Issue

#2

: John owned a 50-acre parcel of land located in a rural area of New Amsterdam. One tract of the land contains a group of trees. Those trees were planted by John's grandfather and had been on the land for more than 50 years. When John reached the age of 65 and his children were not interested in the property, he realized that he would have to sell the land. To ensure that the buyer, Fred, did not cut down the trees, the deed included a restrictive covenant (an easement) which provided that Fred could not cut down any of the trees in the tract referenced above. That easement further provided that the "obligations and rights under the easement would be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties to the deed and their respective successors and assignees."Fred recently sold the land to Sam (who is a developer At the time of the sale, Sam did not have knowledge of the restrictive covenant prohibiting cutting down the trees. Last week, Sam learned about the restrictive covenant. Sam also wants to know whether he is bound by the restrictive covenant/easement on the New Amsterdam property?