Recording real estate deeds in a county registry is intended, among other things, to prevent fraud and ensure that a prospective buyer can verify that the seller actually owns the property for sale. In the rare case where a seller sells a property twice, if the first...
In a "Chapter 7" bankruptcy proceeding, a debtor's assets are liquidated, and the proceeds are divided among the debtor's creditors. Some of the debtor's assets, however, may be exempt from liquidation under various provisions of federal or state law. One such...
When parents or grandparents are able to pass down residential property to their children and grandchildren, it should be a piece of the American Dream come true. And, with foresight, good planning, and a little bit of luck, it can be. Too often, however, these...
The Massachusetts Public Records Law (or PRL) provides an often overlooked, simple, cost effective and powerful tool for litigants to investigate claims and gather pertinent documents even before the commencement of a lawsuit. Like its federal analogue the Freedom of...
In a recent case, E.C.O. vs. Gregory James Compton (SJC-11259, March 13, 2013), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned a District Court Judge's extension of a G.L. c. 209A Abuse Prevention Order in favor of a 16-year-old girl whose father obtained a...
Amendments to Supplemental Probate Court Rule 412, which currently provides the method by which a child support judgment may be modified by agreement, may soon be expanded to include a method by which parties to an action may seek to modify, by agreement, any judgment...
The First Circuit has affirmed a holding finding that the system under which mortgages are held in the name of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., commonly known as MERS, comports with Massachusetts law relating to mortgage transactions. In the underlying...
Massachusetts' implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing does not apply to negotiations and contract preparations for a mortgage and accompanying promissory note, the First Circuit has held. In Latson v. Plaza Home Mortgage, Inc., the plaintiffs filed suit...
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