Where parties hold property as tenants in common, occupancy by one tenant is presumed to be possession by and for the benefit of all other cotenants, unless the possessing tenant commits acts constituting ouster, at which point, the possessing tenant may commence to hold adversely to the cotenants. The ouster can be actual, where a cotenant expressly communicates an intention to exclude or to deny the rights of cotenants, or, it can be implied, where the acts of the possessing cotenant are so openly hostile that the nonpossessing cotenants can be presumed to know that the property is being adversely possessed against them. Title by adverse possession is acquired when possession is hostile and under claim of right, actual, open and notorious, exclusive, and continuous for the statutory period of 10 years after the ouster.
Belli v. Paul Belli, LLC, NY Slip Op 02973 (2d Dep't May 4, 2022)
