17.10 C. Continuous Possession

• Jurisdiction: New York

C. Continuous Possession

The adverse possession or occupancy must be continuous during the required period. In Sackett v. O’Brien,³⁰⁸⁴ where the defendants mistakenly assumed that a 30-foot strip was included in their conveyance, the ambiguity in the deed permitted them to conclude that the strip was not conveyed to a railroad. The defendants’ claim of adverse possession, founded upon a written instrument, gave rise to their initial acts of adverse possession, and since they and their predecessors used the property as homes and summer cottages for much longer than the statutory period, they acquired adverse possession under their written instruments. The court held that the possession of a summer cottage during a summer period did not detract from their continuous possession and fulfilled the adverse possession requirements.

In another case, an adverse possession claim was denied because the Plaintiffs did not present sufficient evidence that the land in dispute was cultivated for a one-year period in 1975–76 and also for the entire year of 1981, and, as a result, they failed to meet their burden of proving that there was actual possession of the disputed property for a continuous ten-year period.³⁰⁸⁵

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Notes:

^[3084] . 43 Misc. 2d 476, 251 N.Y.S.2d 863 (Sup. Ct., Monroe Co. 1964), modified, 27 A.D.2d 979, 278 N.Y.S.2d 788 (4th Dep’t 1967), aff’d, 23 N.Y.2d 883, 298 N.Y.S.2d 86 (1969).

^[3085] . Pegalis...