Sonoma Dev., Inc. v. Miller
Supreme Court of Virginia
515 S.E.2d 577 (1999)
When selling Lot 38 (with an encroaching house) to the Millers (plaintiffs), the Schaers simultaneously executed a deed conveying Lot 38, a Declaration of Restriction barring construction on retained Lot 39 within three feet of the Lot 38 house, and a Declaration of Easement -- all recorded the same day, though the restriction and easement documents named only the Schaers, not the Millers. When the Schaers later sold Lot 39 to Sonoma (defendant), which built within three feet of the Millers' house despite the deed noting it was subject to recorded restrictions, the Millers sued, and the trial court ordered removal of the encroaching improvements, with Sonoma appealing on the ground that no horizontal privity existed to support the restrictive covenant.
Whether horizontal privity exists when a party executes a restrictive covenant on one parcel of land in conjunction with that same party's sale of another parcel benefited by the covenant.