Restrictive covenants: what is required for enforceability?

• A. They may be enforced even if not in the direct chain of title of the burdened property.
• B. They must be in the direct chain of title of the burdened property.
• C. They can be enforced by any owner of any lot in the subdivision.
• D. They are enforceable only if recorded after ten years.

Answer: (B)

The main concept is that restrictive covenants must run with the land to bind future owners. For a covenant to be enforceable, it has to be tied to the burdened property’s title and be recorded so that those who acquire the land take notice. This is why the covenant must appear in the direct chain of title of the burdened property—so every successive owner of that property is subject to the restriction and the benefit can run to the owner of the benefiting land.

If the covenant isn’t in the chain of title of the burdened property, subsequent owners aren’t bound by it and it can’t be enforced against them. A requirement based on a time limit, like a ten-year recording rule, doesn’t apply here, and enforcement isn’t universal to any random owner of any lot—only those tied to the benefited and burdened parcels through the chain of title and privity where the covenant runs with the land.