reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 244 § 40 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property|Chapter 244 - Foreclosure and Redemption of Mortgages|Section 40 - Action for Redemption; Jurisdiction; Process; Payments; Discharge

Section 40. If the state treasurer and the person applying to redeem the mortgage do not agree upon the amount due, the person so applying may bring in the supreme judicial or the superior court, for the county of Suffolk, civil action against the commonwealth for the redemption. The process shall be served on the state treasurer, who shall appear and answer in behalf of the commonwealth; and like proceedings shall be had and like judgment rendered as in case of other mortgagees, except that the state treasurer shall accept any payment due the commonwealth, and upon receipt thereof, or upon performance of such other condition as the court orders, shall discharge the mortgage in like manner as when the debt is paid without suit.
MA Gen L ch 244 § 41 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property|Chapter 244 - Foreclosure and Redemption of Mortgages|Section 41 - Inspection of Property for Presence of Abandoned Animals

Section 41. Not more than 3 days after the property owner knew or should have known that a property was vacated through a mortgage foreclosure, the owner, person in control of the property or a designee shall inspect the property for the presence of abandoned animals. If the owner, person in control of the property or a designee encounters an abandoned animal under this section, such person shall immediately notify an animal control officer as defined in section 136A of chapter 140, a police officer or other authorized agent of the presence and condition of the animal.  The owner, person in control of the property or a designee who encounters an abandoned animal pursuant to this section shall not be considered the owner, possessor or person having the charge or custody of the animal under section 77 of chapter 272.  For the purposes of this section, an animal shall be considered abandoned if it is found in a property vacated through mortgage foreclosure.  If the owner or person in control of the property fails to comply with this section, such person shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $500 for a first offense and not more than $1,000 for a second or subsequent offense. Funds collected under this section shall be deposited into the Homeless Animal Prevention and Care Fund established in section 35WW of chapter 10.
MA Gen L ch 245 § 1 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property|Chapter 245 - Informations by the Commonwealth|Section 1 - Unlawful Entry; Action for Recovery

Section 1. If a person unlawfully enters upon or holds land belonging to the commonwealth, it may be recovered in a civil action brought by the attorney general or by a district attorney in the superior court in any county or in the land court.
MA Gen L ch 245 § 2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property|Chapter 245 - Informations by the Commonwealth|Section 2 - Order of Governor and Council; When Necessary

Section 2. If the title of the commonwealth is founded on a forfeiture for breach of a condition in a grant or conveyance by the commonwealth or by the province or colony of Massachusetts bay, no action for the recovery thereof shall be commenced unless by direction of the governor, with the advice and consent of the council; but in all other cases the attorney general or district attorney may prosecute an action therefor if he believes that the claim of the commonwealth can be established.
MA Gen L ch 245 § 4 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property|Chapter 245 - Informations by the Commonwealth|Section 4 - Notice by Publication

Section 4. If, in case of a supposed escheat, no person appears as the heir of the person last seized, or if in any case there is reason to suppose that there is a person claiming an estate or interest in the land, whose name is unknown, who is absent from the commonwealth or who cannot be found therein to be served with process, the court shall, in addition to any other service, order the substance of the complaint with the order of the court thereon to be published once in each of three successive weeks in a newspaper designated by it, the first publication to be at least ninety days before the time appointed for the appearance of the parties.
MA Gen L ch 245 § 5 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property|Chapter 245 - Informations by the Commonwealth|Section 5 - Defendants, Persons Who May Be; Costs

Section 5. A person claiming an estate or interest in the land, although not named in the complaint nor served with process, may appear and answer thereto; but a defendant not named shall not recover costs against the commonwealth, unless it appears that he has an estate or interest in the land, although the commonwealth fails to establish its claim thereto. If there are several defendants, the court may award costs for or against any one, as if he were the sole defendant.
MA Gen L ch 245 § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property|Chapter 245 - Informations by the Commonwealth|Section 6 - Rents and Profits; Improvements; Commonwealth Prevailing Party

Section 6. If the commonwealth prevails, the defendant shall be chargeable for rents and profits and be entitled to an allowance for improvements as provided in chapter two hundred and thirty-seven.
MA Gen L ch 245 § 7 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property|Chapter 245 - Informations by the Commonwealth|Section 7 - Judgments for Commonwealth; Effect

Section 7. The commonwealth shall be actually seized and possessed of the land as soon as judgment is rendered in its favor, without a writ of possession.
MA Gen L ch 245 § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property|Chapter 245 - Informations by the Commonwealth|Section 8 - Judgments; Conclusiveness

Section 8. The judgment shall be conclusive between the commonwealth and the defendants who appear and answer, and against every person named as a defendant and duly served and against all persons claiming under such defendants.
MA Gen L ch 245 § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property|Chapter 245 - Informations by the Commonwealth|Section 9 - Persons Not Concluded; Action for Recovery

Section 9. A person not concluded by a judgment for the commonwealth under the preceding section may, until his claim is barred by law for the limitation of real actions or otherwise, bring an action to recover the land from the commonwealth or from any person then holding under it. He may deny and disprove any facts alleged and proved in the first action and allege and prove other facts in support of his claim and shall, if it appears that he is entitled to the land, have judgment and execution therefor.
MA Gen L ch 245 § 10 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property|Chapter 245 - Informations by the Commonwealth|Section 10 - Against Whom Action Brought

Section 10. If the commonwealth continues seized of the land when such new action is commenced, such action shall be brought against the tenant or occupant thereof, and, in addition to the service on him service shall be made upon the attorney general or district attorney. If the commonwealth has granted away the land, the action shall be brought against the tenant of the freehold. In either case it shall be conducted and disposed of as if no such action by the commonwealth had been brought.
MA Gen L ch 245 § 11 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property|Chapter 245 - Informations by the Commonwealth|Section 11 - Rents and Profits; Improvements; Plaintiff Prevailing Party

Section 11. If the plaintiff recovers judgment, he shall be entitled to rents and profits and chargeable for improvements as provided in chapter two hundred and thirty-seven, although the land has not been held and possessed for six years under the adverse title.
MA Gen L ch 245 § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property|Chapter 245 - Informations by the Commonwealth|Section 12 - Costs

Section 12. Costs shall be awarded and taxed for the prevailing party. If judgment is for the commonwealth, an execution for costs shall issue; if it is for the defendant, the costs shall be paid by the commonwealth.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 1 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 1 - Actions Maintainable; Trustees

Section 1. Trustee process may be used in accordance with the applicable rules of court in connection with the commencement of all personal actions except actions only for specific recovery of goods and chattels, for malicious prosecution, for slander and libel, or for assault and battery; and any person may be summoned as trustee of the defendant therein; but except in the case of a complaint which contains a statement that the action is upon a judgment, a contract for personal services, for goods sold and delivered, or for money due under a contract in writing, or to recover damages on account of the operation of a motor vehicle not registered in the commonwealth, no summons and complaint in any action seeking damages in excess of one thousand dollars shall be served upon any alleged trustee unless there shall have been filed by the plaintiff, if other than a city or town of the commonwealth named therein, in the court wherein such action is commenced, a bond with a surety company authorized to do business in the commonwealth as surety, or with sureties approved by a justice, associate justice or special justice of such court, said bond to be in a penal sum in such amount as the court which approves the trustee process shall require but not less than two hundred and fifty dollars and to be conditioned upon payment to the defendant, if the plaintiff fails to recover or if such action is discontinued, of all costs which may be awarded to the defendant and all damages which he may sustain by reason of such attachment, but not exceeding the penal sum of the bond, nor unless there shall have been endorsed on the complaint by the justice, associate justice or special justice who approved said bond, or by the clerk of such court, the fact that the bond required by this section has been filed in such court. An individual who is not an inhabitant of the commonwealth, or a foreign corporation or association, shall not be so summoned unless he or it has a usual place of business in the commonwealth. The amount paid by the plaintiff to a surety company for becoming surety on such a bond shall be taxed in his costs if he prevails in the action. No bond shall be required to be filed as provided herein in an action brought hereunder by the attorney general on behalf of the commonwealth or any department, board, commission, office or officer thereof. Trustee process may likewise be issued in actions to enforce an order for alimony, maintenance or child support by the filing of a complaint and following the procedures set forth in section thirty-six A of chapter two hundred and eight, and no bond shall be required to be filed as otherwise provided herein in such actions.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 2 - Venue

Section 2. If, in an action in the supreme judicial or superior court in which trustee process is used, all the persons named in the summons as trustees dwell or have usual places of business in one county, the action shall be brought in that county; otherwise it may be brought in any county where any one of the trustees dwells or has a usual place of business.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 3 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 3 - Change of Venue

Section 3. If, in an action in the supreme judicial or superior court in which trustee process is used in connection with the commencement thereof, the court finds that the trustee was made a party in order to give the court jurisdiction of the action in the county where the trustee dwells or has a usual place of business, and that neither the plaintiff nor the principal defendant dwells or has a usual place of business therein, it may, upon motion of the defendant at any time before trial, order the action and all papers relating thereto transferred to a county where some one of the principal parties dwells or has a usual place of business, upon terms. The action shall thereupon be entered and prosecuted in the same court for that county as if originally brought therein, and all prior proceedings otherwise regularly taken shall thereafter be valid.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 4 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 4 - Venue in District Courts

Section 4. No person shall be held to answer as a trustee in an action in a district court, except as provided in section fifty-four of chapter two hundred and eighteen, in any county other than that where he dwells or has a usual place of business; and if a person summoned as trustee in such court is out of the county at the time of the service of the trustee summons upon him, and does not return before final judgment in the action, he shall not be chargeable as trustee.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 4a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 4a - Change of Venue in District Courts

Section 4A. Whenever the venue of an action in a district court is based upon the residence or usual place of business of an alleged trustee, which action could not otherwise be properly brought in that district, the court may on motion of any party thereto transfer such action for trial and final disposition to any other district court in which the action might have been commenced had there been no trustee alleged.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 4b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 4b - Venue in Actions to Enforce Support Orders

Section 4B. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, in an action to enforce a support order pursuant to section thirty-six A of chapter two hundred and eight, the action shall be brought in the court which issued the order for alimony, maintenance or child support.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 5 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 5 - Trustee Summons; Service

Section 5. The trustee summons shall be served in accordance with the applicable rule of court.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 6 - Foreign Corporations; Service

Section 6. When a foreign corporation having a usual place of business in the commonwealth is summoned as a trustee in an action against one of its employees, service of the summons may be made as provided in section thirty-eight or thirty-nine of chapter two hundred and twenty-three, or upon any paymaster or other officer or agent of the corporation whose duty it is to pay such employee, and such service shall be as binding upon the corporation as if it had been made upon the commissioner of revenue or the commissioner of insurance.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 7 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 7 - Partnerships; Service

Section 7. If co-partners are summoned as trustees and the partnership is properly described in the trustee summons, service of the trustee summons upon one partner shall be sufficient.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 8 - New Trustees; Successive Services

Section 8. The plaintiff may at any time insert the names of other trustees in the summons, and cause the summons to be served upon them; and after service upon a trustee, a plaintiff may cause the summons to be again served upon the same trustee in the same manner and with the same effect as if he had not been previously served. A summons served upon a trustee after service upon the defendant shall be again served upon the defendant.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 9 - Proceedings if Trustees Discharged

Section 9. The plaintiff may proceed in the action against the defendant if the defendant has been served with process although all the trustees have been discharged.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 10 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 10 - Answer; Filing; Contents

Section 10. A person summoned as trustee shall file his answer within twenty days after service of the trustee summons upon him, unless the court otherwise directs. The answer shall disclose plainly, fully and particularly what goods, effects or credits, if any, of the defendant were in the hands or possession of the trustee when he was served with process.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 11 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 11 - Answer Under Oath; Written Declarations

Section 11. Such answer shall be signed and sworn to by the trustee, or, in lieu of being sworn to, shall contain his written declaration, subject to the penalty prescribed by section one A of chapter two hundred and sixty-eight, that the answer is made under the penalties of perjury.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 12 - Interrogatories; Answer

Section 12. The plaintiff may from time to time examine the alleged trustee upon written interrogatories filed in the clerk's office. The answers thereto shall be signed, sworn to and filed in said office within seven days after notice to the trustee or his attorney of the filing of the interrogatories, unless the court otherwise orders. If the answers are not so filed, the court may make such order as the case may require.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 13 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 13 - Discharge of Trustees

Section 13. If the answer of the alleged trustee shows that at the time of service of the trustee summons upon him he had not in his hands or possession any goods, effects or credits of the defendant, and the plaintiff declines to examine him, or if upon examination his answer appears to be true, he shall be discharged.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 14 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 14 - Admissions by Trustees; Interrogatories

Section 14. A person summoned as trustee who admits that he has in his hands any goods, effects or credits of the defendant, or who wishes to submit the question to the court whether he is chargeable upon the facts, may make a written statement, on oath, of such facts as are material. The plaintiff may then examine him, on oath, upon written interrogatories, and the statement, interrogatories and answers shall be filed in the clerk's office.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 15 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 15 - Corporations; Appearance and Answer

Section 15. A corporation summoned as trustee may appear and answer by its cashier, treasurer, clerk or such other officer or employee as it shall appoint or as the court shall require to attend for that purpose, and his answer and examination, on oath, shall be received as the answer and examination of the corporation.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 16 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 16 - Truth of Answer

Section 16. The answer and statements of a trustee, on oath, shall be considered as true in determining how far he is chargeable; but either party may allege and prove any facts material in determining such question and not stated or denied by the trustee.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 17 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 17 - Questions of Fact; Trial

Section 17. A question of fact arising upon such additional allegations may be tried and determined by the court, or it may be submitted to a jury in such manner as the court orders.
MA Gen L ch 246 § 18 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 246 - Trustee Process|Section 18 - Default of Trustee

Section 18. A person who, being duly summoned as a trustee, neglects to appear and answer as hereinbefore provided shall be defaulted and adjudged a trustee.