Easement – (1) any non-possessory interest held by one person in land possessed by another whereby the first person is accorded partial use of such land or the second person is restricted in the use of his or her land (2) a right held by one person to use the land of another for a specific purpose such as access to other property

Easement by Necessity – when an owner divides his or her property, sells part of it, and the purchaser cannot get to the part he or she bought without crossing the seller’s property; the purchaser acquires an easement over the seller’s property

Easement in Gross – a right to use another’s property, usually for a specific purpose; utility easements and railroad right-of-way are examples of easements in gross.

Economic Life – the period during which a given tangible asset, building, or other improvement to property is expected to contribute to the value of the total property.

Economic Obsolescence – a cause of depreciation that is a loss in value as a result of impairment in utility and desirability caused by factors outside the property’s boundaries such as a residential lot in an area that has become entirely industrial.

Effective Age – the typical age of a structure equivalent to the one in question with respect to its utility and condition as of the appraisal date. This can be more important than the chronological age because it reflects the condition of the property.

Effective Gross Income – the potential gross rent, less vacancy and collection loss, plus miscellaneous income.

Egress – an outlet or exit or means of exiting.

Eminent Domain – the right by which a sovereign government, or some person acting in its name and under its authority, may acquire private property for public or quasi-public use upon payment of reasonable compensation, but without consent of the owner.

Encroachment – the unauthorized trespassing of an improvement on the domain of another person’s land.

Encumbrance – any limitation that affects property rights and value.

Equalization – the process by which an appropriate governmental body attempts to ensure all property under its jurisdiction is assessed at the same assessment ratio or at the ratio or ratios required by law.

Equitable Ownership – the interest or estate of a person who has a beneficial right in property legally owned by another, for example, the beneficiary of a trust has equitable ownership in the trust property.

Escheat – the right to have property revert to the state for nonpayment of taxes or when there are no legal heirs of someone who dies without leaving a will.

Escrow – (1) a written instrument that by its terms imparts a legal obligation but that is placed by the grantor in the hands of a third party, to be held by him or her until the occurrence or non-occurrence of a specified event, and then only to be delivered to the grantee and to take effect (2) the agreement under which such instrument is so placed, held and conditionally delivered.

Estate – (1) interest which a person possesses in a single concrete article of property (2) the aggregate interests of any person in articles of property of all descriptions (3) the aggregate property of all descriptions left by a decedent.

Estate, Leasehold – any possessory interest in land less than estate of freehold, that is, an estate for years, an estate from year to year, an estate at will or an estate at sufferance.

Estate for Years – A possessory interest in land which cannot endure beyond a date specified in the conveyance or a date precisely determinable at the time the interest becomes possessory.

Estate in Fee Simple – an inheritable, possessory interest in land that may endure until the extinction of all lineal and collateral heirs of the first owner and that may be freely conveyed by its owner; the largest possible estate in land.

Estate in Severalty – any estate held by a single person is an estate in severalty.

Estate of Freehold – any one of the three types of possessory interests in land –fee simple, fee tall and estate for life-that in feudal times were granted only to freemen.

Estate Tax – a tax based on the value of the estate of a deceased person.

Exemption – freedom from a charge or burden such as taxes to which others are subject.

Exemption, Homestead – freedom of part or all of the value of a homestead from property taxation; a reduction in the property tax base.

Exemption, Institutional – freedom from the property tax granted to property owned and/or used by charitable, educational, or religious institutions or agencies, in recognition of the public services rendered by them; a reduction in the property tax base.

Exemption, Personal – freedom from the property tax of some or all classes of property in limited or unlimited amounts by reason of his ownership by natural persons or particular groups of natural persons, or persons with certain attributes; a reduction in property tax base.