Real Property Law

In an action by tenants in common for a judgment declaring that they own a 50% interest in disputed property, plaintiff tenants in common appealed from Supreme Court's dismissal of the complaint and denial of their cross-motion for leave to amend their complaint. The Appellate Division reversed and denied the motion to dismiss, holding that defendant tenants in common failed to establish as a matter of law the "claim of right" element of their adverse possession claim.

Plaintiffs are the personal representatives of the estates of heirs of one of two parties who acquired title as tenants in common by a 1974 deed. By virtue of that deed, the two parties each acquired a 50% interest to the property. Defendants trace their title to the other of the two tenants in common. In 1999, the executor of a successor in interest to that tenant in common purported to sell a 100% interest in the property to a third party. That third party then purported to convey a 100% interest to yet another party, in 2000, and two more deeds purporting to flip a 100% interest in the property were executed and recorded by 2004, when the current defendant tenant in common acquired a deed. Current defendant tenant in common has been managing the three-family residence on the property since that time, collecting rents on the premises and expending money on renovations and maintenance. In 2022, plaintiff cotenants brought this declaratory judgment action, and defendant cotenants moved to dismiss, contending that they had acquired title to 100% of the property by adverse possession. Supreme Court granted their motion, and plaintiff cotenants appealed.