An easement acquired through open, continuous, and adverse use of another's land over a statutory period.
Why Easement by Prescription matters on the exam
This term belongs to Property Ownership. The questions below are real items from Freehold's bank that use it - each one cites its source.
Exam questions using Easement by Prescription
Every Freehold question shows why the right answer is right — and cites its source.
A parcel becomes landlocked after its owner sells an adjoining strip of land that provided the only access to a public road. Which easement is most likely to be granted by a court?
Easement by prescription
Easement in gross
Easement by condemnation
Easement by necessity
Show answer & explanation
Easement by necessity — An easement by necessity arises when a parcel is landlocked as a result of a division of previously commonly owned land, giving the landlocked owner a legal right of access across the adjoining parcel.
Source: PSI National Real Estate Exam Content Outline §1 Property Ownership
To establish an easement by prescription, a claimant must generally show use of another's land that is:
Open, notorious, continuous, and adverse (without the owner's permission) for the statutory period
Permissive, secret, and sporadic for any length of time at all
Approved in writing by the landowner well in advance of the use
Limited to a single isolated instance of trespass onto the land at any point during the entire statutory period
Show answer & explanation
Open, notorious, continuous, and adverse (without the owner's permission) for the statutory period — A prescriptive easement, like adverse possession, requires open, notorious, continuous, and hostile (non-permissive) use of another's land for the period set by state statute.
Source: PSI National Real Estate Exam Content Outline §1 Property Ownership
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