[What Lacon Ct. Should Look Like]

Since our most recent story about the Dead End Land Grabs All Over the Beach the team at GerritsenBeach.net has been studying and looking into property law. It turns out that there is something called Adverse Possession. Adverse possession is a concept in law which concerns title of real properties.

You may thinking to yourself that your abandoned neighbors property looks real nice and you want it for yourself. Maybe if you put a fence around it and maintain it for X number of years you will own it by law. That was the case where you could do a minimal amount of “this land is mine” work and hold it for 10 years and it would be actually yours, as long as the owner didn’t ask for it back.

However, there was a law on the books, that changed a few years ago, that said adverse possession of property can occur simply because someone mows someone’s lawn for 10 years or because a fence, or minimal, non-structural item is placed across the deeded property line.

Adverse possession now requires that the claimant must have a “claim of right” or “reasonable basis for the belief” that the property is theirs to take adverse possession. Basically, your neighbor can not take adverse possession of property regardless of how long he squats on it. He has to have proof that he has a right to the property in question (i.e. a dispute over property lines). As well as: you cant be sneaky about it (The possession must be open for all to see.)

In our case in Gerritsen Beach, if you’re the adverse possessor and you didn’t already claim your stolen land from the actual owner to amend your deed. You missed your chance. On our dead ends and Courts, New York City is the actual owner, and I’m sure they don’t have smart lawyers which would be willing to allow you to keep “your” land.