Easements and Encumbrances on the Florida Real Estate Exam

Easements and encumbrances sit within the property ownership content area, and like liens and deeds, the exam tends to test precise distinctions between similar-sounding terms rather than broad conceptual understanding alone.

Easement appurtenant vs. easement in gross

An easement appurtenant benefits a specific parcel of land (the dominant estate) and burdens another (the servient estate), and it runs with the land, transferring automatically to new owners when the property sells. An easement in gross benefits a specific person or entity rather than a parcel of land, a utility company's easement to run power lines is a common example, and it doesn't automatically transfer with a property sale the same way.

Easement by necessity vs. easement by prescription

An easement by necessity arises when a property would otherwise be landlocked with no legal access, typically created when a larger parcel is subdivided in a way that cuts off access to part of it. An easement by prescription arises from open, continuous, and uninterrupted use of someone else's land over a statutory period, similar in logic to adverse possession but resulting in a right to use the land rather than ownership of it.

Encroachments are a distinct problem from easements

An encroachment is an unauthorized physical intrusion onto a neighboring property, a fence built over a property line, an overhanging roofline, rather than a legal right to use the land. Encroachments typically surface during a survey and need to be resolved (removed, or formalized through an agreement) before or during a transaction, unlike an easement, which is itself a legal right rather than a problem to fix.

Deed restrictions vs. zoning

Both limit what an owner can do with property, but they come from different sources and work differently. Zoning is imposed by local government and applies based on geographic district. Deed restrictions are private agreements, often originating with a developer or HOA, that run with the land regardless of current zoning, and can be more restrictive than zoning allows even when zoning itself would permit a given use.

Why this content area rewards source-tracing

A fast way to sort out an unfamiliar easement or encumbrance question: ask where the restriction actually comes from, government, private agreement, court ruling, or simple use over time. That single question usually narrows an unfamiliar scenario down to the right category before you even need to recall the formal definition.