By MICHAEL VIRTANEN
Associated Press

ALBANY - New Yorkers will no longer be able to simply mow a neighbor's lawn for 10 years to claim the property as their own.

A law signed Tuesday by Gov. David Paterson says "adverse possession" of another's land also will not happen simply because a fence, hedge, shrub, shed or other minimal, nonstructural item is placed across the deeded property line.

Under New York law, an owner has 10 years to claim land back from encroachment. The old law said the land had to be "usually cultivated or improved," which could mean regular maintenance like mowing or a fence. The revision requires encroachment "sufficiently open to put a reasonably diligent owner on notice" or a "substantial enclosure."

"I think this law was just outdated, and it needed to be updated," said Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward, who sponsored the bill. The Republican from the eastern Adirondacks said that as a former dairy farmer, she appreciated that the old law was meant to establish a way for people "to claim land they in fact put their heart and soul into."

While acknowledging the statutory language leaves the courts some "wiggle room," Sayward said one intent is to prevent people from claiming land when they know someone else holds the legal deed. The kind of substantial structure that could lead to adverse possession now could be a garage or a house addition that went unchallenged for more than 10 years, she said.

The revised law does require having "a claim of right" or "reasonable basis for the belief" that the property belongs to you even to take adverse possession, except in cases where ownership cannot be determined.

Dating back to English common law, adverse possession allows a person to get title to land from the actual owner by using the land. If someone doesn't dispute a neighbor's use of the property, the actual owner has abandoned rights to the property.

Denise Przybylo, who lost one-eighth of an acre to a neighbor in the Warren County town of Queensbury, pursued that case to the Court of Appeals, New York's highest court, where she lost. She believes she would have won under the new law, which takes effect immediately.

"In my case, he just mowed it," Przybylo said. "(Now) it has to truly be cultivated or a structure. It has to be something that alerts the true homeowner to knowing there's a problem there."

State Sen. Betty Little, another Adirondack Republican and sponsor, said legislation last year that would have simply precluded adverse possession by anyone who knew their neighbor was the true owner was vetoed by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer. This year they worked with bar associations, title companies, the Assembly and the governor's office to refine the measure.

"We worked with them until we had something that I think allows for legitimate adverse possession cases but doesn't allow someone to just take someone else's land," Little said.

"We heard from many many people throughout the state that have had adverse possession cases," he said. "Usually the loser is the one that calls."

Paterson signed more than 130 bills into law Tuesday, among them:

• Authorizing a revenue-sharing structure for a proposed $1 billion gaming resort with video lottery terminals at the site of the old Concord Hotel in the Catskills.

• Doubling the maximum civil penalties for price gouging from $10,000 to $25,000.

• Prohibiting smoking at college and university residence halls, including at private schools.

• Enhancing criminal penalties for identity theft when the perpetrator knows that the victim is serving in the armed forces overseas.

• Outlaws plastic knuckles as a dangerous weapon.