In Christakis v. Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union (SJC 11758) (May 6, 2015), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court addressed the issue of whether judicial liens on real property remain valid after the owner of the property receives a discharge under Chapter 7 of the...
Andover Real Estate And Business Law Blog
Does Your Mortgage Lack a Maturity Date? Trying to Foreclose? Not So Fast, says SJC
Suppose you hold a mortgage on a property. There is no term or maturity date in the mortgage; however, the mortgage references the date in the corresponding note on which the underlying debt is due. How long do you, the mortgagee, have to foreclose on the property...
Try Title Action Not Available to Challenge Foreclosure
Today the SJC issued its decision in an important case to those following the fallout of the mortgage foreclosure crisis. The Court in Abate v. Fremont Investment & Loan, et al., SJC-11638, effectively eliminated one of the methods homeowners have used to...
The Land and Superior Courts’ Exclusive Original Jurisdiction over Permit Session Cases
Today the Appeals Court in Skawski et al. v. Greenfield Investors Property Development, LLC, Docket No. 13-P-1947, confirmed that the Land Court and the Superior Court have exclusive original jurisdiction over Zoning Act (G.L. c. 40A, § 17) appeals that arise from...
SCOTUS: Truth in Lending Act Only Requires Written Notice of Intent to Rescind Within 3-Year Period
In a unanimous, short, decision by Justice Scalia, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Jesinoski et ux. v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., et al. that a borrower exercising his right to rescind a mortgage under the Truth in Lending Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1635(a),...
US District Court of MA Permits Consumer Protection Complaint against Bank of America to Proceed
The US District Court for the District of Massachusetts has permitted a mortgage-related complaint against certain financial entity defendants to proceed on grounds of negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract, and violation of G.L. c. 93A (the MA consumer...
Springfield’s Attempt to Regulate Foreclosure-Related Urban Blight Invalidated
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,...
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...