A SUBSEQUENT DEED INCLUDING THE EASEMENT WAS A VALID CORRECTION DEED; THE STRANGER TO THE DEED RULE DID NOT APPLY BECAUSE THE DEEDS WITH THE EASEMENT CAME FROM THE SAME GRANTOR; THE EASEMENT WAS THEREFORE VALID AND DEFENDANTS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ENJOINED FROM CLEARING IT (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined a deed was correction deed which included an easement not mentioned in the prior deed. The Second Department also held that the “strange to the deed” rule did not apply because the deeds with the easement came from the same grantor. Therefore the easement was enforceable and defendants should not have been enjoined from clearing trees and other obstructions from the walkway:

… [A]lthough the 1972 deed does not use the phrase “correction deed” or similar phrases, and it does not reference the 1971 deed or the prior conveyance, the 1972 deed is a deed of correction that superseded the 1971 deed … . * * *

We disagree with the Supreme Court’s determination that the easement was void ab initio under the stranger to the deed rule … . … Since the dominant Lots … and the servient … shared a common grantor at the time the reservation was made, the stranger to the deed rule does not apply … . Garson v Tarmy, 2020 NY Slip Op 06104, Second Dept 10-28-20