restrictive covenant

American  

noun

1. a covenant with a clause that restricts the action of any party to it, especially an agreement among property owners not to sell to members of particular minority groups.

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restrictive covenant British  

noun

1. law a covenant imposing a restriction on the use of land for the purpose of preserving the enjoyment or value of adjoining land

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Etymology

Origin of restrictive covenant

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

County has hired a company for about $8 million to redact racially restrictive covenant language from millions of county records.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2024

The administrative process, known as a restrictive covenant modification, adds the modification document to the record and essentially amounts to a formal “disavowal” of the language by the property owner, Gregory said.

From Seattle Times • May 1, 2021

The city sold its protection — a restrictive covenant — for $16 million to a company that then resold the property, for a profit of roughly $72 million.

From New York Times • Apr. 28, 2016

Algeria, too, announced that it would not be bound by the restrictive covenant.

From Washington Post • Jan. 5, 2015

When asked whether the director-shareholders had applied a restrictive covenant preventing dividends being drawn from the club, Arsenal responded that since it was not detailed in the offer document no such covenant exists.

From The Guardian • Apr. 11, 2011