The Third Department affirmed Supreme Court’s determination that defendants had an easement over plaintiff’s land and, because the description of the easement erroneously placed it on another’s land, the easement was properly relocated by plaintiff:
“[I]n the absence of a claim for reformation, courts may as a matter of interpretation” transpose, reject or supply words in a contract or conveyance in order to effectuate the intent of the agreement if “some absurdity has been identified or the contract would otherwise be unenforceable either in whole or in part” … . Supreme Court did so here because the use of the metes and bounds description in the 1988 conveyance would have led to the absurd result of a right-of-way being granted over property that the grantor did not own, and preserved the stated intent of creating a right-of-way “for the purpose of ingress and egress” by jettisoning the defective description … . …
Defendants accordingly have a right-of-way over plaintiff’s property but, inasmuch as it lacks a specific metes and bounds description or other expression to the contrary, plaintiff is free to unilaterally relocate it “so long as the change does not frustrate the parties’ intent or object in creating the right of way, does not increase the burden on the easement holder, and does not significantly lessen the utility of the right of way”… . Anzalone v Costantino, 2016 NY Slip Op 08277, 3rd Dept 12-8-16
REAL PROPERTY (DEFENDANTS’ ERRONEOUSLY DESCRIBED EASEMENT PROPERLY RELOCATED BY PLAINTIFF)/EASEMENTS (DEFENDANTS’ ERRONEOUSLY DESCRIBED EASEMENT PROPERLY RELOCATED BY PLAINTIFF)