In a very recent decision, Dinno vs. Bd. of Assessors of Sudbury, App. Ct. Mass. (2015), the Appeals Court of Massachusetts had before it an appeal from a decision reached by the Appellate Tax Board, which affirmed the town of Sudbury’s denial of certain abatements regarding property taxes for a two-year period.…
In a recent real estate case, Siebecker v. Orefice, Mass. App. Ct. (2015), the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled on an appeal stemming from a lower court decision regarding an easement. The lower court found that the defendant’s right to an easement was both extinguished and abandoned, from which the defendant appealed. The…
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…
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts is expected to decide a case that will have a resounding impact on the way real estate is handled under Massachusetts law. The case, Monell, et al. v. Boston Pads, LLC, et al., will address whether the lower court judge properly exempted the real estate industry…
With temperatures warming up from the historic winter snowfall, and grass starting to grow brightly green, many homeowners and prospective homeowners may be thinking about starting construction projects. Whether you are merely seeking to improve your current property, or build an entirely new home altogether, you may need the help…
In yet another alleged case of discrimination in housing involving families with young children, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a settlement with a company that owns and operates an apartment complex in Massachusetts. The case, which was filed in federal court, stems from alleged violations of the Fair Housing…
In a relatively surprising turn of events, in the case of In re Safina Mbazira, which was heard before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts, the court found that the bank, an assignee of the mortgage, lost the mortgage because of a faulty acknowledgment appended to the mortgage document.…
In another recent real estate case from the Appeals Court of Massachusetts dealing with mortgage foreclosure, Hoyt v. BAC Home Loan Servicing, L.P., the individuals who mortgaged a property attempted to challenge a foreclosure decision reached in the lower court regarding the legality of assignment and foreclosure. The homeowners in the…
At the end of last month, the Attorney General announced that a court had reached a decision in an alleged predatory foreclosure company that had been conducting business in Massachusetts. The announcement stated that a legal and financial services company was ordered by a judge to pay in excess of $1.9 million to…