People in Illinois who are looking to buy a home will need to carefully evaluate not only features like the condition of the home, square footage and list price but also some things that may not be quite as obvious. An easement is one of these things. Seemingly simple, an easement can be something that becomes problematic when not properly understood.
As explained by Zillow, one of the most common types of easements is that which grants other parties access onto a homeowner’s property. The access is granted for the purpose of accessing another home or other location like a park, a trail or a beach front. This is called a right of way easement.
According to Realtor.com, there is another type of easement called a utility maintenance easement. As the name implies, this type of easement grants utility companies the right to go onto a homeowner’s property to repair or maintain services. Some easements may represent agreements between current owners only and therefore would not transfer to a new owner. This is called a gross or an in-gross easement. Other easements do transfer to new owners as they are tied to the property itself, not to the players involved.
For right of way easements, it may be important for the details of how the property should be maintained to be documented in writing. For example, the person who owns the property may have the responsibility of keeping it clean and free of hazards such as ice, uneven surfaces or other things.