Conservation Partners, LLC

Easements Step-By-Step

1. Registration: If you are interested in having Conservation Partners work with you and your advisors in connection with your easement donation and the preparation of your land preservation tax credit, please fill out and send to us a registration form. If you don’t have a registration form, please call our office at 540-464-1899 or Request Information.
2. Professional Advisors: Conservation Partners does not provide legal or tax advice, but once we have your registration, we can help you find an experienced attorney, accountant, appraiser, and any other professional advisor you need. We will send a copy of our Quality Standards to your attorney and any other advisors you request.
3. Initial Consultation With Conservation Partners: We will meet with you to talk with you about your land and your easement donation plans as well as our Standards, documentation requirements, and standard agreements. In most situations we are able to visit the land you plan to protect.
4. Landowner’s Agreement: If we decide to work together, you and Conservation Partners will sign a Landowner’s Agreement. The Landowner’s Agreement sets forth our respective obligations with respect to the process of preparing your credit.
5. Status Checklists: Conservation Partners will periodically send you Conservation Easement Status Checklists to help keep you up-to-date on the credit preparation process, including the status of all required documentation.
6. Choosing a Donee: Conservation Partners can consult with you and your attorney to help you decide which entity or entities you should approach with your donation. Certain government agencies as well as private non-profit organizations known as land trusts accept easement donations, and depending upon the nature of your property and where it is located, you may be able to choose among several potential local, state-wide, and national easement donees.
7. Easement Drafting and Title Work: Once you have settled on an easement donee, we will work with you and your attorney, your appraiser, and the agency or organization accepting your easement to produce a draft easement that complies with our Standards. One of the first steps will be to obtain a title report or title insurance commitment so that any title issues can be addressed very early in the process.
8. The Appraisal: Conservation Partners strongly recommends that you involve an appraiser early in the easement donation process. An expert easement appraiser can help you understand the potential effect on your property’s value of various decisions you will face when the easement is being drafted, and he or she can help you avoid expensive mistakes in your planning. Again, we expect that you and your appraiser will consult with us regarding our Standards during the appraisal process. Under certain circumstances, you may be required to obtain an expert desk review of your appraisal (see the Documentation Requirements section below).
9. Easement Approval and Attorney’s Opinion: Before the easement is finally approved by the government agency or land trust accepting your donation, you should obtain confirmation from Conservation Partners that your easement deed and the opinion letter from your attorney comply with our Standards. After your easement has been finally approved by the donee agency or organization, it may be difficult and costly to make any changes necessary to comply with our Standards.
10. Appraisal Approval: Similarly, before the appraisal is finalized by your appraiser, you should obtain confirmation from Conservation Partners that your appraisal report complies with our Standards. As with the easement and opinion, after your appraisal has been finalized by your appraiser, it may be difficult and costly to make any changes necessary to comply with our Standards.
11. DCR Approval: Formal review and approval by the Department of Conservation and Recreation is required by law with respect to easement donations that generate a credit claim of $1 million or more. If the draft appraisal indicates the easement will be valued at $2.4 million or more, Conservation Partners will work with you and your attorney to submit the deed of easement and all other required materials to the Department of Conservation and Recreation for preliminary and final review and approval.
12. Credit Registration: Once your easement is recorded and your appraisal completed, you will be eligible to register your land preservation tax credit with the Virginia Department of Taxation. Conservation Partners will work with you to prepare and file all the necessary documentation.
13. Pre-Sale Documentation for Credit Sellers: If you intend to sell some or all of your credit, after your credit is properly registered you will sign a Credit Sales Addendum to your Landowner’s Agreement stating the amount of credit you wish to sell, setting forth certain representations regarding the credit, and giving Conservation Partners a power of attorney or appropriate entity authorization (as applicable) enabling us to sell your credit once we locate buyers. Once Conservation Partners has all of the required documentation in hand, your credit will be placed in our queue of credits to be actively marketed and sold.
14. Tax Credit Purchase: At closing, the buyer’s check will be written to you. You will then pay Conservation Partners our fee for facilitating the sale and reimburse us for costs advanced on your behalf.