Explanations

The most accurate answer for private restrictions on use is A. Deed restrictions.

Private restrictions on land use are limitations set by private parties, often to maintain property values or community standards. These are generally enforceable as long as they do not violate public policy, such as being discriminatory.

Let’s break down why “Deed restrictions” is the primary answer and why the other options are not:

• A. Deed restrictions: This is the most direct form of private restriction on property use.
  • Deed restrictions are provisions within a deed that “set restrictions on the use of property”. These can manifest as covenants or conditions.
  • Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) are a common type of private restriction often recorded by developers for all lots in a new subdivision. For example, a “Fee Simple Qualified (Defeasible)” estate involves properties owned “with a few limitations or restrictions to usage of the property such as private deed restrictions”.
  • These restrictions aim to protect property values by controlling aspects like building size, design, or permissible activities within a community.
• B. Easements and rights of way: While these involve one private party limiting another’s property use, they are distinct from the general “restrictions on use” found in deeds.
  • An easement is the “right to use another person’s property or a portion of that property”. It grants a third party the right to enter or use a specific part of the land for a limited purpose, such as for access or utilities.
  • A right of way is a specific type of easement for access or passage.
  • Easements are categorized as non-financial encumbrances and typically concern access or utility placement rather than broad restrictions on how the owner can develop or utilize their entire property in the same way a CC&R would.
• C. Leases and mortgage notes: These are fundamentally different legal instruments.
  • A lease is a contract that gives a tenant “legal tenancy (or use and possession rights) in the property” for a specified period. While it dictates the tenant’s use and restricts the landlord’s immediate possession, it is a temporary, contractual arrangement for occupancy, not a permanent private restriction on the property’s underlying use or development.
  • A mortgage note (or promissory note) is a borrower’s “signed promise to repay the loan to a specific person under specific terms”. It is a financial instrument that secures a debt against the property (collateral). It creates a lien (a financial encumbrance) but does not directly impose restrictions on the physical use or development of the property itself. The security instrument that accompanies it, like a deed of trust, creates a lien on real property to secure debt repayment.

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