Adverse Possession Law Has Been Revised in New York
Acquiring property by adverse possession may be more difficult in the future, at least in New York.
I was alerted to a revision of the New York law of adverse possession, just signed by Governor Paterson, by Sui Generis - - a New York Law Blog in its New York Legal Roundup of July 9, 2008. The Roundup referenced linked to a report in Newsday.com by the Associated Press (Archaic Land Law Revised in New York). Other news media carried the report. Norrthcountrygazette.org provided a few background details, indicating this is an example of the legislature trumping the state’s highest court (NY’s Adverse Possession Law Revamped).
We have commented on adverse possession and explained what it is in prior posts here and here.
While Newsday characterizes adverse possession as an “archaic” law, our firm can attest from recent experience that adverse possession is a very live concept in both New York and Connecticut. Research queries turn up many recent cases.
Media accounts of the new (actually, revised) law are broad-brush. According to the Newsday.com report, the acquisition of a neighbor’s land by adverse possession “will not happen simply because a fence, hedge, shrub, shed or other minimal, nonstructural item is placed across the deeded property line.”
According to the Northcountrygazette.org report, the new law requires that a “claimant have a ‘claim of right’ or ‘reasonable basis for the belief’ that the property is theirs to take by adverse possession.” Northcountrygazette.org also reports that the law is the ultimate product of legislators’ efforts to trump the Court of Appeals and reverse the law created by the case of Walling v. Przybylo,7 N.Y.3d 228, 818 N.Y.S.2d 816 (2006), holding that actual knowledge by the claimant that another person is the owner by deed does not defeat an adverse possession claim.
The news reports do not provide enough details to fully understand the changes. We will comment further when the text of the statutory changes and technical legal commentaries are available. Please “stay tuned.”
In the meantime, it is still a fact that adverse possession can be “defeated” if property owners walk their property lines, make a note of any encroachments and, with their attorneys, take prompt, appropriate action - - before it’s too late.
