Freddie Mac Not Liable for Unauthorized Actions of Mortgage Servicers The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, citing the Merrill doctrine, has held that the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., more commonly known as Freddie Mac, cannot...
When parties enter into a contract, they may choose to determine in advance how much money should be paid in the event one of the parties breaches the contract. That amount is identified in a liquidated damages provision. However, not every liquidated damages...
On August 9, 2024, Governor Maura Healey signed An Act to Ensure Legal Parentage Equality, or the Massachusetts Parenting Act (MPA), marking the first update to Massachusetts parentage laws in 40 years. Effective as of January 1, 2025, the MPA will modernize the...
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has joined the Fifth and Ninth Circuits in holding that a federal court does not have authority to order a party not only to arbitrate a dispute, but also to pay the associated fees for the filed arbitration....
In Fannie Mae v. Branch, after a long and complicated litigation involving two Appeals Court decisions, the SJC recently ruled that an appeal of a summary process (i.e., eviction) claim was not rendered moot by a bidder’s transfer of its interests in the property at...
SJC Upholds Clickwrap Agreement to Arbitrate Earlier this year, a posting in The Fitch Briefs previewed an issue before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) concerning clickwrap agreements – specifically, whether an online Uber clickwrap agreement to...
What is the Standard for a Complaint for Modification for Child Custody? In Erhartic v. Erhartic (Memo and Order Rule 23.0 Decision July 26, 2024), the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the Probate and Family Court’s decision to maintain joint legal custody, order...
In a rare intersection of banking and financial services law with geopolitics, Vladislav Klyushin—a wealthy Russian businessman convicted for financial crimes by a federal jury in Boston last year—was released as part of a prisoner swap between Russia and the West...
In a recent unpublished opinion, Mackey v. Santander Bank, N.A., the Appeals Court vacated the Superior Court’s decision to declare valid a mortgage on a former marital home after the mortgagor, Santander Bank, was provided with a trustee certificate by the...
Earlier this month, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy signed into law an amendment to the Registered Land Act that will allow owners of registered land to withdraw from the cumbersome Land Registration System. In Massachusetts, there are two title systems for land:...
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