With eastern Long Island’s extraordinary real estate values, land titles that date to the 17th century, and unique title issues affecting waterfront lands, title disputes in our region are often complex and at the forefront of New York’s common law. EHADP’s attorneys have represented landowners and title companies in hundreds of title disputes, often called “quiet title” actions, relating to boundaries, easements, and coastal lands.
Traditional boundary disputes typically involve conflicting claims of ownership to boundary lands. These disputes can be based on indefinite boundary calls or divergent chains of title, which can require review of chains of title tracing back to the 1800s, or earlier. Boundary and ownership disputes can also be based on the rules of “adverse possession” or “practical location.” Both of these doctrines are based on longstanding use of property and acquiescence, but their actual proofs are nuanced and complex.
Easement disputes are also prevalent in Eastern Long Island, where some villages were settled beginning in the 1600s and many areas were developed before there were modern planning and building codes requiring well-planned road systems. As a result, our region is home to thousands of deeded easements, “prescriptive” easements, implied easements, and easements by necessity. Conflicts over these easements and rights of way have led to innumerable disputes and litigation over their location, scope of use, and even their existence.
Because of the extensive coastlines and valuable waterfront properties on Eastern Long Island, there are also unique title disputes that arise from the special rights that are afforded to waterfront property owners — known as “littoral” or “riparian” rights — as well as well as changes in waterfront boundaries resulting from erosion, accretion, and avulsion. Disputes may arise as between adjacent, private waterfront property owners, but they also often arise between private landowners and government over the demarcation of between private and public properties along the beaches and shorelines. These disputes often require consideration of colonial-era title rules, constitutional protection of property rights, or specific common-law rules that have developed over the last few centuries.
EHADP’s involvement in many of these title disputes has given our attorneys an understanding of the unique title rules affecting our region. With our collective experience reviewing thousands of title documents and title questions involving Eastern Long Island properties, we are often asked to provide title analyses to landowners interested in determining their rights — before any litigation is commenced — and to serve as local counsel to other attorneys less familiar with the unique issues affecting title to East End properties. When lawsuits are needed to resolve a title dispute, our attorneys are prepared to bring or defend these often complicated claims. As a result, many of our cases have become precedents in title law, including the areas of boundaries, easements and rights-of-way, adverse possession, riparian and littoral rights, and shoreline ownership disputes with local governments.