Most courts granted an easement by necessity when an owner severs its land and leaves a parcel without access to a public road. The easement allows passage over land that had been connected to the landlocked parcel before it became landlocked. The courts differ on whether this is a mandatory rule of law (owners are not allowed to create land to which there is no access) or a default rule based on the implied intent of the parties, in which case the...

The Utah Supreme Court has held that a landowner who recorded covenants on land he did not own were potentially binding on subsequent owners of that land if they engaged in acts that ratified the covenants (for example, by making payments to the homeowners association (HOA)). WDIS, LLC, as Trustee of MDMG Trust, dated Apr. 25, 2016 v. Hi-Country...

With continued disagreement among courts in the U.S., the Kentucky Supreme Court has weighed in on the side of finding short term rentals of property to be more like hotels than home ownership or residential leasing and so does not qualify as a "residential" use prohibited by a covenant that prohibits nonresidential uses of the land.. Hensley v. Gadd, 560 S.W.3d...

Banks seem to have a hard time understanding that when they obtain title to property through a foreclosure sale that they not only own the property but have taken on themselves all the obligations that an owner has. If the property is occupied by tenants, the bank-owner is automatically the new landlord and the law imposes duties on landlords. The law also requires owners not to let their property become a nuisance. But this simple legal truth is repeatedly resisted by some banks. This rule extends to any entity that is the legal owner of the property and that includes the trustee of...