Adverse Possession

What it means

Adverse possession is a legal way to gain ownership of someone else's land by using it openly, continuously, and without permission for at least 10 years in New York. The most common example is a fence built in the wrong place. If the fence has been there for 10+ years and the neighbor has been mowing and maintaining the land on their side, they may have a legal claim to that strip. The use must be open (not hidden), continuous (not on and off), exclusive (treated as their own), and hostile (without the owner's permission). If all four conditions are met for 10 years, the court can transfer ownership. This is rare but does happen.

When you might hear this

You hear this when a neighbor has been using a piece of someone else's land for years — maybe a fence was built in the wrong place — and now claims to own that strip.

What to ask