Appellate Court Issues Ruling in Years-Long Prescriptive Easement Dispute

One of the reasons that New York City has so much more personality than most places in the United States is that it is not an endless parade of strip malls full of national chain stores.  When a British YouTuber took a tour of American fast-food restaurants that he had never seen before, and it was not obvious to viewers who tuned in after the first minute, where he introduced the video, that he was in the suburbs of Atlanta.  He could just as easily have been in Kentucky, California, Colorado, or just about anywhere.  New York, by contrast, can only be New York.  Some buildings bear the stylistic hallmarks of the wealthy individuals who dreamed them up.  Other places are recognizable to locals for looking like they have been abandoned and repurposed.  In former decades, the graffiti on public buildings in New York became recognizable worldwide, especially after it influenced the artistic styles of the likes of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Keith Haring.  Some places in New York thrive on looking like they are up for grabs.  What happens when the legal owner of a long unused real estate property suddenly shows up and tries to kick out the people who have been acting like the property, or part of it, belonged to them?  The doctrine of “finders keepers” in real estate law is called adverse possession, and it only applies in narrow circumstances.  For help resolving an easement dispute or other matter related to adverse possession, contact a Bronx real estate attorney.

Nondescript Pieces of Real Estate Can Be the Source of Bitter Real Estate Disputes

A prescriptive easement is when the court declares that the non-owner of a piece of land has the right to use part of the owner’s land for a specific purpose without being a tenant or having a claim to ownership of the land.  For example, if Joe owns a farm far from the main road, and the only way he can travel between his farm and the main road is by crossing Bill’s farm, he can ask the court for a prescriptive easement enabling him to use a dirt road on Bill’s property.  Prescriptive easements are typically associated with wide open spaces, which are not easy to find in New York City.

A dirt road in a warehouse district in the Bronx drew complaints from the commercial tenants, because it became a site for illegal drug sales and the solicitation of commercial sex.  The O’Farrell family, which owns the lots at both ends of the road, installed gates so that only authorized personnel could enter.  The tenants of the companies that owned the lots in between complained, leading to a lawsuit.  Eventually, the appeals court issued a ruling enabling the gates to stay and granting a prescriptive easement.

Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Bronx Real Estate Attorney

A real estate lawyer can help you with easement disputes.  Contact Cavallo & Cavallo in the Bronx, New York to set up a consultation.

Source:

bestlawyers.com/article/law-firm-settles-bronx-real-estate-and-land-disagreement/5264