Legal Definitions - dominant tenant

In property law, a dominant tenant refers to the owner or occupant of a property (known as the dominant tenement) that holds a legal right to use or benefit from another person's adjacent property. This right is typically an easement, which allows the dominant tenant to perform a specific action on, or restrict certain actions on, the neighboring land (known as the servient tenement) for the benefit of their own property.

Essentially, the dominant tenant is the one whose property gains an advantage or increased utility because of this legal arrangement with a neighboring parcel of land.

• Example 1: Access to a Public Road

  Imagine a property owner, Sarah, whose land is situated behind another property owned by Mark, with no direct access to the main public road. Sarah has a legal easement that allows her to drive across a specific portion of Mark's property to reach the road. In this scenario, Sarah is the dominant tenant because her property (the dominant tenement) benefits from the right to access the public road by crossing Mark's land. Mark, whose land is burdened by this right, would be the servient tenant.

• Example 2: Shared Driveway Maintenance

  Consider two adjacent townhouses, Property A and Property B, that share a common driveway leading from the street to their respective garages. The owner of Property A has an easement allowing them to use the portion of the driveway that technically lies on Property B's land. The owner of Property A is the dominant tenant because their property benefits from the ability to access their garage via the shared driveway, even though part of it is on their neighbor's property. The easement ensures their continued use and access.

• Example 3: Utility Line Access

  A developer builds a new residential subdivision. To connect the homes in the back of the subdivision to the main municipal water line, an underground pipe must run across a strip of land owned by a commercial plaza at the front. The homeowners in the subdivision are considered dominant tenants because their properties (the dominant tenements) benefit from the easement that allows the water utility lines to pass through the commercial plaza's land, providing essential services to their homes. The commercial plaza's land is the servient tenement.