Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York

I live in Chemung County, New York. I was wondering is there a statute of limitations on how long I have to hold on some ones property befor it be belongs to me to sell or do as I please with the items... There used to be a saying of possetions 9 tenths of the law. Is this still true?

This friend of mine left the state , now is somewhere on the west coast. He left his guitars and hunting rifles here with me to hold onto till he could come back for them. How long do I have to hold onto his things befor I can get rid of them. he told me when he left his things that it would only be about 60 days till he could make arrangments to retrieve these items it's now been over 90 days.

Any advice you can give will be very helpful.. Thanks


Asked on 7/15/12, 8:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Paul Vaygen Law Offices of Paul A. Vaygen

You are referring to a legal concept called "adverse possession." It is indeed real. The adverse possession period in New York is 10 years. However, it is not enough to hold a property for 10 years to own it and it is not automatic. Your possession of the property must be "open and notorious." This means you cannot hold the property in secret -- you have to hold yourself out to be the owner. This also means that you have to hold it without the owner's permission. You cannot be a tenant or a licensee using the property under an agreement with the owner. Furthermore, you cannot just hold the property -- You have to make legitimate improvements to the property.

Finally, after you do all of that for 10 years, you have to file an action with a competent court to recognize you as the legal owner and prove that all of these elements have been satisfied. You can also do this in the context of the old owner suing you to gain possession of the property, in which case you can file a counterclaim and/or a defense that will result in you being declared the legal owner.

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Answered on 11/28/12, 9:55 am


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