Under the doctrine of privity of contract, the owner of a piece of land may continue to be responsible under the covenant affecting the land even after the ownership of the land has been passed on to someone else like the purchaser or the purchase’s successor in title. Under such circumstances, the seller’s attorney must ensure that the purchaser gives the seller an indemnity covenant against any future breach that might take place because the seller can be sued for breach of contract. A covenantor is generally not bound after the sale of the land in question if the covenant is only limited to possession and in this situation, an indemnity covenant from the purchaser would be of no use. If the assignment is for value for unregistered land, in case of the sale of leasehold land, the purchaser’s indemnity is normally implied. Indemnity is dealt with expressly in case of freehold land.
