Equitable Servitude - Equitable Defense

Equitable Defense

A court will not enforce an equitable servitude under the following circumstances:

• The person seeking enforcement is violating a similar restriction on his own land (unclean hands).
• The holder of the dominant estate acquiesced in violation of the servitude by the holder of the servient estate (acquiescence).
• The holder of the dominant estate acted in such a way that would have a reasonable person to believe that the covenant was abandoned (estoppel).
• The owner of the dominant estate fails to bring suit against the violator within a reasonable time (laches).
• The character of the neighborhood changed sufficiently through development, changes in zoning, or through non-enforcement of the equitable servitude (called the "changed conditions" doctrine).