UPDATE: Church group wants 88-year-old woman evicted

[UPDATED Sept. 13th: 88-year-old woman fights church group eviction notice]

SAND LAKE -- Eighty-eight-year-old Mary Snyder has called 74 Methodist Farm Road home for 62 years.

It is a beautiful home on a gorgeous piece of property that sits on Crooked Lake in the town of Sand Lake.

"[I've] been home all that time, raised my children here," says Mary. "All kinds of memories, good memories."

She owns the house but the land it's on is actually owned by Methodist Sunday School Association of Troy & Vicinity, Inc., and according to Mary, they've never had any problems with her there. 

That is, until the Methodist church group sent her an eviction letter in the mail. A portion of the letter read, "You will have 30 days... to remove your structure and personal property."

Mary said, "I'm very sad. I've lived here for so long."

"I was devastated. For her to leave this house will probably kill her. It's all she's ever known," says Glenn Snyder, Mary's son.

In the letter, the Methodist Farm Church group says changes were made to the property that were unauthorized specifically on a path that leads down to the lake.

The specific changes mention trees that were cut down, lights being strung, tabletops being attached to trees and the construction of fire pits.

"This path has been maintained by my father since he moved here in 1948," says Glenn Snyder.

"He's maintained that path to the lake over the years and my son and I have kept it up," says Glenn. "My mother didn't do any of that. I did it. No one ever complained since 1978 when I built the house next door. They met with us to discuss the problems and I just asked that they submit a letter in writing and this is the letter they sent, an eviction notice."

CBS 6 reached out to the Methodist Sunday School Association of Troy and Vicinity, Inc., and was referred to their attorney Mark Fluery.

"The last thing Methodist Farm wants to do, and the board of trustees [wants to do], is evict Mary Snyder, who by all accounts is a lovely elderly woman who for years and years has occupied that property and has never been a problem," says Fluery.

So why was the eviction letter sent to Mary in the first place?

"The letter was sent in response to the actions of her [son and] grandsons," Fluery responds.

Fluery says Mary Snyder's son and grandson became belligerent when confronted about the changes to the property.

Why not go after them with another type of lawsuit and leave Mary out of this?, we asked. Couldn't Mary have been left out of this if the problems lie with her son and grandson?

"That was the position they put the association in," Fluery says. "Frankly, cutting down the trees is of a criminal nature and that option is being explored as well."

"New York State law states that if you occupy someone elses property for 10 years or more, you have the right of adverse possession," says Glenn Snyder. "They can never refuse to let you use the land."

"I don't want to leave," says Mary.

When the Methodist Farm attorney was asked if there would be any circumstance that would force the Methodist Church group to act on their eviction threat, Fluery responds, "Only if she, upon learning what the real situation is and why this has occurred, takes the attitude that of her [son and] grandchildren.

"Then we would have no recourse but to go ahead and evict her," Fluery says.

Mary and her son Glenn will begin fighting the eviction in court on Monday September 13th.