Easements and Encroachments on a Plex Lot: What Changes When You Buy and Sell

An easement or an encroachment on a plex lot can seem harmless — until a notary flags it on the eve of closing. For an owner of an income property on Montreal's North Shore, understanding these charges on the land matters as much when buying as when selling: they determine what you can do with your yard, your parking and your structures, and they can influence both price and financing. Here is a practical guide to the main types of easements, to fence and shed encroachments, and to how you detect and resolve them.

What is an easement on a plex lot?

An easement is a charge imposed on one lot (the servient land) for the benefit of another immovable owned by a different person (the dominant land), under articles 1177 and following of the Civil Code of Quebec. It runs with the land and stays in force after the plex is sold.

The Civil Code of Quebec defines an easement as a charge that ties two neighbouring immovables: one bears the burden (your plex lot), the other benefits. The key point for an income-property owner is that the easement is real — attached to the land, not to a person. When you buy or sell the plex, the easement stays. You inherit the seller's easements, and the buyer will inherit yours.

An easement is usually established by title (a notarial deed published in the Land Register), sometimes by the destination of the owner. Contrary to a common belief, a continuous and apparent easement can no longer be acquired by mere prolonged use under the current Civil Code: a written instrument is generally required. That is why documentary verification is so important.

What types of easements affect a plex?

On the North Shore as elsewhere in Quebec, a handful of easement families show up constantly in plex files:

• Right of way — a neighbour has the right to cross your lot, on foot or by vehicle, often to reach an enclosed lot or rear parking. This is the easement most likely to reduce the usable area of your yard.
• View (and non-view) easement — the Civil Code governs openings (windows, balconies) facing the neighbour. An easement may authorize a view that would otherwise be prohibited, or restrict future openings.
• Public-utility easements — for Hydro-Quebec, water, sewer, gas or telecommunications networks. They let the entity install and maintain its infrastructure and may prohibit any permanent construction within a strip of the lot.
• Drainage or water-flow easement — common between two lots at different elevations; the lower land must receive the water that flows naturally from the higher land.
• Tolerance or encroachment easement — created specifically to regularize a structure that overhangs (see below).

What is a fence or shed encroachment?

An encroachment is a structure — fence, shed, deck, wall — that overhangs, partly or fully, onto the neighbour's lot without any right authorizing it. Unlike an easement, it is not a published right but a fact to be regularized.

Encroachment is the most common land problem on a plex, because it often stems from small actions: a fence put up "by eye," a shed placed too close to the line, a deck or porch rebuilt slightly wider. The neighbour may have said nothing for years — but the irregularity resurfaces the moment an up-to-date certificate of location is required for a sale.

The Civil Code (articles 992 and following) distinguishes by scale and good faith. If the encroachment is minor and in good faith, the encroaching owner can generally regularize it by acquiring the encroached parcel or obtaining an easement. If the encroachment is substantial or in bad faith, the neighbour may demand forced acquisition of the parcel, damages, or, in extreme cases, demolition. Demolition remains the exception, but the threat is often enough to complicate a transaction.

How to detect an easement or encroachment?

Three sources complement one another. None is enough on its own, but together they give a reliable picture of your plex lot:

1. The certificate of location — prepared by a land surveyor, it shows the lot boundaries, the building footprints and any visible encroachments, and notes known easements. It is detection tool number one. To read it well, see our guide on the certificate of location when buying a plex.
2. The Quebec Land Register — the index of immovables and published deeds reveal easements established by title. The title deed and the prior purchase deed normally mention existing easements.
3. A visual inspection of the lot — walk the lot line: a fence that does not follow the survey markers, a shed hugging the boundary, a Hydro-Quebec pole or transformer, a path used by the neighbour are all signals.

How to resolve an encroachment before selling?

The good news: most fence or shed encroachments are settled amicably. The usual routes, from simplest to heaviest:

• Move the structure — if the fence or shed is easy to pull back onto your own lot, this is often the fastest and cheapest fix.
• Negotiate an encroachment (or tolerance) easement — through a notarial deed published in the Land Register, the neighbour accepts that the structure stays. Title becomes clear for the buyer.
• Buy (or sell) the encroached parcel — a transfer of a small strip of land, with a cadastral update by the surveyor, settles the boundary permanently.
• Release an extinguished easement — if an old easement no longer serves any purpose, a notary can have it struck off to clean up the title.

For a seller in a hurry, the issue is the timeline: regularizing takes time (surveyor, notary, the neighbour's agreement). That is one reason some owners choose to sell their North Shore multiplex to a buyer who knows these files and works with an imperfect situation, rather than wait months for a boundary correction.

Common mistakes with easements and encroachments

• Assuming an old easement is extinguished. Ten years of non-use can extinguish an easement, but it must be established and published; do not assume it without a notary's opinion.
• Installing a fence without checking the markers. Setting a fence "by eye" is the number-one cause of encroachment. Have the boundaries located before the work.
• Ignoring a Hydro-Quebec easement and building a shed on it. The entity can require removal of any construction that hinders maintenance of its infrastructure.
• Waiting for the offer to discover the problem. An expired certificate of location revealing an encroachment mid-transaction is the worst scenario. Keep in mind the legal warranty against latent defects: an undisclosed encroachment can fuel a dispute.
• Settling verbally with the neighbour. A verbal agreement does not bind the future owner. Only a published notarial deed protects the buyer — and you, the seller.

In short: a well-identified easement is not a flaw, it is a data point to fold into your valuation; an unresolved encroachment, on the other hand, is a concrete risk to price, financing and the time it takes to sell your plex. Detect early, document, regularize — and you approach the purchase or sale of your North Shore income property from a position of strength.

Sources: Civil Code of Quebec (LégisQuébec) — easements (art. 1177 et seq.) and encroachments (art. 992 et seq.); Éducaloi — real estate law and neighbour relations; Ordre des arpenteurs-géomètres du Québec (land surveyors); Chambre des notaires du Québec. Informational content — not a substitute for legal advice.