In Massachusetts, a homeowner may have valid legal defenses against the lender in mortgage foreclosure proceedings. In a December 27, 2018 Massachusetts foreclosure case, the issue was whether the foreclosure on the defendants’ home mortgage was void due to the bank’s failure to strictly comply with the provisions in the…
Understanding your rights in real property may be crucial when making legal decisions concerning that property, as illustrated in an August 15, 2018 Massachusetts real estate case. The dispute centered around property that had been the plaintiff’s home since 1987. The plaintiff had initially owned the property, but he lost…
If someone files a frivolous real estate action against you, you may be able to recover your attorneys’ fees from defending against the claim. A December 18, 2017 case before the Massachusetts Land Court demonstrates this situation. In the case, a town sold a parcel of land to the defendants.…
Some residential real estate deeds include provisions that limit or dictate what can be done with the property, often known as restrictive covenants. In a recent case (Mass. Land Ct. Jan. 25, 2017), the Massachusetts Land Court considered whether an option to repurchase land, styled as a restrictive covenant, could be…
Beachfront property can involve interesting legal issues as a result of changing shorelines. Accretion occurs when the line between water and land is changed by the gradual deposit of alluvial soil upon the margin of the water. In a recent real estate case, Brown v. Kalicki (Mass. App. Ct. Oct. 20,…
The Appeals Court of Massachusetts released a recent opinion in a real estate case, Goddard v. Goucher (Mass. App. Ct. Feb. 2, 2016), addressing whether a purchase and sale agreement was valid and enforceable. The plaintiff filed the action seeking enforcement of a 2007 purchase and sale agreement. However, despite…
In Touher v. Town of Essex, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals was presented with a somewhat unusual situation involving long-term land leases between the town of Essex and residents who built homes on the leased property. Four sets of plaintiffs filed a complaint with the lower court, seeking a declaration…
The Attorney General released a statement late last month in response to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding disparate impact claims made under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). The ruling was in alignment with the Attorney General’s argument that both businesses and individuals involved in real estate transactions, including the renting…
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reached an interesting decision in a real estate contract case, KGM Custom Homes, Inc. v. Prosky, 468 Mass. 247 (2014). The case involved a deal for the defendants to sell approximately 45.7 acres of land to the plaintiff, K.G.M. Custom Homes, Inc. (K.G.M.), with the purpose…
Real estate law is complex and often implicates many other areas of the law, including tax law, estate law, and family law. What this means is that throughout the various stages of your life, you may end up needing a Massachusetts real estate lawyer to represent your interests. One of…