Easements and Licenses on Idaho Real estate, whats the difference?
When we talk about an easement, or a license to use a portion of someone else’s real estate in Idaho, first lets look at a few terms. An easement has a benefited property, the one that gets the benefit of using the easement, and the burdened property, or the property that the easment goes through or across. Easements can be for many different uses. They can be for ingress or egress, they can also be temporary or permanent and pass on with the property. They usually will have a legal description and will spell out exactly what the easement is for and exactly where the easement is. A permanent easement is much preferable to a license when it is for legal access to a piece of property you may own or are considering purchasing. It would not be wise to purchase a property for a home with only a temporary license to access the property. That would also not be “insurable access by a title company” or the lender may also turn down a loan if the property does not have permanent “Insurable access to the property“. Any time you enter into a license agreement that is temporary the Title company will most likely except that out from being an insurable portion of the policy for that property.
A license is almost always temporary. Think of it this way , its like your drivers license it may need to be renewed and it expires or is temporary. For example, you may have property that is next to a public ROW,{right of way}. Most city or county entities may not have the legal right to grant permanent easements, but can easily grant temporary licenses to encroach or occupy parts of the ROW to the public.
The BLM has a policy that they will grant long term and sometimes permanent easements to property owners that owned landlocked properties with no access other than to cross BLM lands.
When looking at properties for purchase, always ask the title company to search for any easments and to make sure the property you are aquiring has legal access for ingress and egress. And remember, whether you are in Boise, Eagle, Star or Riggins, Idaho, use a good Realtor who can help you navigate these issues so you dont end up with property you cannot access!