Understanding Easements and Rights

Most people in Illinois who are interested in buying a single family home look forward to having their very own property that they do not have to share with someone else. This is understandable but home buyers should know that this is not always the case. It is always possible that the home of your dreams may well come with an easement that requires you to share some portion of your property or let other people have access to or use it.

An easement may allow many things including the right to pass through your property to access another location. It may also grant someone the right to do certain work on your property as in the case of a utility company that might be able to dig holes or do other things in order to run lines through your property. As explained by Zillow, an easement may or may not be recorded so some diligence on your end is important. A recorded easement is part of the property’s official record and would be found in a title report.

An easement may exist without an official record simply due to precedence, essentially. A person who for years has walked through another person’s property to get to a public park may be found to have a prescriptive easement.

If you would like to learn more about what may constitute an easement, how to learn about an easement and how to protect you and your property if an easement exists, please feel free to visit the easements and rights-of-way page of our Illinois real estate law website.