What is a servitude?

A servitude, in the context of residential real estate law in New York, is a legal relationship created when one person, known as the servient owner, grants another, the dominant owner, the legal right to use their land for a specific purpose. The purpose can vary greatly, but it will usually be explicitly stated in the servitude agreement. For example, the dominant owner may be given the right to lay a pipeline across the servient owner’s land, or to use a right-of-way across the property. The servient owner still legally owns their land, but the dominant owner has been granted certain rights of use. These rights must be exercised in accordance with the specific terms of the agreement, otherwise the servitude can be terminated. The legal powers of the dominant owner are usually limited to the right to access the land and cannot be used in a way that interferes with the servient owner’s use of their own property. The law in New York recognizes both express and implied servitudes; the former is when an agreement is created between the two parties, and the latter is when the use of the servient land is created by a specific set of facts or circumstances. Both forms of servitude are subject to the same rules and can be terminated if the servitude is not enforced in accordance with the agreement.

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What is a servitude?

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