N.Y. RPA Law § 612 — New York Code / Act RPA / Article 6 / Section 612
Where action cannot be maintained; action based on reverter or breach of condition subsequent
Status: in_force

§ 612. Where action cannot be maintained; action based on reverter or\nbreach of condition subsequent. 1. Except as otherwise provided in this\nsection, an action to recover the possession of real property cannot be\nmaintained where it is founded upon a claim of reverter of an estate in\nfee conveyed upon special limitation or founded upon a claim of breach\nof a condition subsequent, other than a condition of a lease for a term\nof years, unless (a) within ten years after the occurrence of the\nreverter or the first occurrence of the breach, the plaintiff, or any\npredecessor in interest then entitled to possession or to exercise the\npower of termination, shall have served upon the person or persons\nagainst whom the action might then have been commenced a written demand\nthat possession be delivered, stating the ground thereof, and the action\nis commenced within one year thereafter or (b), if no such demand is\nserved, the action is commenced within such ten years.\n  2. Where the reverter or breach occurred before September 1, 1963, an\naction may be maintained if demand is made as provided in this section\nbefore the expiration of ten years computed from the occurrence of the\nreverter or the first occurrence of the breach, or on or before\nSeptember 1, 1965, whichever is later, and the action is commenced\nwithin one year thereafter or if, without previous demand as provided in\nthis section, the action is commenced before the expiration of ten years\ncomputed from the occurrence of the reverter or the first occurrence of\nthe breach, or on or before September 1, 1965, whichever is later.\n  3. The demand shall be served either personally or by mailing the same\nby certified mail addressed to the person or persons against whom the\naction might then have been commenced, at his or their last known\naddress or addresses.\n  4. The demand may be made on behalf of an infant by his parent or\nguardian or by the person with whom he resides, may be made on behalf of\nan incompetent by the committee of his person or property, and may be\nmade on behalf of a conservatee by the conservator of his property. If\nthe person entitled to maintain the action shall have died, the demand\nmay be made either by the persons succeeding to the right of the\ndecedent, or one of them, or on their behalf by the personal\nrepresentative of the decedent.\n  5. The demand shall become ineffective unless action to recover\npossession in accordance therewith is commenced within one year from the\ndate of service thereof. If no action is commenced, or no such demand is\nserved within the time specified in subdivisions 1 or 2, or if the\ndemand served becomes ineffective, it shall be conclusively presumed\nthat the possibility of reverter by reason of which the estate is\nclaimed to have reverted, or the power of termination for breach of the\ncondition which is claimed to have been broken, was extinguished at or\nbefore the date when the reverter would have occurred or a right of\nentry would have accrued by reason of such possibility of reverter or\nbreach of such condition.\n  6. The operation of this section is not affected by any disability, or\nby the fact that the person against whom the action might have been\nbrought within the period herein provided was during that time a\nnon-resident or absent from the state, and is not affected by any lack\nof knowledge on the part of any person that the reverter or breach has\noccurred, unless it is established that the facts upon which the\nreverter occurred, or the facts constituting the breach, were concealed\nfrom the plaintiff or his predecessor in interest by actual fraud. If\nsuch fraud be established, the time provided in subdivision 1 or 2 shall\ncommence to run when the facts are discovered by a person entitled to\nserve the demand as provided in this section.\n  7. This section does not limit any other statute or rule of law or\nequity by which a possibility of reverter or right of entry is or may be\nextinguished or rendered unenforceable, or by which an action to recover\npossession of the property may be extinguished or barred.\n