The Massachusetts Court of Appeals recently ruled on a property dispute between neighboring landowners regarding their use and enjoyment of an easement. In Burke v. Spalenza, No. 14-P-594, (Mass. App. Ct. Sept. 2, 2015), the dispute arose when the defendants began parking their large utility vehicle in a manner that prevented…
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 Massachusetts Land Court released a recent decision in the case of Holmes v. Guinen, addressing the issues of whether the plaintiffs have standing to challenge the zoning variance granted to their defendant-neighbor to construct a new house only five feet from their property line, and whether the variance was…
The case of Krock v. Nelson, No. 395229 (July 13, 2015), came to the Massachusetts Land Court following a lengthy procedural history beginning in 2009. The court ultimately affirmed the decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Mashpee, which denied the plaintiffs’ application for a zoning…
The Massachusetts Court of Appeals recently decided whether a claim of unfair and deceptive review of a homeowner’s loan modification request could affect the bank’s title post-foreclosure. Bank of New York Mellon v. Fernandez arose out of a post-foreclosure summary judgment action filed by the bank, which was seeking to…
In a newly released opinion, the Massachusetts Land Court discussed the harsh consequences of property tax lien foreclosure proceedings. In Tallage LLC v. Meaney, the homeowners’ unpaid water and sewer bills became a tax debt, since those utilities are provided by the city. The city auctions its tax receivables to private…
In a newly released opinion, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts took on the issue of illegal foreclosure sales. In an action filed by plaintiff-homeowners against their mortgage lender, Pinti v. Emigrant Mortgage Co., No. SJC-11742 (Mass. July 17, 2015), the homeowners challenged the validity of the foreclosure sale on…
The Appeals Court of Massachusetts recently issued an opinion in Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Cook, 87 Mass.App.Ct. 382 (2015), evaluating whether the procedural and substantive requirements set out in the United States House and Urban Development (HUD) regulations were satisfied by Wells Fargo in a foreclosure case. The homeowners…
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…
In a recent Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case, Christakis v. Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union, Mass. Sup. Jud. Ct. (2015), the court had before it the issue of whether or not judicial liens on real property remain after the owner of the property receives a discharge under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. The plaintiff…