Where the parties are tenants in common, the period required by RPAPL 541 is 20 years of continuous and exclusive possession before a cotenant may acquire full title by adverse possession. Even absent an ouster of the co-tenant, the occupying co-tenant must demonstrate open and overt acts which unmistakably repudiate a non-possessory owner's right by one possessing the property. Here, plaintiff's acts of exclusive ownership fulfill that criterion. Plaintiff's claim of right arising from the administrator's deed, which was recorded in the New York City Register's Office on or about November 19, 1992, vested 20 years later, in 2012. Under that claim of right, plaintiff constructed an open and notorious wood deck and other observable improvements on the property, encumbered the property with a construction loan which he later satisfied, and leased portions of the mixed-use building to third parties solely in plaintiff's name. There was no acknowledgement, by plaintiff or anyone else, of any other interest in the property. This satisfies the hostility element, as there is a rebuttable presumption of hostility when possession is accompanied by the usual acts of ownership.
Golobe v. Altchek, NY Slip Op 00031 (1st Dep't January 5, 2023)
