Facts
R. and M. G., operators of a sawmill in S., sold a neighboring plot of land, registered as parcel no. 553, to J. The deed of sale provided for the establishment of a personal easement limiting industrial activity in favor of the sellers, allowing only the operation of a carpentry business on the sold property, to the exclusion of any other industry.
After J.'s bankruptcy, the bank X., which had acquired parcel no. 553 during the forced realization, contested the validity of this easement. The Civil Court of the Vaud Cantonal Tribunal dismissed the claim, and the bank X. appealed to the Federal Tribunal.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considered that the disputed easement was valid in terms of the law of real rights. Indeed, a land easement may involve a restriction on the use of the property, provided that this restriction affects its economic or social character in a perceptible way from the outside. Although the easement limits the personal freedom of the owner, this is not in itself a criterion of invalidity, as long as the restriction directly affects the use of the property.
Furthermore, the easement…