MBE Real Property Practice Test

Vertical privity is the link between the original promise-maker and someone who later acquires an interest in the same land subject to that covenant. In other words, it’s the relationship between the original promisor and a successor in interest who takes the property with the covenant attached. This is what allows the covenant to run with the land to future owners.

That’s why the best choice describes the connection between the original promisor and a successor. The relationship between the original covenanting parties is horizontal privity, not vertical. The grantor–grantee relationship is also horizontal privity in the context of the original deed, not the ongoing land-interest successor relationship. Neighboring landowners have no privity at all.