Also known as: deed covenants · covenant in deed · covenants in deeds · restrictive covenant · covenant running with land
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A promise contained in a deed that imposes affirmative or negative obligations regarding land use. The promise qualifies as a servitude when its benefit or burden is designed to run with the land to bind or benefit successors.
Elena subdivided wooded land and recorded deeds containing a declaration that no parcel could be cleared beyond thirty percent of its tree canopy or used for industrial structures. Malik later purchased a parcel and sought to build a sawmill. Rosa, owner of an adjoining parcel, sued to enforce the recorded declaration against Malik.
Able received payment from the owner of Whiteacre in exchange for a promise not to object to rezoning Whiteacre for industrial use for ten years. The agreement stated that the burden ran with Blackacre. A later owner of Blackacre sought to determine whether the promise qualified as a restrictive covenant.
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Homeowners in a Los Angeles neighborhood signed a deed covenant barring occupancy by persons of the Negro or Mongolian race. One co-covenantor sold to a Black family in violation of the covenant. The remaining signers sued the seller at law for damages.
A homeowners association sought to enforce a recorded deed covenant governing maintenance and use restrictions against a unit owner who altered common areas without approval. The owner defended on grounds that the covenant imposed unreasonable burdens.
A condominium declaration recorded in the deeds prohibited pets in units. A new owner acquired a unit and kept a cat, prompting the association to demand removal under the recorded covenant. The owner challenged enforcement as unreasonable.
Property owners executed a deed covenant prohibiting sale or occupancy by Black families. A seller conveyed to a Black purchaser. Neighboring owners sued to enjoin the sale and occupancy under the recorded covenant.
A covenant qualifies as restrictive when it is negative in character and limits permissible uses of land. The Restatement treats such negative covenants as servitudes when the benefit or burden is intended to run with the land.
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The Restatement classifies negative easements as restrictive covenants. An easement under the Restatement covers only affirmative rights to enter and use land and excludes negative obligations, which are instead governed by the rules for restrictive covenants.
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The covenant must be intended to run with the land, touch and concern the land, and appear in the chain of title so that purchasers receive notice. Recording supplies constructive notice and supports enforcement against successors.
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A deed covenant that directly restrains alienation is invalid if the restraint is unreasonable. Courts weigh the utility of preserving a particular use against the injurious effect on marketability and transferability.
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…of potential pupils and their parents; and to Barrows v. Jackson , 346 U. S. 249, where a white defendant, party to a racially restrictive covenant, who was being sued for damages by the covenantors because she had conveyed her property to Negroes, was allowed to raise the issue that enforcement of the covenant violated the rights of…