Pakula v. Podell

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department, reversed an order granting the plaintiff summary judgment in an action involving disputed real property, quiet title, ejectment, and adverse possession counterclaims. Applying the pre-2008 adverse possession law because title allegedly vested by 1999, the court held that the plaintiff failed to establish prima facie that the defendants' possession was not under a claim of right or was nonexclusive.

Holdings

1. Because the Podell defendants' title allegedly vested no later than 1999, the adverse-possession law in effect before the 2008 amendments applied to their claim.
2. To establish adverse possession under the applicable pre-2008 law, the claimant had to prove possession that was hostile and under a claim of right, actual, open and notorious, exclusive, and continuous for the required period.
3. The plaintiff was not entitled to summary judgment on her quiet-title and ejectment claims or to dismissal of the Podell defendants' counterclaims because she failed to establish prima facie that their possession was not under a claim of right or was nonexclusive.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the adverse-possession law in effect before the 2008 statutory amendments governed the Podell defendants' claim.
2. Whether the plaintiff established prima facie entitlement to summary judgment on her quiet-title and ejectment claims and dismissal of the Podell defendants' adverse-possession counterclaims.
3. Whether the Appellate Division should search the record and award the Podell defendants summary judgment on their adverse-possession counterclaim.

Disposition

reversed