The Supreme Judicial Court has ruled on two questions certified to it in regard to ordinances passed by the city of Springfield in response to the wave of foreclosures triggered by the recent financial crisis and housing bubble. Springfield passed the two ordinances,...
Month: December 2014
Commonwealth Ownership Doesn’t Interrupt Adverse Possession Clock
Does the Commonwealth’s ownership of land prevent the requisite 20-year period for an adverse possession claim from commencing? Today, in 1148 Davol Street LLC v. Mechanic’s Mill One LLC, the Appeals Court held that G.L. c. 260, § 31 does not prevent the clock from...
Good Fences Don’t Necessarily Make Good Neighbors
At least not in the case of Ruth Dwyer and Patrick Perry of Thetford, Vermont. According to Valley News, when Perry purchased the approximately two-acre hayfield across from Dwyer’s farm in 2013, his family did what most property owners do – they built a...
Appeals Court Further Clarifies Requirements for Foreclosure Notices
Recently, the Appeals Court issued its decision in Haskins v. Deutsche Bank Trust Company. The case raised the question of whether a notice of a mortgagor’s right to cure sent pursuant to G.L. C. 244, s. 35A is deficient if it is sent by the mortgage servicer, rather...