been met: that the use was (1) adverse (sometimes referred to as hostile), (2) actual, open and notorious, (3) continuous and uninterrupted, and (4) for the statutorily required period of time.

The term easements by prescription implies to the acquisition of a title or right by the owner of a property in a manner prescribed by law. A person may acquire property or certain rights over a property by showing that he or she has been in possession of the property or enjoying rights for a long period of time.

In order to acquire a prescriptive easement over another's property, the following elements must be met: (1) actual use of the property; (2) open and notorious use of the property; (3) use that is hostile and adverse to the original owner; (4) continuous and uninterrupted use of the property; (5) use of the property