An encumbrance is a right to, interest in, or legal liability on real property that does not prohibit passing title to the property but that diminishes its value. Encumbrances can be classified in several ways. They may be financial (ex: liens) or non-financial (ex: easements, private restrictions). Alternatively, they may be divided into those that affect title (ex: lien, legal or equitable charge) or those that affect the use or physical condition of the encumbered property (ex: restrictions, easements, encroachments). Encumbrances include security interests, liens, servitudes (e.g. easements, wayleaves, real covenants, profits a prendre), leases, restrictions, encroachments, and air and subsurface rights. Also, those considered as potentially making the title defeasible are encumbrances, e.g. charging orders, building orders and structure alteration.
Famous quotes containing the word encumbrance:
“In many walks of life, a conscience is a more expensive encumbrance than a wife or a carriage.”
—Thomas De Quincey (1785–1859)
“Like children, the elders are a burden. But unlike children, they offer no hope or promise. They are a weight and an encumbrance and a mirror of our own mortality. It takes a person of great heart to see past this fact and to see the wisdom the elders have to offer, and so serve them out of gratitude for the life they have passed on to us.”
—Kent Nerburn (20th century)