What is a Covenant That Runs With the Land?

If you buy, purchase or acquire land, you will sign a purchase or sale contract, or some kind of writing that puts title to that property in your name. And you may assume by looking at the contract, that the document contains everything that you need to know about the property—its usage, limitations, what you are purchasing, and any restrictions on using the land.

But you may be surprised to know that your ability to use, build on, or construct any property on the land, may be limited by things outside of your purchase contract, mainly because of what are known as covenants that run with the land.

What is a Covenant That Runs With the Land?

Covenants that run with land are restrictions, agreements, requirements, easements, or any other limitation on the usage of property, that “travel” with the property as it is bought and sold, from seller to buyer. These restrictions run and apply to each new buyer, regardless of whether the new buyer wants them, agrees to them, or even knows about them.

In theory, every purchaser or transferor of property knows about these covenants, because they almost always must be recorded in the public records, so as long as you have done your due diligence, including title searches, any covenants will show up in your search before you take ownership of the property.

One very common covenant that runs with the land are restrictions and requirements instituted by homeowners or condominium associations. Each new buyer of property is bound by the HOA rules, regardless of whether the new buyer wants to be bound or not.

Does it Run With the Land?

Sometimes a new buyer of property disputes that a covenant runs with the land. If it does not, the new buyer need not abide by those restrictions (unless they were specifically in the purchase contract).

To determine whether a restriction or limitation does in fact run with the land, the question is whether the restriction affects the usage, or enjoyment, of the land itself (as opposed to restricting the actions of a buyer or seller specifically).

One way to determine whether a covenant is one that runs with the land, is to ask whether the covenant may be enforced personally on a buyer if needed, without affecting the use or enjoyment of the land. If so, the covenant does not run with the land-that’s a personal covenant.

In many cases, restrictions on the usage of property will specifically say that the covenant is intended to run with the land, again, something that can be found in a public records search that is done before acquiring property.

Examples of Covenants That Run With Land

An example (other than HOA restrictions) may be an easement that allows the public to walk through property, or a restriction that says that property may only be used for residential purposes, and not commercial purposes.

Can you use your property the way you intended? Ask us. Call our Fort Lauderdale business lawyers at Sweeney Law P.A. at 954-440-3993 today.

Sources:

law.cornell.edu/wex/covenant_that_runs_with_the_land

miamidade.gov/environment/library/forms/rbca-standard-covenant.pdf