Massachusetts’ land records are an essential tool for any real estate matter, whether it be a real estate dispute or transaction (such as buying or selling a home). Here, I’ll discuss five things to know about Massachusetts’ land records. Free, more »
Appealing a zoning board decision is an option available for anyone who has received an unfavorable zoning decision, or who is harmed by someone else’s zoning matter. This blog post does not cover zoning matters in the City of Boston. more »
Land Court issued an interesting decision last week on how to prove adverse possession and whether landscaping activities, alone, are enough to do so. This decision, as of now, is not available online. What is Adverse Possession? Use it, or more »
A recent story from Maine discusses the importance of how to settle property disputes and, most importantly, what to avoid. In this article, a dispute over property among neighbors got so bad that one of the neighbors cut the other’s more »
Obtaining a mortgage discharge is a critical part of selling property or refinancing a loan. This simple (but extremely important document) shows that a mortgage was fully paid. The vast majority of the time, mortgage discharges are properly recorded in more »
Fighting a zoning decision generally occurs through the filing of a G.L. c. 40A, § 17 appeal in Land Court or Superior Court. Such, an appeal, however, many only be filed by a “person aggrieved.” On this important topic, the more »
Dividing property through partition is the legal process by which an owner of real property can force the sale of property owned with a co-owner. In Massachusetts, a partition case may be filed in Land Court or Probate and Family more »
The Appeals Court issued a decision last week concerning the deadline for enforcing a mortgage in Massachusetts, under the obsolete mortgage statute. The full decision, Thornton v. Thornton, is included below. Thornton isn’t the first appellate decision to look at more »
The Massachusetts Property Law Blog is proud to have Attorney Joseph N. Schneiderman guest blog on a recently Appeals Court decision on the pitfalls of zoning litigation. Attorney Schneiderman is an appellate attorney licensed in Massachusetts and Connecticut and may be contacted at connlawjoe@gmail.com. On April more »
Most people with a basic understanding of real estate and property law are familiar with the concept that contracts for real estate need to be in writing. The statute of frauds bars the enforcement of agreements for “the sale of more »
