Running With The Land

“Running with the land” is kind of like a cross between running with the bulls...and that scene in The Sound of Music where Julie Andrews is singing that the hills are alive. Or, at least, it would be like that if the bulls and the privilege of running and singing with them were attached to the land itself, and not to the owner of said land.

Because that’s what “running with the land” means: whatever right, privilege, covenant, or obligation we’re talking about is attached to the real estate in question, and not the person or persons who own it. No matter who owns the property, the provision has to be taken care of.

A slightly more common example than the singing-with-the-bulls thing might be if we're the owner of a property, and must help maintain the fence that borders the neighboring property. That responsibility comes with the house. If we ever sell the house, our obligation is lifted. We don’t have to keep coming back and fixing the fence after we leave. Or...let’s say we move to a suburban neighborhood and are shocked to learn that we can’t keep our horses in the front yard. They’re our horses, aren’t they? And we bought the house, didn’t we? That may very well be...but if there's a restrictive covenant running with the land we bought that says “no horses in the front yard,” then, uh...we can’t keep horses in the front yard.