negative easement

law

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Last updated

July 1, 2026

Quick Summary

A negative easement is a legal right that prevents a landowner from doing something on their property that they would otherwise be allowed to do. This is in contrast to a positive easement, which grants the holder the right to do something on another's land that would normally be considered trespass or nuisance.12

Examples of negative easements are limited and typically include the right to prevent a neighbor from obstructing light or air, undermining building support, or altering the course of an artificial stream. These easements can be created through express grants, implication, or prescription.1

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property law
Easements and profits
…to do (known as a negative easement). Examples of affirmative easements include rights-of-way, the privilege of using land for pasture, the privilege of using a wall between two properties as a party (common) wall, the privilege of flooding land, and the privilege of maintaining a nuisance on one’s own land…
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…to do (known as a negative easement). Examples of affirmative easements include rights-of-way, the privilege of using land for pasture, the privilege of using a wall between two properties as a party (common) wall, the privilege of flooding land, and the privilege of maintaining a nuisance on one’s own land…
Read More