The Ulster County Supreme Court ruled Erin Moran does not own 28 acres of the western end of Yankeetown Pond, but the determination of $10 million in damages and whether she trespassed may proceed to trial.
On October 3, Judge David Gandin partially granted a summary judgement to the residents surrounding the pond by ruling a 1972 declaration gave them each 1/29th common ownership interest. He further ruled the quitclaim deed Moran obtained from Sawyer Savings Bank “failed to convey any ownership interest in the pond parcel.”
Ten residents sued Moran and later amended their complaint to add 36 property owners and LLCs as co-defendants, alleging Moran tried to exclude them from the pond “by erecting a fence, posting ‘private property’ and ‘no trespassing’ signs, installing cameras and calling the police on plaintiffs and other residents of the Yankeetown Association subdivision.”
When she installed a beaver deceiver, or water leveler last year to control flooding, residents accused Moran of “endangering flora and fauna and interfering with their use thereof.”
They further alleged Moran was trespassing on the pond which they collectively owned.
The declaration dates back to a subdivision established in 1971 and 1972 by Gerald Wapner and Eliezer Ben Dov with 29 lots. They later conveyed the subdivided properties to an entity named Rivka Estates Inc.
It specified “All lot owners…within Yankeetown Associates subdivisions…shall have the full use and enjoyment of the pond area and waterfront acreage…Each lot owner shall with conveyance to him of one or more lots of land within these subdivisions receive an undivided 1/29 interest in the aforesaid pond and waterfront acreage in common with all present and future lot owners.”
The subdivision faced foreclosure in 1978, so the developers deeded the remaining unsold lots to their lender, Sawyer Savings Bank.
Moran, upon researching pond ownership, reached out to Sawyer Savings in 2018 and the bank, not wanting to retain liability, conveyed a quitclaim deed to Moran, who obtained it for $1 and some processing fees. Moran contended the quitclaim deed entitled her to the 28-acre western end of the pond.
“The plain language of the declaration’s paragraph 8 evidences the clear and unambiguous intent of Wapner and Ben Dov to convey each lot owner a 1/29th ownership interest in the pond as tenants in common rather than grant an easement,” Gandin wrote.
Sawyer Savings “held no legal interest in the pond parcel at the time it executed the quitclaim deed in 2018,” he wrote.
“As of the date Sawyer executed the quitclaim deed it had already conveyed any interests it had obtained from Rivka in the pond parcel through its sale of the remaining Yankeetown Associates subdivision lots.”
Gandin denied summary judgment of the plaintiffs’ $10 million damages, trespass claim and permanent injunction against interfering with access and installing equipment, meaning those claims can proceed to trial.
“Defendant Moran has submitted an affidavit asserting her presence on the pond parcel was permissive based on her husband’s ownership of 105 Upper Pond Road, a subdivided lot with a right of use of the lake property.”
Further, Gandin wrote, “Issues of fact further persist with respect to the scope of the alleged intrusion and whether defendant Moran’s presence and actions on the property lacked justification.”
A conference with all parties is scheduled for October 14.
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