Also known as:servitudes by implication · implied servitude · implied servitudes · implied easement
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A servitude arising by operation of law when land is conveyed pursuant to a general plan of development. Each lot included in the plan becomes the implied beneficiary of all express and implied servitudes imposed to carry out the plan. Language of condition creating a restriction or obligation to implement the plan also creates an implied servitude imposing the same restriction or obligation on the burdened land.
Sources & Authorities· 9 sources
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Restatements
Casebooks
How it applies
Common Examples
2
Shared Irrigation Benefits All Lots
Alpha Growers subdivided rural land into farmsteads under a recorded master plan calling for shared irrigation ditches and organic practices across the entire development. It sold the first tracts to Brook Ag under contracts requiring organic production and ditch use. Years later it sold remaining tracts to Bay Grain by warranty deeds containing no restrictions. Bay Grain's use of synthetic fertilizers and independent wells threatens Brook Ag's certification, but Brook Ag may enforce the plan's restrictions against Bay Grain because each lot in the general plan holds the implied benefit of the servitudes imposed on all others.
Condition Language Implies Reciprocal Burden
Frontier Code marketed a technology campus with brochures promising communal server rooms and fiber conduits serving every parcel. It conveyed the first lots to Pacific Tech under deeds containing express covenants requiring contribution to the shared infrastructure. It later conveyed a remaining parcel to Southern Byte by deed containing no such language. Southern Byte's plan to build independent facilities violates the implied reciprocal servitude because the condition language in the early deeds created an implied servitude imposing the same obligation on the developer's remaining land.
Common questions
Frequently Asked
3
When does a general plan of development create implied reciprocal servitudes on later-sold lots?+
A general plan creates implied reciprocal servitudes when early conveyances impose restrictions or obligations to implement the plan and later deeds omit such language. The doctrine supplies the reciprocal burden on remaining land to avoid injustice to purchasers who relied on the uniform scheme. Courts examine the recorded plan, marketing materials, and pattern of early deeds to determine whether facts indicate contrary intent that would prevent implication.
Does omission of restrictions in a later deed prevent implication of a servitude under a general plan?
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Omission of restrictions in a later deed can supply evidence of contrary intent that blocks implication. Courts weigh the omission against the strength of the recorded plan, early marketing, and reliance by prior purchasers. When the plan is publicly recorded and early buyers invested in reliance on uniformity, implication often prevails despite the later deed's silence.
Supporting sources
What role do promotional materials play in establishing a general plan for implied servitudes?+
Promotional materials and recorded master plans supply strong evidence that the developer intended a unified scheme binding all lots. When materials distributed to all purchasers describe shared infrastructure or uniform restrictions, later buyers are charged with notice and early buyers receive implied benefits. Courts treat such materials as evidence that every lot holds the benefit of servitudes imposed to carry out the plan.
Supporting sources
(or
easement
by estoppel as it is sometimes called)." However, while any
easement
which is unwritten may be characterized as "
implied
," Russakoff neither pled nor sought a declaration that…
are: (1) common ownership followed by conveyance separating the unified ownership; (2) before severance, the common owner used part of the property for the benefit of the other…
Real PropertyRights in real property · Restrictive covenantsUBEFoundational