801. The following land burdens, or servitudes upon land, may be
attached to other land as incidents or appurtenances, and are then
called easements:
1. The right of pasture;
2. The right of fishing;
3. The right of taking game;
4. The right-of-way;
5. The right of taking water, wood, minerals, and other things;
6. The right of transacting business upon land;
7. The right of conducting lawful sports upon land;
8. The right of receiving air, light, or heat from or over, or
discharging the same upon or over land;
9. The right of receiving water from or discharging the same upon
land;
10. The right of flooding land;
11. The right of having water flow without diminution or
disturbance of any kind;
12. The right of using a wall as a party wall;
13. The right of receiving more than natural support from adjacent
land or things affixed thereto;
14. The right of having the whole of a division fence maintained
by a coterminous owner;
15. The right of having public conveyances stopped, or of stopping
the same on land;
16. The right of a seat in church;
17. The right of burial;
18. The right of receiving sunlight upon or over land as specified
in Section 801.5.
Question:
Are those listed rights the only rights that are allowed as easements? Are there other rights that can be granted in another way, such as a license, maybe? Specifically, can one party grant the right to build, own and occupy a house on their property to another party?
Don
yes, you can build a house on someone else's land. What you have is a leasehold in the land.
It is not common in most states and I am not sure of currently, but at one time it was common in Hawaii.
I don't know if there are any other types of easements in California, but a license to build a house may not be a wise idea, since a license is permissive use and revocable.
CC 801 is not all inclusive, in that there are many other types of easements than those specified in this section of the code. This code section does not restrict other types of easements.
There are other ways to grant rights. One that may apply to your questions is what is called a life-estate. Also leaseholds, which may fall under the subdivision map act.
> 801. The following land burdens, or servitudes upon land, may be
> attached to other land as incidents or appurtenances, and are then
> called easements:
>
> Question:
> Are those listed rights the only rights that are allowed as easements? Are there other rights that can be granted in another way, such as a license, maybe? Specifically, can one party grant the right to build, own and occupy a house on their property to another party?
>
The real topic of discussion here should focus on the distinction between Title to real property, the associated real property Rights, and Interests in real property. Comprised together, the Title, Rights and Interests combine to form the Real Property Estate.
Real property Rights can be conveyed, traded, or gifted in the form of easements between other real property estates or between the estate and an individual. When real property rights are conveyed, they are either attached (appurtenant) to the dominant property intended to benefit from the right, or are conveyed in-gross to an individual (in which case there is no dominant parcel).
A license is a form of easement in-gross, typically used to grant a permissive used which is temporary and under typically short term or is revocable upon notice. While easements are generally considered more permanent in nature, both licenses and easements are used to transfer real property rights.
Real property rights are considered born from a constitutional right to own real property. Those rights can be separated from a parcel and can be bought, sold, or traded like any other property right apart from the conveyance of the property itself. For example, a Life Estate is simply a parcel of real property where title is held by the grantee, but all of the rights (except the right of destruction) are retained by the grantor.
So, yes. The right to occupy (occupancy lease) or to construct improvements on a parcel can be granted to someone other than the parcel owner. There are typically caveats in the lease agreement which deal with the ownership of the improvements after the lease term has expired.
JBS
Why doesn't the list include aerial and underground utility easements?
> Why doesn't the list include aerial and underground utility easements?
It does. Those would be considered rights of way. Right of Way in the list is not limited to road rights of way.