On December 5, 2025, New York enacted a significant amendment to Section 881 of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL), which permits a project owner to seek a court-ordered license to access an adjoining property in connection with a construction project. A copy of the amended statute (showing the changes from the pre-amendment statute), which is effective immediately, can be viewed at the link below.
The amendment to the statute is significant. Just by way of example, while the pre-amendment statute gave a project owner the right to seek a court-ordered license to access an adjoining property “in an appropriate case” (without specifically identifying the types of access which could be included in such a license), the amended statute now specifies purposes for which a project owner may seek permission to enter an adjoining property. Among many other significant provisions, the amended statute now explicitly provides that, where required by code, regulation or local law, a project owner may seek a court-ordered license to access an adjoining property to install certain permanent encroachments, including, for example, underpinning and party wall tie-backs. The amended statute also specifically requires the project owner to provide certain documentation to the owner of an adjoining property and details new timing requirements for an application for a court-ordered license.
The New York legislature considered various versions of the amendment in the lead up to its enactment and we are still in the process of digesting the details of the amended provisions as enacted. Also, the effect of certain provisions of the amended statute will not be fully known until the courts have had an opportunity to interpret them in future decisions. Moreover, the amended statute is likely to be challenged on constitutional grounds as it relates to access for permanent encroachments. Please stay tuned for subsequent alerts after we have completed our review of the amended statute and following future court decisions involving the amended statute.
If you have questions about the RPAPL amendments, please contact one of our partners: Matthew S. Quinn, at (212) 447-5510 or mquinn@QMlegal.com, Christopher P. McCabe, at (212) 447-5520 or cmccabe@QMlegal.com, Simon Block, at (212) 447-5530 or sblock@QMlegal.com, Jonathan Krukas, at (212) 447-5560 or jkrukas@QMlegal.com, or Eric Thorsen, at (212) 447-5570 or ethorsen@QMlegal.com.
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