The following definitions apply throughout the section [The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter] unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Appurtenant easement" means an easement tied to or dependent on ownership or occupancy of a unit or a parcel of real property.
(2) "Conservation easement" means a nonpossessory property interest created for one or more of the following conservation purposes:
(a) Retaining or protecting the natural, scenic, wildlife, wildlife habitat, biological, ecological, or open space values of real property;
(b) Ensuring the availability of real property for agricultural, forest, outdoor recreational, or open space uses;
(c) Protecting natural resources, including wetlands, grasslands, and riparian areas;
(d) Maintaining or enhancing air or water quality; or
(e) Preserving the historical, architectural, archaeological, paleontological, or cultural aspects of real property.
(3) "Dominant estate" means an estate or interest in real property benefited by an appurtenant easement.
(4) "Easement" means a nonpossessory property interest that:
(a) Provides a right to enter, use, or enjoy real property owned by or in the possession of another; and
(b) Imposes on the owner or possessor a duty not to interfere with the entry, use, or enjoyment permitted by the instrument creating the easement or, in the case of an easement not established by express grant or reservation, the entry, use, or enjoyment authorized by law.
(5) "Easement holder" means:
(a) In the case of an appurtenant easement, the dominant estate owner; or
(b) In the case of an easement in gross, public utility easement, conservation easement, or negative easement, the grantee of the easement or a successor.
(6) "Easement in gross" means an easement not tied to or dependent on ownership or occupancy of a unit or a parcel of real property.
(7) "Lessee of record" means a person holding a lessee's interest under a recorded lease or memorandum of lease.
(8) "Negative easement" means a nonpossessory property interest whose primary purpose is to impose on a servient estate owner a duty not to engage in a specified use of the estate.
(9) "Person" means an individual, estate, business or nonprofit entity, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or other legal entity.
(10) "Public utility easement" means a nonpossessory property interest in which the easement holder is a publicly regulated or publicly owned utility under federal law or law of this state or a municipality. The term includes an easement benefiting an intrastate utility, an interstate utility, or a utility cooperative.
(11) "Real property" means an estate or interest in, over, or under land, including structures, fixtures, and other things that by custom, usage, or law pass with a conveyance of land whether or not described or mentioned in the contract of sale or instrument of conveyance. The term includes the interest of a lessor and lessee and, unless the interest is personal property under law of this state other than this chapter, an interest in a common interest community.
(12) "Record," used as a noun, means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(13) "Security instrument" means a mortgage, deed of trust, security deed, contract for deed, lease, or other record that creates or provides for an interest in real property to secure payment or performance of an obligation, whether by acquisition or retention of a lien, a lessor's interest under a lease, or title to the real property. The term includes:
(a) A security instrument that also creates or provides for a security interest in personal property;
(b) A modification or amendment of a security instrument; and
(c) A record creating a lien on real property to secure an obligation under a covenant running with the real property or owed by a unit owner to a common interest community association.
(14) "Security interest holder of record" means a person holding an interest in real property created by a recorded security instrument.
(15) "Servient estate" means an estate or interest in real property that is burdened by an easement.
(16) "Title evidence" means a title insurance policy, preliminary title report or binder, title insurance commitment, abstract of title, attorney's opinion of title based on examination of public records or an abstract of title, or any other means of reporting the state of title to real property which is customary in the locality.
(17) "Unit" means a physical portion of a common interest community designated for separate ownership or occupancy with boundaries described in a declaration establishing the common interest community.
(18) "Utility cooperative" means a nonprofit entity whose purpose is to deliver a utility service, such as electricity, oil, natural gas, water, sanitary sewer, stormwater, or telecommunications, to its customers or members and includes an electric cooperative, rural electric cooperative, rural water district, and rural water association.