Also known as:running covenants · covenant running with the land · runs with the land
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A promise respecting the use of land whose benefit or burden passes automatically to successors in interest. The benefit runs with the land only to the extent the original parties intended that result.
Sources & Authorities
How it applies
Common Examples
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Marketing Agreement Limits Successor Benefit
United Housing recorded an agreement with rancher Jasper requiring a vegetative buffer to aid marketing of lakefront lots during United's sales period only. Ridge Properties later acquired the subdivision and sold a lot to Isaiah. When pollution damaged Isaiah's property, he sought to enforce the buffer against Jasper. The court held that Isaiah could not enforce the agreement because the parties had not intended the benefit to run beyond United's own sales efforts.
Reciprocal Negative Easement Binds New Owner
Developers sold lots on Collingwood Avenue subject to a general plan restricting use to residences. McLean purchased a lot without restrictions in the deed and began constructing a gasoline station. Neighboring owners sued to enforce the residential restriction. The court held that the restriction ran with the land as a reciprocal negative easement because the original plan manifested an intent to burden all lots for the benefit of the others.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Restatements
Hornbooks
Sanborn v. McLean206 N.W. 496
Racial Covenant Cannot Be Enforced
Jackson sold property subject to a recorded covenant barring conveyance to non-Caucasians. Barrows, the buyer, later conveyed to a non-Caucasian purchaser and faced suit for breach. The Supreme Court held that the covenant could not be enforced because doing so would violate the Fourteenth Amendment. The running character of the covenant therefore yielded to constitutional limits on state enforcement.
Barrows v. Jackson346 U.S. 249 (1953)
Option Agreement Runs as Covenant
Broadwest granted Symphony Space a lease containing an option to purchase the property at set prices on specified future dates. Pergola Properties later acquired the landlord's interest and challenged the option's enforceability. Symphony Space sought specific performance. The court treated the option as a running covenant whose burden passed to the successor landlord because the original parties intended the right to bind future owners of the reversion.
The Symphony Space, Inc. v. Pergola Properties, Inc.669 N.E.2d 799 (1996)
Common questions
Frequently Asked
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What determines whether the benefit of a running covenant passes to a successor owner?+
The benefit passes only to the extent the original parties intended that result. Courts examine the language of the instrument and surrounding circumstances to discern that intent. Without such intent, later owners receive no enforceable right even if the promise concerns land use.
Supporting sources
How does a running covenant differ from a personal contract obligation?+
A running covenant attaches to the land itself so that the burden or benefit automatically follows ownership changes. A personal contract binds only the original parties and does not survive conveyance. Recording and language referencing successors help establish the running character.
Supporting sources
When is a covenant classified as affirmative rather than negative?+
A covenant is affirmative when it requires the burdened party to perform an act such as making payments or granting access. It is negative when it merely requires the party to refrain from certain uses. The classification affects enforcement rules in some jurisdictions but does not control whether the covenant runs.
Supporting sources
Does recording alone guarantee that a covenant will run with the land?+
Recording provides notice to subsequent purchasers but does not by itself create the intent necessary for the covenant to run. The instrument must also manifest the parties' intention that the benefit or burden pass to successors. Courts examine the full language and context rather than relying solely on recordation.
Supporting sources
206 N.W. 496Property
…forbidden to the owner of the lot sold. For want of a better descriptive term this is styled a reciprocal negative easement. It runs with the land sold by virtue of express fastening and abides with the land retained until loosened by expiration of its period of service or by events working its destruction. It is not personal to…