The basic elements a party must demonstrate to successfully claim adverse possession are essentially the same throughout these states. One must show by clear and convincing evidence that he or she has actually and exclusively possessed the land in an open, notorious, continuous, and hostile/adverse manner under claim of right for the statutory period. Where Full Article…
Analyzing Easement Laws and Cases in the States East of the Mississippi River
January/February 2017 Vol. 31 No. 1 By Adam Leitman Bailey and Israel Katz This article analyzes the laws of easements in the 26 states that lie east of the Mississippi River, including the various methods for their creation, their nature, and scope. In researching and writing this article, the authors limited their research to appellate Full Article…
The Most Significant Title and Foreclosure Cases of 2015
October 14, 2015 By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman Since one author, Adam Leitman Bailey, started practicing law 20 years ago, when a terrible court decision without any basis in law would arrive, we would be thankful that the Court of Appeals was in session and had the final word. Those days are gone Full Article…
Discharge of Ancient Mortgages in New York
Title Insurance companies are under attack by governmental officials. Few other real estate businesses suffer the unjustified, frequent assaults by government officials like the title insurance profession. The difficulty in understanding their function and underestimating their necessity for the safe transfer of real estate requires real estate practitioner’s to raise their pens to protect our Full Article…
Setting the Law Straight on Terminating Easements
At the present time, finding real estate property to buy has been compared to finding the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot. Buyers of land have become more creative and aggressive than ever before in trying to develop property for an anxious public. This search has resulted in a demand to discover options to remove restrictions Full Article…
Application of the Adverse Possession Amendments
By Adam Leitman Bailey and John M. Desiderio June 10, 2015 In 2008, the New York Legislature enacted sweeping changes to Article 5 of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL) that governs the circumstances under which title to real property may be acquired by adverse possession. The legislation was intended to overturn the Full Article…
A Practitioner’s Guide to Litigating Party Walls
New York Law Journal By: Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman April 8th, 2015 One developer-client once told us, “horse racing is not the sport of kings—litigation is.” During the greatest high end real estate market in the history of our country, the ultra wealthy or the corporate kings have battled in our courts for Full Article…
A Lender’s Duty To Investigate Its Borrower
By: Adam Leitman Bailey & John M. Desiderio Adam Leitman Bailey is the founding partner of Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C., in New York, New York. John M. Desiderio is a partner in the New York, New York, office of Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. ……………….. Until recently, a mortgage lender preparing to give a loan needed Full Article…