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Real Property Law
Prescriptive Easement Counterclaim Dismissed
Mastbeth v. Shiel, 2023 WL 4628572 AppDiv, Third Dept. (Opinion by Egan, J.P.)
In landowner's action to recover damages for trespass, landlord appealed from Supreme Court's judgment, after a nonjury trial, that landowner's neighbor had a prescriptive easement over landowner's parcel and that landowner had not proven the damages necessary to support her trespass claim. The Appellate Division modified to dismiss the neighbor's prescriptive easement counterclaim, and awarded landowner $1 in nominal damages.
A private road runs through landowner's land to neighbor's parcel. Landowner has an express easement over the portion of the road leading up to her parcel; neighbor has no express easement. When neighbor bought his parcel in 1998, landowner gave neighbor permission to use the road on her parcel, but she revoked that permission in 2004 when neighbor allegedly dug up the area along the road causing negative effects to her parcel. She then brought an action for trespass. Neighbor counterclaimed, asserting that he had acquired a prescriptive easement to use the road. After a nonjury trial, Supreme Court found that neighbor had acquired a prescriptive easement, and that landowner had not established damages for trespass. Landowner appealed.
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