A reservation in a deed — or reddendum — allows a grantor to retain certain rights or interest in a subject property. For example, a grantor may exempt a property’s mineral rights from the deed transfer.
Typically, a reservation grants an easement, which allows the deed’s grantor to hold a nonpossessory interest in the land (i.e. access to the property). Although an easement and a lien both have nonpossessory interests in land, an easement is the right to use another’s land for a specified purpose (such as using another’s driveway to access their own property), while a lien is simply an interest in land until a debt the landowner owes is discharged.
