In 2008, the New York State Legislature enacted sweeping changes to those provisions of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL) that govern the circumstances under which title to real property may be acquired by adverse possession.1 The Legislature acted primarily to reverse the ruling of the Court of Appeals in the case of Walling v. Prysbylo.2 Under principles of New York adverse possession law nearly two centuries old, the Court had ruled that the Wallings had acquired title to a strip of land belonging to their neighbors, the Prysbylos, by treating the property as their own for the requisite 10-year period, despite the Wallings’ admitted knowledge of the Prysbylos’ record ownership of the disputed parcel. Contrary to Walling, under the amended RPAPL, no person may now acquire title to land by adverse possession without showing a claim of right to the land founded on a “reasonable basis for the belief that the property belongs to the adverse possessor.”3

The 2008 legislation also, by statute, deemed certain encroachments and activities as “permissive and non-adverse” which previously might have been considered as evidence tending to show such use and occupation of the land by the intruder “as owners are accustomed to possess and improve their estates,”4 and, therefore, adverse to the interests of the record owner. Included in this now permissive and non-adverse category are (a) “de minimis non-structural encroachments,” such as fences, hedges, plantings, sheds, and non-structural walls,5 and (b) “acts of lawnmowing or similar maintenance across the boundary line of an adjoining landowner’s property.”6

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]