The Supreme Judicial Court to the Massachusetts Senate: can you please rephrase? That’s the gist of the Opinion of the Justices to the Senate, SJC-12092, issued May 26, 2016. The Senate had asked the Court to answer the following question: “Does House No. 753...
Andover Real Estate And Business Law Blog
A New, Albeit Unsuccessful, Case Challenging Attorneys’ Authority to Foreclose on behalf of the Mortgagee
In a new decision, the Supreme Judicial Court has analyzed another provision of the mortgage foreclosure by power of sale statute, G.L. c. 244, § 14, in a challenge by a former homeowner to such a foreclosure sale. Specifically, the Court considered the difference...
Another Bankruptcy Notary Case, But This Time The Bank Prevails
In a recent decision which we hope indicates that the Bankruptcy Court is less open to the bankruptcy trustees’ ever-creative arguments for avoiding mortgages, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts, Eastern Division, recently turned down...
Yes, in MA: Homestead Exemption Successfully Claimed by Holder of the Beneficial Interest in a Resulting Trust
In what appears to be an issue of first impression, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District Of Massachusetts, Western Division, has determined that the beneficiary of a court-imposed resulting trust may claim the homestead exemption in bankruptcy. The...
One Lot, Two Lot, Merged Lot, Undevelopable Lot
It used to be two lots, but now it’s one: in a recent the decision, Cain v. Bd. of Appeals of Wilmington, No. 15-P-575 (Mass. App. Ct. Mar. 25, 2016) (1:28 Decision), the Appeals Court has reiterated that, although a local zoning bylaw may provide greater protection...
Sometimes a Municipal Board is “Arbitrary and Capricious”
The Land Court has overturned the denial of a special permit to a commercial nursery in Falmouth in GSTVS, LLC v. Falmouth Planning Bd., 14 MISC 486885 (Mass. Land Ct. Mar. 21, 2016), finding that that Board erred in its factual findings – a somewhat unusual...
To Surrender or To Vest: That is the Question
Can a homeowner who owes more on their mortgage than their property is worth force the mortgagee to take title to the property as part of a bankruptcy plan? Put more simply: can an underwater homeowner, by filing bankruptcy, force a bank to take their property off...
SJC Oral Arguments in Skawski: Housing Court or Land Court Permit Session?
Today the Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments in the matter of Skawski v. Greenfield Investors Property Development, LLC, SJC-11926, which concerns the jurisdiction of the Housing Court and Land Court permit session over certain large-scale developments. The...
Third Time’s (Not) the Charm
The Appeals Court, in a recent decision, Zullo v. HMC Assets, LLC, No. 14-P-1696 (Dec. 30, 2015) (issued pursuant to its Rule 1:28), upholding a summary judgment decision by the Land Court, both reiterated the fundamentals of foreclosure law, and raised (but did not...
Kline House in Truro is One Step Closer to Demolition
The seemingly never-ending litigation involving what is still known as the Kline house in Truro moved one step closer to final resolution when the Appeals Court recently issued a decision upholding a Land Court decision concerning revocation of building permits and...