Also known as: positive covenants · affirmative covenant · affirmative covenants
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A covenant that requires the covenantor to perform an affirmative act on or with respect to the land.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Piper Patel purchased a unit in a recorded condominium regime. The declaration required each owner to maintain landscaping and repaint exteriors in approved colors. When Patel neglected the duties, the association enforced the obligation against her as the current owner because the covenant required affirmative performance that ran with the land.
Pioneer Energy acquired a parcel subject to a recorded covenant requiring the owner to operate and fund a shared water treatment plant. After purchase, Pioneer refused to pay its share. The prior owner’s affirmative duty to perform and contribute costs continued to bind Pioneer because the burden ran with the land to the new possessor.
The nature of the burden controls the classification. A positive covenant requires the owner to perform an act such as maintenance or payment. A negative covenant requires only that the owner refrain from a specified use of the land.
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Yes when the declaration states that covenants run with the land and the burden is appurtenant to the property. The purchaser takes subject to the recorded obligation to perform affirmative acts such as funding shared facilities.
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The covenant is positive because it compels the owner to take affirmative action and expend funds rather than merely refrain from conduct.
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…to be done by Johanna Wagner alone, with an accompanying negative stipulation that she abstain from acts which would violate her affirmative covenant; the negative stipulation is ancillary to, concurrent with, and operates together with the affirmative covenant. The agreement to sing for the plaintiff during three months at his theatre,…