Adverse Possession

The attorneys at Silverberg Zalantis LLC have both defended and brought adverse possession claims. An adverse possession claim is brought by a person who is not the record owner of the property, but nonetheless, claims ownership of the property. In New York, a person attempting to prove ownership under the adverse possession doctrine, must satisfy both: (1) the statutory basis under Real Property Actions and Proceeding Law § 522 (i.e. that the property subject to the adverse possession claim was “cultivated or improved” or “protected by a substantial enclosure”) and (2) the common law elements of an adverse possession claim (i.e. that the possession was “hostile, under a claim of right, actual, open, notorious, and exclusive, and it must have been continuous for the statutory period.”). There is a presumption that the record owner has possession of the property and the burden of proving “all the facts necessary to constitute adverse possession is upon the one who asserts it.”

At Silverberg Zalantis LLC, we are familiar with the intricacies of the case-law developed involving adverse possession. This is important, because many times, adverse possession claims rely heavily on the facts.