Closings glossary
Adverse possession
A doctrine under which long, open and exclusive use of another owner's land can ripen into legal title. It matters at closing when a survey shows a fence, wall or driveway sitting over the line.
What is adverse possession in New York?
Quick Answer
The full definition
A doctrine under which long, open and exclusive use of another owner's land can ripen into legal title. It matters at closing when a survey shows a fence, wall or driveway sitting over the line.
Which related terms should you know?
These are the terms that come up alongside adverse possession in the same file.
- Survey
- A surveyor's drawing of the parcel, its improvements and any encroachments. Lenders on houses and townhouses generally require a current one or a survey inspection.
- Encumbrance
- Any interest in the property held by someone other than the owner, whether monetary such as a mortgage or lien, or non-monetary such as an easement or a covenant.
- Marketable title
- Title a reasonable buyer would accept, free of defects that would expose that buyer to litigation. Most New York contracts require the seller to convey it at closing.
- Title exception
- A matter the title policy does not insure against, listed on Schedule B. Some exceptions are removed before closing and others are simply accepted by the buyer.
- Chain of title
- The sequence of recorded conveyances of a property, from an earlier known owner to the present one. Gaps and defective links in the chain are what a title search is designed to find.
Where does adverse possession come up in a New York City closing?
A Staten Island survey shows the neighbor's garage two feet onto the lot, and the title company treats the encroachment as an exception until the parties resolve it.
What else should you read before closing?
Questions this raises
- What happens if the title search finds a problem before closing?Schedule B-I requirements are the punch list, not a dead deal. How New York closings clear old liens, missing satisfactions and name hits before th...
- What is curative title work?Curative work clears Schedule B-I before closing: payoffs, missing satisfactions, heirship affidavits, ACRIS indexing fixes and escrow holdbacks in...
The statute itself
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Legal Disclaimer: This page is general information about New York practice. It is not legal advice, it does not account for the terms of any particular contract, building or transaction, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. This is attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.