How are the terms of an easement enforced?
In addition to the formal, annual monitoring visits, the Land Trust will seek to prevent future easement violations by orienting new landowners to the provisions and processes of a prevailing easement. If the land trust steward monitoring the easement notes conditions or activities that violate provisions of the easement, we contact the landowner and seek voluntary actions to achieve compliance. Violations are infrequent with the original grantors (although third party violations are not that uncommon). As time passes and ownership changes, however, the likelihood of violations increases. For the rare circumstance when voluntary resolution fails, Colorado law and the easement agreement permit the Land Trust to initiate legal action to require an owner to comply with an easement, and, in appropriate circumstances, to repair property damaged by an easement violation. The standard form of easement documents provides that the costs of an enforcement action are charged to the landowner.
