reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 185 § 22 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 22 - Filing of Writs, Complaints, Bills and Pleadings

Section 22. Writs, complaints, bills and pleadings in proceedings in the land court may be filed with the recorder of the land court, or with the register of deeds for the district where the land or any part thereof lies, who shall immediately index the proceedings in the general index by the names of the parties, and transmit the papers to the recorder. The recorder shall cause copies of said papers to be made and transmitted to the said register of deeds, who shall file the same, and, if the original papers were filed with the recorder, index the proceedings as above provided. Whenever such papers contain a reference to any instruments recorded in the registry of deeds where they are filed, the register of deeds shall cause a minute thereof to be made upon the margin of such record.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 23 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 23 - Filing and Indexing of Final Judgments and Executions in County Where Land Lies

Section 23. The recorder shall transmit copies of all final judgments and executions in proceedings mentioned in section twenty-two to the register of deeds for the district where the land or any part thereof lies, who shall file and index the same in the manner provided in said section.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 24 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 24 - Reference to Examiner; Examination and Report

Section 24. The court may refer any such proceeding to one of the examiners appointed under section twelve, who shall examine and report on whatever matters of title or fact the court shall designate in its order of reference. Such reference, if made immediately upon the filing or entry of the proceeding, shall be subject to section thirty-seven, so far as applicable, but if made after an appearance is entered for a defendant or tenant, it shall be subject to section forty-three.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 25 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 25 - Powers of Land Court

Section 25. In all matters within its jurisdiction, the court shall have all the powers which the superior court has including power to grant injunctions and restraining orders in accordance with the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure as justice and equity may require, except that it shall hold no trials by jury.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 25a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 25a - Power of Land Court to Enforce Orders, Sentences, Judgments and Decrees; Contempts

Section 25A. The court shall have like power and authority for enforcing orders, sentences, judgments and decrees made or pronounced in the exercise of any jurisdiction vested in it, and for punishing contempts of such orders, sentences, judgments or decrees and other contempts of its authority, as are vested for such or similar purposes in the supreme judicial court in relation to any civil action pending therein. Commitments for such contempts may be made to any jail in the Commonwealth. Orders, precepts and processes issued by the court may be served in Suffolk county by the officer in attendance upon the sessions of said court in said county, or in any county by any deputy sheriff to whom they are directed.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 26 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 26 - Complaints for Registration of Title

Section 26. Complaints for registration of title may be made by the following persons:  First, Persons who claim, singly or collectively, to own the legal estate or easements or rights in land held and possessed in fee simple.  Second, Persons who claim, singly or collectively, to have the power of appointing or disposing of the legal estate or easements or rights in land held and possessed in fee simple.  Third, Infants and other persons under disability, by their legally appointed guardians; but the person in whose behalf the complaint is made shall be named as plaintiff.  Fourth, Corporations, by any officer duly authorized by a vote of the directors.  One or more tenants for a term of years, which is regarded as a fee simple in section one of chapter one hundred and eighty-six, shall not bring an action except jointly with those who claim the reversionary interest which makes up the fee simple at common law; nor shall a mortgagor, except as hereinafter provided, bring an action without the written consent of the mortgagee; nor shall one or more tenants bring an action who claim undivided shares less than a fee simple in the whole land described in the complaint for registration. If the holder of a mortgage does not consent to the complaint, it may be entered nevertheless, and the title registered, subject to the mortgage, which may be dealt with or foreclosed as if the land subject to it had not been registered. The judgment of registration in such case shall describe the mortgage, and shall state that it has not been registered and that registration is made subject to it, and shall provide that no subsequent certificate shall be issued and no further papers registered relative to such land after a foreclosure of such mortgage.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 26a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 26a - Complaints for Confirmation of Title Without Registration

Section 26A. Complaints for the confirmation of title without registration may be made by the following persons:  First, Persons who claim, singly or collectively, to own a legal estate or easement or right in land held and possessed in fee simple.  Second, Persons who claim, singly or collectively, to have the power of appointing or disposing of a legal estate or easement or right in land held and possessed in fee simple.  Third, Infants and other persons under disability, by their legally appointed guardians; but the person in whose behalf the petition is made shall be named as plaintiff.  Fourth, Corporations, by any officer duly authorized by a vote of the corporation or its governing board.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 27 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 27 - Filing of Petition; Memorandum Relating to Petition; Duties of Assistant Recorder

Section 27. The petition may be filed with the recorder, or with the assistant recorder at the registry of deeds for any district where the land, or any part thereof, lies. Upon filing his petition, the petitioner shall forthwith cause to be filed in the registry of deeds for each district where any part of the land lies a memorandum stating that the petition for registration has been filed, the date and place of filing, and a copy of the description in the petition of the land or of so much thereof as is within the district. Such memorandum shall be recorded and indexed by the register with the records of deeds. Each assistant recorder shall also keep an index of all petitions in his district, and in every case where the petition is filed with him shall transmit the petition, the papers and plans filed therewith and such memorandum, when recorded, to the recorder.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 28 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 28 - Form and Content of Complaint

Section 28. The complaint shall be in writing, signed and sworn to by each plaintiff or by a person duly authorized in his behalf. It shall contain a description of the land. It shall also state the name in full and the address of the plaintiff, and the names and addresses of the adjoining owners and occupants, if known; and if not known, it shall state what search has been made to find them.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 29 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 29 - Land Bounded on Public or Private Way; Content of Complaint

Section 29. If the complaint describes the land as bounded on a public or private way, it shall state whether or not the plaintiff claims any and what land within the limits of the way, and whether the plaintiff desires to have the line of the way determined.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 30 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 30 - Complaint or Registration Made Subject to Existing Recorded Mortgage or Lease

Section 30. If a complaint is made subject to an existing recorded mortgage, the holder of which has consented thereto, or subject to a recorded lease for a term exceeding seven years, or if the registration is to be made subject to such a mortgage or lease executed after the time of the complaint and before the date of the transcription of the judgment, the plaintiff, before a judgment of registration is entered, shall, if required by the court, file a certified copy of such mortgage or lease, and shall cause the original, or, in the discretion of the court, a certified copy thereof, to be presented for registration; and no registration fee shall be charged for registering such original mortgage or lease or such certified copy.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 31 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 31 - Inclusion of Two or More Parcels; Joinder

Section 31. A complaint may include two or more contiguous parcels of land, or two or more parcels which constitute one holding under one and the same title, within the same registry district. But two or more persons, who claim in the same parcels different interests which collectively make up the legal estate in fee simple in each parcel, shall not join in one complaint for more than one parcel unless their interests are alike in each and every parcel. The court may at any time order a complaint to be amended by striking out one or more of the parcels, or by a severance of the complaint.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 32 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 32 - Amendments

Section 32. Amendments to the complaint, including joinder, substitution, or discontinuance as to parties, shall be allowed by the court at any time upon just and reasonable terms; but all amendments shall be in writing, signed and sworn to, like the original.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 33 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 33 - Plan of Land and Muniments of Title; Filing; Withdrawal; Further Survey

Section 33. The plaintiff shall file with the complaint a plan of the land, and all original muniments of title within his control. Such original muniments as affect land not included in the complaint may be withdrawn upon filing certified copies thereof. If a complaint is dismissed or discontinued, the plaintiff may, with the consent of the court, withdraw such original muniments of title. The court may, in any case before judgment, require a further survey to be made for the purpose of determining boundaries and may order durable bounds to be set, and referred to in the complaint, by amendment. The expense of survey and bounds shall be taxed in the costs of the case and may be apportioned among the parties as justice may require. If no persons appear to oppose the complaint, such expense shall be borne by the plaintiff.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 34 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 34 - Additional Facts in Complaint; Additional Papers

Section 34. The court may by general rule require additional facts to be stated in the complaint and may require the filing of additional papers.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 35 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 35 - Agent for Non-Resident Plaintiff

Section 35. If the plaintiff is not a resident of the commonwealth, he shall file with his complaint a paper appointing an agent residing in the commonwealth, giving his name in full and post office address, and shall therein agree that the service of any legal process in proceedings under or growing out of the complaint shall be of the same legal effect if made on said agent as if made on the plaintiff within the commonwealth. If the agent dies, or removes from the commonwealth, the plaintiff shall forthwith make another appointment; and if he fails so to do, the court may dismiss the complaint.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 36 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 36 - Transactions Dealing With Land After Filing of Complaint; Record of Disposition of Case

Section 36. After the filing of a complaint and before registration, the land therein described may be dealt with, and instruments relating thereto shall be recorded in the same manner, as if no such complaint had been filed; but all instruments left for record which relate to such land shall be indexed in the usual manner in the registry indexes and in the index of complaints. As soon as a complaint is disposed of, the recorder shall make a memorandum stating the disposition of the case, and shall send the same to the register of deeds for the proper district or districts, who shall record and index it with the records of deeds and in the index of complaints. If a judgment of registration of title is entered the land included in the judgment shall, when the judgment is transcribed as provided in section forty-eight, become registered land, and thereafter no deeds or other instruments which relate solely to such land shall be recorded with the records of deeds, but shall be registered in the registration book and filed and indexed with the records and documents relating to registered land.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 37 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 37 - Reference to Examiner to Search Records and Investigate Facts; Report; Notice of Report to Plaintiff

Section 37. Immediately after the filing of a complaint, the court shall enter an order referring it to one of the examiners of title, who shall search the records and investigate all facts stated in the complaint or otherwise brought to his notice, and shall file in the case a report thereon, concluding with a certificate of his opinion upon the title. The recorder shall give notice to the plaintiff of the filing of such report.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 38 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 38 - Publication of Notice of Filing of Complaint

Section 38. Unless the plaintiff withdraws his petition within fourteen days of the notice of the filing of the examiner's report from the recorder, the recorder shall cause notice of the filing of the complaint to be published in a newspaper published in the district where any part of the land lies. The notice shall be issued by order of the court, attested by the recorder, and shall be in form substantially as follows:  COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS  Land Court  To (here insert the names of all persons known to have an adverse interest, and the adjoining owners and occupants so far as known), and to all whom it may concern:  Whereas a complaint has been presented to said court by (name or names and address) to register and confirm his (or their) title in the following described land (insert description).  If you desire to make any objection or defense to said complaint you or your attorney must file a written appearance and an answer under oath, setting forth clearly and specifically your objections or defense to each part of said complaint, in the office of the recorder of said court in Boston, (designation of location) or in the office of the assistant recorder of said court at the registry of deeds at ___ in the county of ___ where a copy of the plan filed with said complaint is deposited, on or before the ___ day of ___ next. Unless an appearance is so filed by or for you, your default will be recorded, the said complaint will be taken as confessed and you will be forever barred from contesting said complaint or any judgment entered thereon.  Witness, , Esquire, judge of said court, this ___ day of ___ in the year nineteen hundred and .  Attest with the seal of said court .  Recorder.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 39 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 39 - Return Day of Notice; Mailing of Copies; Posting of Copies

Section 39. The return day of said notice shall be not less than twenty nor more than sixty days after the date of issue. The court shall also, within seven days after publication of said notice in a newspaper, cause a copy thereof to be sent by the recorder by mailing a registered letter to every person named therein whose address is known. The court shall also cause a duly attested copy of the notice to be posted in a conspicuous place on each parcel of land included in the complaint, by a sheriff or deputy sheriff, fourteen days at least before the return day thereof, and his return shall be conclusive proof of such service. If the plaintiff requests to have the line of a public way determined, the court shall order notice to be given by the recorder, by mailing a registered letter to the mayor of the city or to one of the selectmen of the town or towns where the land lies, or, if the way is a highway, to one of the county commissioners of the county or counties where the land lies. If the land borders on a river, navigable stream or shore, or on an arm of the sea where a river or harbor line has been established, or on a great pond, or if it otherwise appears from the complaint or the proceedings that the commonwealth may have a claim adverse to that of the plaintiff, notice shall be given in the same manner to the attorney general. The court may also cause other or further notice of the complaint to be given. The court shall, so far as it considers it possible, require proof of actual notice to all adjoining owners and to all persons who appear to have any interest in or claim to the land included in the complaint. Notice to such persons by mail shall be by registered letter. The certificate of the recorder that he has served the notice as directed by the court, by publishing or mailing, shall be filed in the case before the return day, and shall be conclusive proof of such service.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 40 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 40 - Appointment of Guardian Ad Litem; Compensation

Section 40. Upon the return of the notice, and upon proof of service of all orders of notice issued, the court may appoint a disinterested person to act as guardian ad litem for minors, and for persons under disability, and for all persons not in being, unascertained, unknown or out of the commonwealth, who may have an interest. The compensation of the guardian shall be determined by the court and paid as it may direct.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 41 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 41 - Answer

Section 41. Any person who claims an interest, whether named in the notice or not, may appear and file an answer on or before the return day, or within such further time as the court may allow. The answer shall state all objections to the complaint, shall set forth the interest claimed by the person who files it, and shall be signed and sworn to by him or by a person in his behalf.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 42 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 42 - General Default; Order; Judgment Confirming Title

Section 42. If no person appears and answers within the time allowed, the court may at once upon motion of the plaintiff, no reason to the contrary appearing, order a general default to be recorded and the complaint to be taken for confessed. By the description in the notice, ''to all whom it may concern'', all the world are made parties defendant and shall be concluded by the default and order. After such default and order, the court may enter a judgment confirming the title of the plaintiff and ordering registration thereof. The court shall not be bound by the report of the examiner of title, but may require other or further proof.
MA Gen L ch 185 § 43 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title I - Title to Real Property|Chapter 185 - The Land Court and Registration of Title to Land|Section 43 - Hearing of Contested Cases; Default of Persons Not Appearing; Reference to Examiner; Report; Compensation of Examiner

Section 43. If, in any case, an appearance is entered and answer filed, the case shall be set down for hearing on the motion of either party, but a default and order shall first be entered against all persons who do not appear and answer, in the manner provided in the preceding section. The court may refer the case or any part thereof to one of the examiners of title, as master, to hear the parties and their evidence, and make report thereof to the court. His report shall have the same effect as that of a master appointed by the superior court in equity, and he shall proceed according to the rules of said court applicable to masters, except as the same may be modified by the rules of the land court. The compensation of a master appointed under this section and of an examiner under section twenty-four shall be awarded by the court and shall be paid by the commonwealth, except that compensation may be awarded by the court in its discretion as a part of the taxable costs of the proceedings, in which case the compensation shall be paid as decreed by said court.