The Path Nobody Uses Anymore: Cancelling an Easement on Dominican Registered Property

Easements are written for geography that changes. A right of way granted when the neighboring parcel had no road access; a utility crossing for infrastructure since rerouted; a drainage or view restriction negotiated between owners two transfers ago. The land evolves, the need disappears, and the servidumbre stays inscribed on the title, restricting a property in favor of someone who may no longer benefit from it at all.

The cost is real even when the burden is theoretical. An inscribed easement narrows what an owner can build, promise or sell: appraisers discount for it, developers design around it, and buyers’ lawyers ask questions the seller cannot always answer, because the easement predates everyone at the table.

Dominican law recognizes that easements end, by agreement of the owners of the dominant and servient estates, by consolidation of both parcels in the same hands, by expiration of an agreed term, or by the other causes the Civil Code contemplates. The cancellation procedure translates that extinction to the registry: upon the proper showing, the Registrar strikes the servidumbre and the title recovers its full breadth.

The negotiated route deserves special mention. When an easement is not yet legally extinct but no longer serves a real purpose, the owners can agree to terminate it, often for consideration, and register the cancellation. For the servient owner, that is purchased freedom; for the dominant owner, monetized surplus. Both need the paperwork done right.

The framework is the Civil Code’s easement rules together with Law 108-05. Arthur & Castillo negotiates, documents and cancels easements, and litigates the contested ones before the Real Estate Jurisdiction. If a servidumbre is limiting your land more than it is serving anyone, let us look at how it ends.

Do you want more information about our services for Cancelling an Easement on Dominican Registered Property? Contact Us.

Disclaimer: This publication is not intended to provide advice or suggest a guaranteed outcome as individual situations will differ and the situation may have changed since publication. For specific advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.

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