Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York

Re: Abandonment of property

I am not sure which aspect of this case is the most troubling: that you would sit on a mortgage for 12 years or that you would log in to a free website to find answers to the questions.

1. The statute of limitations for a mortgage and note is six years, which began to run when the "tenant," as you describe him, made his last payment.

2. The running of the statute is suspended ("tolled") if the "tenant" was outside of the State of New York, or if he was secreting himself under a false name.

3. A mortgagor cannot redeem his property from the possession of a mortgagee (this is the mechanism for recovering rents you received) unless he was in possession within ten years before commencing the action.

Assuming that you have left nothing out of your post (and this is one of those cases where even a tiny difference in facts can produce a diametrically opposite result) the "tenant" cannot make you give up the apartment or disgorge the rents you collected. However, your title to the apartment is of dubious marketability. In order to get clean title to the apartment (assuming that all the t's were crossed and i's dotted when this division of title was created) you would need to bring an action to quiet title.

You should retain an attorney to fix this mess before it gets out of control.

This post reflects the opinion of the poster and not that of Duval & Stachenfeld LLP.

This post is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is a comment on the legal question posed by the poster and should not be relied upon unless and until an attorney-client relationship is entered into. Doing so would require signing an engagement letter and depositing a retainer to secure payment of legal fees.