Adverse Possession in New York: Ten Years and the Boundary Line Rule
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · New York · Last updated October 5, 2026
New York answers the adverse possession question in two steps, and the second step is the one that surprises people. Adverse possession is the rule that lets a person who openly occupies land belonging to someone else become its legal owner once the statutory period runs and every statutory element is satisfied. New York sets that period at ten years. An action to recover real property cannot be commenced unless the plaintiff or a predecessor in interest was seized or possessed of the premises within ten years before the action begins (N.Y. C.P.L.R. 212(a)), and an adverse possessor gains title when that limitation expires, provided the occupancy has been adverse, under claim of right, open and notorious, continuous, exclusive, and actual (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 501(2)). Then comes the second step. New York takes much of the evidence a boundary claim would normally rest on and declares it non-adverse by statute. De minimus non-structural encroachments including fences, hedges, shrubbery, plantings, sheds and non-structural walls are deemed permissive and non-adverse, and so are the acts of lawn mowing or similar maintenance across the boundary line of an adjoining landowner's property (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 543). Without a written instrument, land is possessed in two cases and no others, acts sufficiently open to put a reasonably diligent owner on notice, or protection by a substantial enclosure, subject to that same carve out (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 522). Property tax payment appears nowhere in the article. Ten years becomes a judgment through an action under RPAPL article 15. Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in New York
Which side of the boundary question are you on?
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How long does adverse possession take in New York?
Ten years. An action to recover real property or its possession cannot be commenced unless the plaintiff, or a predecessor in interest, was seized or possessed of the premises within ten years before the action begins (N.Y. C.P.L.R. 212(a)), and title passes when that limitation expires (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 501(2)).
Do you have to pay the property taxes to claim adverse possession in New York?
No. New York's adverse possession article, N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law sections 501 through 551, contains no tax provision of any kind. Tax payment is neither an element of a New York claim nor a route to a shorter period. The ten year limitation in N.Y. C.P.L.R. 212(a) sets no tax condition.
Does a fence, a hedge or mowing count as possession in New York?
New York legislates the answer. De minimus non-structural encroachments including fences, hedges, shrubbery, plantings, sheds and non-structural walls are deemed to be permissive and non-adverse, and the acts of lawn mowing or similar maintenance across a boundary line are deemed permissive and non-adverse (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 543).
Can land owned by a city or the state be taken by adverse possession in New York?
The New York Department of State, summarising the state's case law, states that land held in a public or governmental capacity may not be lost by adverse possession. The rule comes from New York court decisions rather than from any section of the adverse possession article itself.
New York adverse possession at a glance
Adverse possession lets a person who openly occupies land belonging to another become its owner once the full statutory period has run with every element satisfied. New York fixes that period at ten years (N.Y. C.P.L.R. 212(a)) and writes the elements into the statute itself: adverse, under claim of right, open and notorious, continuous, exclusive, and actual (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 501(2)). Claim of right means a reasonable basis for the belief that the property belongs to the adverse possessor (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 501(3)). What makes New York unusual is the subtraction that follows. Fences, hedges, shrubbery, plantings, sheds, non-structural walls and cross-boundary lawn mowing are all deemed permissive and non-adverse (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 543). No property tax payment is required anywhere in the article.
A Suffolk County hedgerow that section 543 turns into nothing
Consider a privet hedge on the North Fork planted in 2012 about six feet onto the adjoining lot, with the grass between hedge and house mowed every summer since. Counted purely in years, the ten year limitation in N.Y. C.P.L.R. 212(a) looks long satisfied. New York then speaks to exactly these facts. Hedges, shrubbery and plantings are named in the list of de minimus non-structural encroachments deemed permissive and non-adverse, and the acts of lawn mowing or similar maintenance across the boundary line of an adjoining landowner's property are deemed permissive and non-adverse too (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 543). Whether this particular hedge is non-structural and de minimus, and what remains of the claim if it is, are questions for a New York court on the evidence.
Relevant Laws
N.Y. C.P.L.R. 212(a) (ten year period)
Provides that an action to recover real property or its possession cannot be commenced unless the plaintiff, or a predecessor in interest, was seized or possessed of the premises within ten years before the commencement of the action. This is the limitation New York's adverse possession article imports.
N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 501 (definitions and the elements)
Defines an adverse possessor as one who occupies real property of another, with or without knowledge of the other's superior ownership rights, in a manner that would give the owner a cause of action for ejectment. Subdivision 2 lists the elements as adverse, under claim of right, open and notorious, continuous, exclusive, and actual. Subdivision 3 defines claim of right as a reasonable basis for the belief that the property belongs to the adverse possessor.
N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 543 (acts across a boundary line)
Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of the article, the existence of de minimus non-structural encroachments including fences, hedges, shrubbery, plantings, sheds and non-structural walls shall be deemed permissive and non-adverse, and that the acts of lawn mowing or similar maintenance across the boundary line of an adjoining landowner's property shall be deemed permissive and non-adverse.
N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 522 (qualifying possession without an instrument)
Provides that for an adverse possession not founded on a written instrument, judgment or decree, land is deemed possessed and occupied in either of two cases and no others: where there have been acts sufficiently open to put a reasonably diligent owner on notice, or where it has been protected by a substantial enclosure, except as provided in subdivision one of section 543.
N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 521 (extent of land held adversely)
Provides that where there has been an actual continued occupation of premises under a claim of right, exclusive of any other right, but not founded on a written instrument or a judgment or decree, the premises so actually occupied, and no others, are deemed to have been held adversely.
N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 511 (possession under a written instrument)
Provides that where the occupant entered under claim of right founding the claim on a written instrument, decree or judgment and there has been continued occupation and possession for ten years, the premises so included are deemed held adversely, except that in a tract divided into lots the possession of one lot is not possession of any other lot. Amended by chapter 269 of the laws of 2008.
N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 512 (qualifying possession under an instrument)
Lists the cases in which land is deemed possessed and occupied for a claim founded on a written instrument, judgment or decree, including acts sufficiently open to put a reasonably diligent owner on notice, protection by a substantial enclosure subject to section 543(1), and use for the supply of fuel or fencing timber, plus a rule for a partly improved known farm or single lot.
N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 541 (tenants in common)
Provides that where the relation of tenants in common has existed, the occupancy of one tenant is deemed to have been the possession of the other, and that this presumption ceases only after ten years of continuous exclusive occupancy or immediately upon an ouster of one tenant by the other.
N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 1501 and 1515 (action to determine title)
Section 1501(1) allows a person claiming an estate or interest in real property to maintain an action against any other person, known or unknown, to compel the determination of any claim adverse to the plaintiff's. Section 1515(1)(a) requires the complaint to state the plaintiff's estate or interest, its particular nature, and the source from or means by which it immediately accrued.
N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 1531 (effect of the judgment)
Provides that a final judgment in favor of either party in an action brought under article 15 is conclusive as to the title established in the action against the other party, known or unknown, and against every person claiming from, through or under that party by title accruing after the filing of the judgment roll or of the notice of pendency.
N.Y. C.P.L.R. 507 and 6501 (venue and notice of pendency)
C.P.L.R. 507 places the trial of an action whose judgment would affect title to, or the possession, use or enjoyment of, real property in the county in which any part of the subject of the action is situated. C.P.L.R. 6501(a) allows a notice of pendency in such an action and makes the pendency constructive notice from the time of filing.
New York Department of State: adverse possession of state land
New York Department of State guidance stating that land held in a public or governmental capacity may not be lost by adverse possession, citing New York appellate decisions including City of New York v. Sarnelli Bros., Starner Tree Service Co. v. City of New Rochelle, and Walsh's Inc. v. County of Oswego.
Regional Variances
New York adverse possession rules at a glance
Statutory period
Ten years. An action to recover real property cannot be commenced unless the plaintiff or a predecessor was seized or possessed within ten years before the action (N.Y. C.P.L.R. 212(a)), and an adverse possessor gains title when that limitation expires (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 501(2)).
Property taxes
Not an element and not a shortcut. The whole of New York's adverse possession article, N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 501 through 551, contains no tax provision, and the ten year limitation in C.P.L.R. 212(a) imposes no tax condition.
Elements
Set out in the statute rather than left to case law: adverse, under claim of right, open and notorious, continuous, exclusive, and actual (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 501(2)). Claim of right means a reasonable basis for the belief that the property belongs to the adverse possessor (section 501(3)).
Acts across a boundary line
De minimus non-structural encroachments including fences, hedges, shrubbery, plantings, sheds and non-structural walls are deemed permissive and non-adverse, as are the acts of lawn mowing or similar maintenance across a boundary line (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 543).
Qualifying possession
Without a written instrument, two cases and no others, acts sufficiently open to put a reasonably diligent owner on notice, or protection by a substantial enclosure except as provided in section 543(1) (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 522).
Color of title
Does not shorten the period. A claim founded on a written instrument, decree or judgment still runs ten years (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 511), but three cases of qualifying use are recognised and the premises included in the instrument are reached (section 512).
Acreage cap
None. No acreage figure appears in any of the nine sections of N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law article 5. The statutory limit is one of extent: without an instrument, only the premises actually occupied, and no others (section 521).
Government owned land
The New York Department of State states that land held in a public or governmental capacity may not be lost by adverse possession, citing New York appellate decisions. The rule sits in case law rather than in the adverse possession article.
Perfecting title
An action under RPAPL article 15 to compel determination of an adverse claim (N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law 1501(1)), pleading the source from or means by which the interest accrued (section 1515(1)(a)), filed in the county where the property sits (N.Y. C.P.L.R. 507), with a notice of pendency available under C.P.L.R. 6501(a).
Frequently Asked Questions
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