Covenant running with the land

Property law
Part of the common law series
Acquisition of property
Gift  · Adverse possession  · Deed
Lost, mislaid, and abandoned property
Bailment  · Licence
Estates in land
Fee simple  · Life estate  · Fee tail
Concurrent estate  · Leasehold estate
Conveyancing of interests in land
Bona fide purchaser  · Torrens title
Estoppel by deed  · Quitclaim deed
Mortgage  · Equitable conversion
Limiting control over future use
Restraint on alienation
Rule against perpetuities
Rule in Shelley's Case
Doctrine of worthier title
Nonpossessory interest in land
Easement  · Profit
Covenant running with the land
Equitable servitude
Related topics
Fixtures  · Waste
Assignment  · Nemo dat
Other areas of the common law
Contract law  · Tort law
Wills and trusts
Criminal Law  · Evidence
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A covenant running with the land, in the law of real property, is a nonpossessory interest in land in the form of an agreement between adjoining landowners to do or not do something with relation to the land that they respectively occupy - to maintain a fence, for example, or not to cut down a certain grove of trees. As the name implies, the agreement stays in force even when ownership of the land changes hands, so long as the agreement is one that touches and concerns the land.

An agreement not to open a competing business on adjacent property is generally enforceable as a covenants running with the land.