No presumption of hostility when a family member claims a prescriptive easement

Posted on May 12th, 2011 by Joseph William Singer.
Categories: Adverse possession.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine has created an exception to the presumption that prescriptive use of another’s property is non-permissive when the servient estate is owned by a family member. Androkites v. White, 10 A.3d 677 (Me. 2010). The court held that, in such cases, it is more likely that the use is permissive and thus the usual presumption is overcome. A few states presume use to be permissive in all cases while most states retain the same presumption of nonpermissiveness for both adverse possession claims and prescriptive easement claims.

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New York changes adverse possession law

Posted on October 3rd, 2009 by Joseph William Singer.
Categories: Adverse possession.

New York substantially changed its adverse possession law in 2008, effectively abolishing adverse possession in most border dispute cases. The law allows an adverse possessor to acquire property by building a permanent structure that encroaches on land owned by another but denies adverse possession by deeming “permissive and non-adverse” what the statute calls “de minimums non-structural encroachments” such as lawn mowing, plantings, fences and sheds. N.Y. Real Prop. Acts §543.

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Bad faith adverse possession unleashes backlash and law reform in Colorado

Posted on September 16th, 2009 by Joseph William Singer.
Categories: Adverse possession.


An ex-judge apparently deliberated encroached onto neighboring property and took ownership of the border strip by adverse possession, creating a firestorm of protest in Colorado and a new state statute prohibiting adverse possession in the absence of good faith. read article

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