Ace the California Real Estate Exam 2025 – Your Key to Property Success!

An appurtenant easement is a type of easement that is attached to a specific piece of property (the dominant tenement) and benefits that property. One key characteristic of appurtenant easements is that they are inherently tied to the land itself. This means that when the property is sold or transferred, the easement automatically transfers along with it, regardless of whether it is explicitly mentioned in the deed.

This automatic transfer of rights related to the easement ensures that the new owner of the dominant tenement, as well as the servient tenement (the property that is burdened by the easement), can continue to enjoy and use the easement without needing to reference this transfer in every deed. Therefore, an appurtenant easement does not need to be specifically mentioned to remain enforceable, as it is understood to "run with the land."

The other options, while they might suggest forms of encumbrance or obligation, do not accurately reflect the nature of how easements operate in real property law. The defining feature of an appurtenant easement is its integral connection to the land, which allows it to exist independently of any deed references.