The Massachusetts legislation, put simply, deems any person with an interest in land and an unbroken chain of title thereto for 50 years or more, to have a good and clear record and marketable title, subject only to the exceptions set forth below. All interests preserved by Chapter 185. The legislation provides a grace period to record a lis pendens of any person whose claim of interest would be defeated because it predated a particular instrument which is an origin of title. This three-year grace period is a common device used by legislatures in order to enable claimants to protect their interests in a reasonably effective way. See M.G.L. c. 184, ' 28 relative to the elimination of obsolete restrictions.
Case law supports the constitutionality of such measures.
The legislation has been reintroduced for the 1999-2000 General Court. We hope to gain an early resolution of the Administration's concerns with the bill and to work for early passage.