Free US Law Dictionary

Equitable Servitude

An equitable servitude is a term used in the law of real property to describe a nonpossessory interest in land that operates much like a covenant running with the land. In England, when the promise regarding land use is a negative one i.e. one forbidding certain use, the promise is called equitable servitude. However, in the U.S. both negative and affirmative equitable servitudes are recognized. It is a covenant that equity will enforce against the successors of the burdened land who have notice of the covenant.