reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 223 § 5 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 5 - Actions by the Commonwealth

Section 5. A civil action in which the commonwealth is plaintiff or in which money due to the commonwealth is sought to be recovered may be brought in the county where the defendant lives or has his usual place of business, or in Suffolk county.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 6 - Counties; Actions by or Against

Section 6. A local or transitory action by a county shall be brought in the county where the defendant lives or in a county adjoining the plaintiff county. If the defendant lives in the plaintiff county, it shall be brought in an adjoining county. Such action against a county shall, at the election of the plaintiff, be brought in the county where he lives, in the defendant county or in an adjoining county.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 7 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 7 - Defective Ways, etc.; Negligence Actions

Section 7. An action against a town or person to recover for injury or damage received by reason of a defect, want of repair or of an insufficient railing in or upon a public way shall be brought in the county where said town is situated or in the county where the plaintiff lives, except that such action against the city of Boston may be brought in Middlesex county, in Norfolk county or in the county where the plaintiff lives, and such action against the town of Nantucket or against any town in Dukes county may be brought in Bristol county. An action against a town or person to recover for injury or damage received in the commonwealth by reason of negligence other than that relating to such defect, want of repair or insufficient railing shall be brought in the county where the plaintiff lives or has his usual place of business, or in the county where the alleged injury or damage was received. This section shall not apply to actions that may be brought in a district court.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 8 - Corporations; Actions by or Against

Section 8. Transitory actions, except those mentioned in the preceding section, to which a corporation, other than a county or the city of Boston, is a party, may be brought as follows:  (1) If both parties are cities, towns or parishes, in the county where either party is situated.  (2) If both parties are corporations, other than a city, town or parish, in any county in which either corporation has a usual place of business, or in which it held its last annual meeting, or usually holds its meetings.  (3) If one party is a city, town or parish, and the other a corporation named in clause (2), in any county in which either party might sue or be sued.  (4) If one party is a corporation named in clause (1) or (2), and the other an individual, in any county in which the corporation might sue or be sued, or in the county in which the individual lives or has a usual place of business.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 8a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 8a - Reciprocal or Inter-Insurance Exchange; Transitory Actions by or Against Subscribers

Section 8A. Transitory actions by or against the subscribers to a reciprocal or inter-insurance exchange defined in section ninety-four A of chapter one hundred and seventy-five and authorized to transact business in the commonwealth under said chapter may be brought as provided in clause (2) or clause (4) of section eight, as the case may be, and for such purposes the subscribers shall be deemed a company or association.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 9 - Transitory Actions by or Against City of Boston

Section 9. An action by or against the city of Boston, except actions mentioned in section seven and actions by the collector of said city under sections thirty-five and thirty-six of chapter sixty, may be brought in Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex or Norfolk county, or in the county in which the plaintiff lives.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 10 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 10 - Actions by City of Boston; Transfer From County of Suffolk

Section 10. The defendant in an action brought in Suffolk county by the city of Boston or by its collector may, if the action is brought in the supreme judicial or superior court, within thirty days after the day for appearance, file a motion in writing for the removal of the action to Essex, Middlesex or Norfolk county; and the court shall thereupon order it to be removed to the same court in such one of said counties as the attorney of the city of Boston elects.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 11 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 11 - Executors or Administrators; Transitory Actions by or Against

Section 11. A transitory action by or against an executor or administrator may be brought in a county in which it might have been brought by or against the testator or intestate at the time of his decease.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 12 - Land Title Actions

Section 12. If a tract of land lies in two or more counties, an action relative to it, to which neither a county, the city of Boston nor any corporation named in section eight is a party, may be brought in any of said counties, and the complaint shall be so drawn as to include the whole tract.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 13 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 13 - Change of Venue

Section 13. If the supreme judicial or superior court finds that a party to an action or proceeding pending therein cannot, by reason of local prejudice or other cause, have an impartial trial in the county where the action or proceeding was commenced, it may, upon the application of either party, order it to be removed for trial to another county. Upon the entry of such order, the clerk of the court in which the action or proceeding is pending shall forthwith transmit all the papers in the case and a certified copy of said order to the clerk of the court for the county to which it has been ordered to be removed. The clerk who receives such papers and order shall forthwith enter them on his docket, and the case shall thereupon proceed as if it had been originally commenced in the county to which it has been removed.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 14 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 14 - Forfeitures

Section 14. A civil action for the recovery of a forfeiture, except an action in which the commonwealth is plaintiff, or in which money is sought to be recovered for the commonwealth, shall be brought in the county where the offence was committed, unless the statute imposing the forfeiture otherwise provides.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 15 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 15 - Erroneous Venue; Procedure

Section 15. If an error in venue is discovered at any stage of the proceedings of a civil action in the supreme judicial or superior court, the court may, upon motion of either party, order the action, with all papers relating thereto, to be removed to the proper county upon terms to the defendant; and it shall thereupon be entered and prosecuted in the same court for that county as if it had been originally commenced therein, and all prior proceedings otherwise regularly taken shall be valid.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 19 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 19 - Unknown Defendant; Procedure

Section 19. In a civil action if the name of the defendant is not known to the plaintiff, the defendant may be designated in the summons and complaint by a fictitious name. The use of a fictitious name shall not be grounds for dismissal of the complaint if sufficient service has been made, and amendments shall be allowed and terms may be imposed.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 20 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 20 - Process; Issuance

Section 20. Process in the supreme judicial and superior court shall be signed, and may be issued, by the clerk, shall bear teste of the first justice of the court who is not a party to the action, may be returnable to the same court in any other county, may run, and shall be executed and obeyed, throughout the commonwealth.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 31 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 31 - Summons; Leaving at Last Known Address, Etc.

Section 31. In an action brought in the district court, if service is made at the last and usual place of abode, the officer making service shall forthwith mail first class a copy of the summons to such last and usual place of abode. The date of mailing and the address to which the summons was sent shall be set forth as required by section thirty-five in the officer's return.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 31a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 31a - Summons; Service Upon Persons Engaged in Voting

Section 31A. Personal service of a writ or summons upon a defendant while he is exercising his right to vote shall be null and void.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 34 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 34 - Further Notice to Absent Defendant

Section 34. If the defendant is out of the commonwealth, or if his residence is not known to the officer, and no personal service is made on him or on his agent appointed under section five of chapter two hundred and twenty-seven, he shall, in addition to the service herein prescribed, be entitled to further notice of the action as provided in said chapter.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 35 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 35 - Process; Duty of Officer to State Place of Service in Return

Section 35. When process is served by an officer by leaving copies of the summons, subpoena, or summons and complaint at the last and usual place of abode of any person, the officer serving the same shall state in his return the place as definitely as is practicable, giving, if possible, the street and number, where service was made.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 37 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 37 - Corporations; Persons Authorized to Be Served

Section 37. In an action against a county, city, town, parish or religious society, or against the proprietors of wharves, general fields or real estate lying in common, who are incorporated, service shall be made upon the treasurer thereof, or if no treasurer is found, upon one of the county commissioners, the city clerk or one of the aldermen, the town clerk or one of the selectmen, upon one of the assessors or standing committee of the parish or religious society, or upon one of the proprietors of such land or other estate, as the case may be. If there are no such officers as are mentioned in this section, service shall be made upon one of the inhabitants of the county, city or town, or upon one of the members of the corporation.  In an action against a domestic corporation other than one mentioned in the preceding paragraph, service shall be made upon the president, treasurer, clerk, resident agent appointed pursuant to section 49 of chapter 156D, cashier, secretary, agent or other officer in charge of its business, or, if no such officer is found within the county, upon any member of the corporation. If an officer authorized to serve legal process makes a return on such process that, after diligent search, he can find no one upon whom he can lawfully make service as aforesaid, the court to which such process is returned may upon application issue an order of notice to such corporation, directing it to appear and answer within a designated period.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 38 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 38 - Foreign Corporations

Section 38. In an action against a foreign corporation, except an insurance company, which has a usual place of business in the commonwealth, or with or without such usual place of business, is engaged in or soliciting business in the commonwealth, permanently or temporarily, service may be made in accordance with the preceding section relative to service on domestic corporations in general, instead of upon the state secretary under section 15.10 of subdivision A of Part 15 of chapter 156D.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 39 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 39 - Foreign Insurance Company; Manner of Service

Section 39. In an action against a foreign insurance company transacting business in this commonwealth, service may be made upon an agent of the company, licensed as such in the commonwealth, who, having authority to issue policies and bind risks for the company, has issued the policy the liability on which is sought to be enforced, or an agent who lives or has his usual place of business in the county and has control over or superintendence of subordinate agents of the company, instead of on the commissioner of insurance under clause third of section one hundred and fifty-one of chapter one hundred and seventy-five.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 39a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 39a - Service on Certain Insurance Companies Severally, or Jointly and Severally, Liable

Section 39A. In an action against insurance companies severally liable upon a policy of insurance issued under section one hundred and two A, one hundred and eleven A or one hundred and seventeen A of chapter one hundred and seventy-five, or jointly and severally liable upon a policy of insurance issued under said section one hundred and eleven A, or in a suit against insurance companies brought by a judgment creditor under section one hundred and thirteen of said chapter one hundred and seventy-five and clause ten of section three of chapter two hundred and fourteen under a policy of liability insurance issued under said section one hundred and eleven A, service upon any one of said companies shall be a valid and sufficient service upon all of such companies as are named in the process. Such service, if on a domestic company, shall be made in the manner provided in this chapter and, if on a foreign company, in the manner provided in section thirty-nine of this chapter, or in the third clause of section one hundred and fifty-one and section one hundred and fifty-four of said chapter one hundred and seventy-five.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 39b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 39b - Reciprocal or Inter-Insurance Exchange; Service on Attorney in Fact of Subscribers

Section 39B. In an action against the subscribers of a reciprocal or inter-insurance exchange defined in section ninety-four A of chapter one hundred and seventy-five and authorized to transact business in the commonwealth under said chapter, service may be made upon the attorney in fact of such subscribers, as defined in said section ninety-four A, if a domestic exchange, as so defined, instead of on the commissioner of insurance under clause Third of section one hundred and fifty-one of said chapter one hundred and seventy-five.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 40 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 40 - Voluntary Associations, Service On

Section 40. In an action against a voluntary association or trust described in section one of chapter one hundred and eighty-two, engaged in business in the commonwealth, service may be made upon any trustee or like officer thereof.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 42 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 42 - Property Subject to Attachment

Section 42. All real and personal property liable to be taken on execution, except such personal property as, from its nature or situation, has been considered as exempt according to the principles of the common law as adopted and practiced in the commonwealth, or which is specifically exempt from execution under section thirty-four of chapter two hundred and thirty-five, and except as provided in the four following sections, may be attached upon a writ of attachment in any action in which the debt or damages are recoverable, and may be held as security to satisfy such judgment as the plaintiff may recover; but no attachment of land shall be made on a writ returnable before a district court unless the debt or damages demanded therein exceed twenty dollars.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 42a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 42a - Amount Liquidated or Ascertainable by Calculation; Limitation on Attachment

Section 42A. In an action or suit for an amount which is liquidated or ascertainable by calculation, no attachment by trustee process or otherwise shall be made for a larger sum than the amount of the claim and such additional amount as is reasonably necessary to include interest thereon and costs likely to be taxed in the action.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 43 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 43 - Cars and Vessels; Attachment

Section 43. Railroad cars and engines and street railway cars, in use and making regular passages on railroads or railways, and steamboats so in use upon water routes, shall not be attached upon mesne process unless the officer who makes the attachment has first demanded of the owners or managers thereof other property, upon which to make it, equal in value to the amount of the attachment, and such owners or managers have refused or neglected to comply with said demand; except that a steamboat so in use may be attached, if the attachment is made more than forty-eight hours before its fixed time of departure. Such attachment shall be void unless the officer certifies in his return that he has made such demand and that the owners or managers have refused or neglected to comply therewith.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 44 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 44 - Ships or Vessels; Conditions Precedent

Section 44. No ship or vessel shall be attached in a civil action unless the plaintiff or a person on his behalf makes affidavit and proves to the satisfaction of a justice of a court that he has a good claim and reasonable expectation of recovering an amount, exclusive of all costs, equal at least to one-third of the amount of damages claimed, which affidavit shall be annexed to the writ of attachment, and the certificate of the justice that he is satisfied that the same is true shall be annexed to the writ of attachment or endorsed thereon.
MA Gen L ch 223 § 44a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein|Chapter 223 - Commencement of Actions, Service of Process|Section 44a - Motor Vehicles; Conditions Precedent

Section 44A. Motor vehicles registered under the law of this commonwealth and not exempt from execution under clause Sixteenth of section thirty-four of chapter two hundred and thirty-five shall not be attached by writ of attachment in a civil action based upon a contract unless written consent to such attachment is endorsed on the writ and signed by a justice, associate justice or special justice of the court wherein such action is commenced. Costs in any action in which such a motor vehicle has been attached shall be in the discretion of the court.