Mutual Covenants

If several landowners are concerned about protecting the open space they collectively own or a view they all share, they can exchange mutual covenants to protect these features. Mutual covenants can be appropriate where the protected conservation values are important to a handful of owners, but not of sufficient benefit to the general public to warrant a conservation easement.

St. Croix River, Polk County
St. Croix River
Polk County

Pepin County

Each landowner's covenant is enforceable by each of the other landowners and their heirs and successors. However, there is no guarantee that they will enforce it. There are no tax deductions for mutual covenants, and they may not be permanent, since they can be nullified by subsequent agreement of all owners.

Essentially, the differences between a mutual covenant and a conservation easement are that the easement is permanent, benefits the general public, and often provides tax advantages, while the mutual covenant primarily benefits adjacent property owners, is not necessarily permanent and does not provide tax advantages.

Land Trust Home	Conservation Easement	Mutual Covenant	Lease	Donation by Will	Donation of Partial Interest
Bargain Sale & Fair Market Value	Charitable Gift Annuity	Charitable Remainder Unitrust	Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust	Retained Life Estate	Outright Donation