1. The Disputed Right Determines What the Owner Must Prove
First determine whether the dispute concerns title, contract performance, possession, or a boundary. Each calls for different evidence and remedies.
Competing Ownership Claims Begin with Recorded Interests
Conflicting deeds or liens may cloud title. RPAPL § 1501 allows qualifying parties to seek a determination of adverse property claims. Compare recorded instruments and competing interests. A quiet title action may resolve competing claims, but not every recording problem requires that lawsuit.
Contract Claims Depend on the Parties' Obligations
A closing that falls through is not necessarily a breach. The purchase agreement, contingencies, and notices identify each party's duties. General Obligations Law § 5-703 generally requires a signed writing for a real property sale contract, subject to exceptions, including the equitable doctrine of part performance. Check required notices before alleging default.
Possession and Boundary Claims Require Separate Proof
Possession concerns occupancy rights; boundaries concern the extent of ownership. Leases matter to the former, deeds and surveys to the latter. Neither a fence nor long-term maintenance, standing alone, establishes ownership by adverse possession.
2. Documents Reveal Which Allegations the Evidence Supports
Preserve deeds, surveys, agreements, photographs, and communications. Arrange documents by date and identify the fact each supports. Missing signatures or attachments may matter.
Deeds and Land Records Help Trace Title
Search prior conveyances, mortgages, liens, and recorded restrictions through the county clerk where the property sits. Comparing legal descriptions may reveal inconsistencies. Tax records can help identify parcels but do not prove title or boundaries.
Surveys and Historical Use Test Boundary Assertions
Compare the deed and survey with dated photographs of improvements. Under RPAPL § 543, minor nonstructural encroachments and mowing or similar maintenance across a boundary are deemed permissive and non-adverse. RPAPL § 501 requires, among other elements, actual, open and notorious, exclusive, continuous, and adverse possession under a claim of right. The related adverse possession of land page addresses that doctrine in depth.
Contracts and Notices Establish the Sequence of Events
Keep contracts, amendments, financing records, closing correspondence, and delivery receipts. Compare contractual deadlines with notices sent and received. The sequence may establish compliance, default, or termination rights.
3. The Available Remedy Depends on the Proven Claim
Relief depends on the proven wrong. Damages compensate qualifying losses, specific performance may compel a closing, declarations establish legal rights, and injunctions restrain conduct.
Damages Depend on Causation and Recoverable Loss
For breach-of-contract damages, connect financial records to losses caused by the alleged breach. Enforceable limitations or liquidated-damages clauses may affect recovery.
Specific Performance Requires Readiness and an Adequate Legal Basis
A buyer seeking to compel a sale generally must show substantial contractual performance, readiness and ability to complete the transaction, the seller's ability to convey, and the absence of an adequate remedy at law. Financing records matter. Before terminating a real estate contract, determine whether the contract authorizes that step or the other party may pursue performance.
Declarations and Injunctions Answer Different Questions
CPLR § 3001 authorizes declarations of rights in a justiciable controversy; RPAPL Article 15 governs certain adverse property claims. Under CPLR § 6301, a preliminary injunction may restrain conduct affecting the eventual judgment. A temporary restraining order requires a showing of immediate and irreparable injury before a hearing. Neither remedy follows automatically from a disputed boundary.
4. Court Location and Filing Rules Depend on the Claim
State law governs ordinary property claims in both counties. Court selection depends on property location, requested relief, and procedure.
Supreme Court and Local Possession Courts Have Distinct Roles
CPLR § 507 generally places suits affecting title, possession, use, or enjoyment in the county containing the property. Substantial title claims and equitable suits commonly proceed in Supreme Court: Nassau's in Mineola and Suffolk's ordinary civil parts in Riverhead. Evictions use separate proceedings: Nassau District Court or eligible City Courts; Suffolk District Courts in Babylon, Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip, and Smithtown, and Town or Village Justice Courts in eastern towns.
Starting a Case Differs from Serving It
Under CPLR § 304, an ordinary civil action begins by filing a summons and complaint or summons with notice. NYSCEF handles covered Supreme Court filings; unrepresented litigants are exempt from mandatory e-filing. Suffolk District Court landlord-tenant filings also use NYSCEF.
Under CPLR § 306-b, service generally must occur within 120 days. For most claims with a limitation period of four months or less, service is due within 15 days after that period expires. Courts may grant extensions. CPLR § 6501 permits notices of pendency in qualifying property actions. For broader procedural information, see real estate litigation.
Filing Deadlines Vary with the Cause of Action
CPLR § 213(2) generally gives six years for contract claims; CPLR § 214(4) generally gives three years for injury-to-property claims. CPLR § 212(a) generally requires possession by the claimant or predecessor within the preceding ten years for an action to recover real property. Accrual rules and exceptions matter; do not apply a contract deadline to a different property claim.
Local Records Matter More Than a Localized Legal Theory
County clerks hold recorded property instruments; municipal offices may hold permits or zoning decisions affecting improvements. A permit does not itself establish title. Federal courts require an independent jurisdictional basis; the property's location within a federal judicial district does not turn an ordinary state-law dispute into a federal case.
Before filing, identify the disputed right, supporting documents, and precise relief sought. Missing evidence may require further investigation.
27 Oct, 2026
