Easement Agreement
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA EASEMENT — INVESTIGATION AND DEED PACKET
NOT AN OPERATIVE EASEMENT — DO NOT SIGN OR RECORD. The final instrument
must be separately prepared from verified title, survey, authority, tax, and
recordation information.
1. Matter and title control
| Item | Verified information |
|---|---|
| Proposed grantor and entity type | [________________________________] |
| Proposed grantee and entity type | [________________________________] |
| Servient property address | [________________________________] |
| Square, suffix, lot, and tax identifier | [________________________________] |
| Current vested owner and vesting instrument | [________________________________] |
| Proposed benefited parcel or holder | [________________________________] |
| Current title commitment and effective date | [________________________________] |
| Surveyor and survey date | [________________________________] |
| Existing deeds, plats, easements, covenants, leases, and encumbrances | [________________________________] |
| D.C. real-estate counsel | [________________________________] |
| Title company and recording contact | [________________________________] |
2. Interest and party map
| Person or interest | Record evidence | Consent, subordination, joinder, notice, or other action |
|---|---|---|
| Fee owner | [________] | [________] |
| Mortgagee, deed-of-trust beneficiary, or lender | [________] | [________] |
| Tenant or occupant | [________] | [________] |
| Condominium, cooperative, association, or common-interest body | [________] | [________] |
| Existing easement or covenant holder | [________] | [________] |
| Utility or public authority | [________] | [________] |
| Benefited parcel owner or easement holder | [________] | [________] |
| Other person shown by title or survey | [________] | [________] |
Do not rely on a party's representation of fee title or authority without the
current vesting and organizational records. Resolve lien priority,
non-disturbance, subordination, foreclosure, lease, and common-interest issues
before drafting the grant.
3. Easement characterization
Counsel must identify the legal interest and intended consequences rather than
selecting labels from a generic grant.
| Characteristic | Approved result and authority |
|---|---|
| Affirmative, negative, access, utility, support, conservation, or other | [________________________________] |
| Appurtenant, in gross, personal, exclusive, or nonexclusive | [________________________________] |
| Dominant parcel or holder | [________________________________] |
| Servient parcel | [________________________________] |
| Perpetual, fixed term, event-limited, revocable, or other | [________________________________] |
| Transfer, assignment, division, and successor treatment | [________________________________] |
| Scope implied by purpose versus expressly stated rights | [________________________________] |
| Existing rights preserved, modified, subordinated, or released | [________________________________] |
Approved legal characterization: [________________________________]
4. Property and easement-area exhibits
| Exhibit control | Verified entry |
|---|---|
| Servient-property legal description source | [________________________________] |
| Benefited-property legal description, if any | [________________________________] |
| Easement-area metes and bounds | [________________________________] |
| Plat, scale, north arrow, monuments, and surveyor seal | [________________________________] |
| Horizontal width and location | [________________________________] |
| Vertical, subsurface, or air-space limits | [________________________________] |
| Access route for installation and maintenance | [________________________________] |
| Conflict with structures, utilities, setbacks, or public space | [________________________________] |
| Controlling exhibit if text and drawing differ | [________________________________] |
Do not record a blank, approximate, internally inconsistent, or unapproved
description. Reconcile the operative instrument, survey, title commitment,
permit drawings, and any utility or agency requirements.
5. Scope of use and reserved rights
| Drafting issue | Approved instruction |
|---|---|
| Authorized users and beneficiaries | [________________________________] |
| Authorized purpose and equipment | [________________________________] |
| Hours, frequency, intensity, vehicles, and loads | [________________________________] |
| Construction, installation, inspection, repair, replacement, and removal | [________________________________] |
| Temporary access and staging | [________________________________] |
| Gates, locks, keys, security, and emergency access | [________________________________] |
| Relocation, expansion, upgrade, or additional capacity | [________________________________] |
| Grantor's retained use and noninterference standard | [________________________________] |
| Additional grants or shared use | [________________________________] |
| Prohibited use | [________________________________] |
6. Operations, maintenance, and cost allocation
| Subject | Responsible party, standard, allocation, and evidence |
|---|---|
| Design and permits | [________________________________] |
| Utility locates and coordination | [________________________________] |
| Construction and work notice | [________________________________] |
| Safety, traffic, and site controls | [________________________________] |
| Maintenance and inspection | [________________________________] |
| Repair and replacement | [________________________________] |
| Restoration and landscaping | [________________________________] |
| Snow, water, drainage, waste, and debris | [________________________________] |
| Taxes, assessments, utility charges, and fees | [________________________________] |
| Damage, casualty, and condemnation | [________________________________] |
| Records, contacts, and emergency response | [________________________________] |
Any environmental, public-space, utility, building, zoning, historic,
transportation, accessibility, or other approval must be identified from the
actual project and current agency requirements. This packet supplies none.
7. Risk, insurance, and remedies
| Issue | Negotiated instruction and authority |
|---|---|
| Property damage and personal injury | [________________________________] |
| Third-party claims | [________________________________] |
| Environmental condition or release | [________________________________] |
| Indemnity and defense control | [________________________________] |
| Insurance types, limits, evidence, and additional insureds | [________________________________] |
| Waiver of subrogation or release | [________________________________] |
| Default notice and cure | [________________________________] |
| Self-help and cost recovery | [________________________________] |
| Damages, fees, injunction, or specific performance | [________________________________] |
| Liability exclusions or caps | [________________________________] |
| Dispute forum, mediation, arbitration, and jury terms | [________________________________] |
No remedy is automatic merely because the instrument concerns real property.
Counsel must draft enforceable choices consistent with the interest, parties,
third-party rights, and applicable law.
8. Duration, change, and termination
| Event | Effect, procedure, evidence, and recordable document |
|---|---|
| Fixed expiration | [________________________________] |
| Merger of interests | [________________________________] |
| Release by holder | [________________________________] |
| Abandonment claim | [________________________________] |
| Failure of purpose or changed condition | [________________________________] |
| Casualty or condemnation | [________________________________] |
| Breach | [________________________________] |
| Relocation or amendment | [________________________________] |
| Assignment or parcel division | [________________________________] |
| Successor-owner notice | [________________________________] |
Do not use an invented automatic-abandonment period or make a private breach
automatically destroy a recorded property interest. Counsel must define the
legal and recordation steps for each selected event.
9. Deed, execution, delivery, and recordation
D.C. Code § 42-306(b) requires a deed signed and sealed by the grantor,
lessor, or declarant for the specified estates and use limitations. Section
42-401 addresses a deed conveying a District real-property interest or
declaring or limiting a use. It ties effect to execution, acknowledgment,
certification, and delivery, and provides that as to creditors, later bona
fide purchasers and mortgagees without notice, and others interested in the
property, the deed takes effect only when delivered to the Recorder of Deeds
for record.
| Recordability control | Verified instruction |
|---|---|
| Final instrument type | [________________________________] |
| Granting party and signature authority | [________________________________] |
| Seal requirement and method | [________________________________] |
| Notarial act and certificate | [________________________________] |
| Delivery and acceptance evidence | [________________________________] |
| Corporate execution under § 42-602, if applicable | [________________________________] |
| Other entity execution rule | [________________________________] |
| Required joinders, consents, and subordinations | [________________________________] |
| Recorder formatting, cover sheet, return address, and identifiers | [________________________________] |
| Tax classification, return, exemption, and payment | [________________________________] |
| Fees and funding | [________________________________] |
| Recordation date and instrument number | [________________________________] |
| Title-policy endorsement or update | [________________________________] |
Section 42-602 supplies one corporate deed-execution route: execution and
acknowledgment by an appointed attorney-in-fact, or by the corporation's
president or vice-president with attestation by its secretary or assistant
secretary. Do not apply that corporate rule to another entity type without
separate authority.
10. Operative-instrument workspace
| Component | Approved final language or exhibit |
|---|---|
| Caption, date, parties, addresses, and authority | [________________________________] |
| Recitals limited to verified facts | [________________________________] |
| Granting clause and legal characterization | [________________________________] |
| Servient and benefited property descriptions | [________________________________] |
| Easement-area description and plat | [________________________________] |
| Scope, users, and reserved rights | [________________________________] |
| Construction, maintenance, restoration, and costs | [________________________________] |
| Risk, insurance, remedies, and disputes | [________________________________] |
| Duration, transfer, amendment, relocation, and termination | [________________________________] |
| Successors and record notice | [________________________________] |
| Execution, acknowledgment, delivery, and acceptance | [________________________________] |
| Tax, Recorder, and return instructions | [________________________________] |
11. Final counsel and title review
☐ Current title, survey, entity authority, and all affected interests checked.
☐ Easement type, holder, benefited property, scope, duration, and transfer
treatment are explicit and legally reviewed.
☐ Legal descriptions and plat are final, consistent, and surveyor-approved.
☐ Lender, tenant, association, utility, agency, and existing-interest issues
are resolved through the required documents.
☐ Construction, maintenance, costs, risk, insurance, remedies, and
termination provisions are fact-specific and internally consistent.
☐ Sections 42-306, 42-401, 42-602, current notarial law, and entity-specific
execution rules were applied to the final instrument.
☐ Recorder of Deeds format, identifiers, taxes, exemptions, fees, cover
documents, delivery, and return instructions were confirmed immediately before
recording.
☐ No generic abandonment period, automatic forfeiture, fixed insurance limit,
fee award, damages cap, forum, arbitration, jury waiver, electronic-signature,
tax, or recording-fee statement was inserted without current authority.
D.C. real-estate attorney: [________________________________]
Title reviewer: [________________________________]
Surveyor: [________________________________]
Approved final instrument and version: [________________________________]
OFFICIAL SOURCES
About this template
- Last updated
- August 21, 2026
- Citations checked
- August 21, 2026
- Jurisdiction
- District of Columbia
- Category
- Real Estate
Legal authority
- D.C. Code § 42-306(b) (deed required for specified real-property estates and use limitations)
- D.C. Code § 42-401 (delivery, execution, acknowledgment, and recordation effect)
- D.C. Code § 42-602 (corporate deed execution and acknowledgment)
Real estate documents transfer ownership, define who can use a property, and record agreements between buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants. Deeds, purchase agreements, leases, and easements have to be drafted to meet state recording requirements, and mistakes show up at closing or years later in title disputes. Good real estate paperwork moves transactions forward quickly and avoids the kind of problems that only surface when it is time to sell or refinance.
Not legal advice
This template is provided for informational purposes. We recommend having an attorney review any legal document before signing, especially for high-value or complex matters.
Checked against the law it cites
A reviewer verified this template's legal citations against the official source on August 21, 2026.
D.C. Code § 42-306(b) (checked August 21, 2026): "no estate of inheritance, or for life, or for a longer term than 1 year, in any real property, corporeal or incorporeal, in the District of Columbia, or any declaration or limitation of uses in the same, for any of the estates mentioned, shall be created or take effect, except by deed signed and sealed by the grantor, lessor, or declarant, in person or by power of attorney or by will."
D.C. Code § 42-401 (checked August 21, 2026): "Any deed conveying real property in the District, or interest therein, or declaring or limiting any use or trust thereof, executed and acknowledged and certified as provided in §§ 42-602 and 42-306, and Chapter 12A of Title 1, and delivered to the person in whose favor the same is executed shall be held to take effect from the date of the delivery; except, that as to creditors and subsequent bona fide purchasers and mortgagees without notice of said deed, and others interested in the property, it shall only take effect from the time of its delivery to the Recorder of Deeds for record."
D.C. Code § 42-602 (checked August 21, 2026): "The deed of a corporation shall be executed and acknowledged either (1) by an attorney-in-fact appointed for that purpose or (2) without appointment, by its president or a vice-president if also attested by the secretary or assistant secretary of the corporation."
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