Real Estate Law

In my previous post on the Derelict Fee Statute (Mass. Gen. Laws. Chapter 183, Section 58), I addressed the basics of its application and noted that most of the case law interpreting the statute concerns what it means to be "real estate abutting a way". A small...

The so-called Derelict Fee Statute, General Laws Chapter 183, Section 58, comes up with great frequency in our practice, because people often get into disputes over the ownership and, thus, control of private ways. The statute governs the interpretation of deeds when...

A recent Land Court case, Bassin v. Fairley, 11 MISC 451773 (AHS) (Mass. Land Ct. June 17, 2014), provides a good reminder of the kind of inquiry a court will make when deciding whether a landowner can remove a tree that straddles a common boundary line. In Bassin,...

To the unwary, it might be surprising that property dating back to the 1870s could, almost 150 years later, fall prey to a boundary line dispute. But it does happen, as the recent case, Bernier v. Fredette, 85 Mass. App. Ct. 265 (2014), reminds us. This case went to...

Real estate taxes, insurance and utilities comprise expenses that we all have come to expect as necessary incidents of property ownership. Many cities and towns in Massachusetts, however, also impose user fees for municipal services, as part of the development...

A recent (unpublished) Rule 1:28 decision, Hancock v. Chambers, 85 Mass. App. Ct. 1106 (2014), reminds both condominium owners and trustees and attorneys of the care that needs to be taken when drafting-and attempting to enforce-condominium trust documents so that...

It's an all too common scenario: a landowner builds something on his property, and then an abutter or neighbor thinks it is being built unlawfully and tries to stop it. In fact, let's assume that the landowner has already gone through an initial site plan review (as...

A recent Land Court case, while not binding authority, reminds us yet again of how much the forming of a valid contract for the sale of land hinges on the language communicated by and between the parties during the offer and acceptance phase.Here are the basic facts...

When most people think about the kinds of cases that are litigated at the Land Court, forensic analysis of evidence is not likely at the forefront of their minds. Most people likely think that those kinds of juicy cases are reserved for criminal trials in Superior...

Sometimes you just run across decided cases that are so full of concise, black letter law, well-reasoned issues of first impression and multiple, alternate law-based rationales supporting the decision (read: iron-clad), that you have to share them. Sullivan v....