reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 60 § 43 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 43 - Conduct of Sale, Etc.

Section 43. If the taxes are not paid, the collector shall, at the time and place appointed for the sale, sell by public auction, for the amount of the taxes and interest, if any, and necessary intervening charges, the smallest undivided part of the land which will bring said amount, or the whole for said amount, if no person offers to take an undivided part; and shall at such sale require of the purchaser an immediate deposit of such sum as he considers necessary to insure good faith in payment of the purchase money, and, on failure of the purchaser to make such deposit forthwith, the sale shall be void and another sale may be made as provided in this chapter. The word ''taxes'', as used in the provisions of this and the following sections of this chapter relating to collection by sale or taking of any parcel of land shall, so far as pertinent, include all taxes, assessments or portions thereof, rates and charges of every nature which constitute a lien upon such parcel and which have lawfully been placed upon the annual tax bill of a municipality or of a district wholly or partly located within its limits. The collector, on behalf of such municipality and district or either of them, shall make a single sale or taking of any parcel of land for all unpaid taxes as so defined. If the municipality purchases or takes the land in such case, the proceeds received upon redemption of the tax title or upon a sale following foreclosure of the right of redemption shall be applied first to taxes assessed on account of the municipality under chapter fifty-nine, including interest thereon, and all costs, charges and terms of redemption in any way resulting from such sale or taking, second to any district taxes, including interest thereon, in the order in which they were committed to the collector, and the balance to other assessments or portions thereof, rates and charges, including interest thereon, in the order in which they were committed to the collector.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 44 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 44 - Adjournment

Section 44. The collector may adjourn the sale from time to time not exceeding seven days in all, and shall give notice of every adjournment by a public declaration thereof at the time and place appointed for the sale.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 45 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 45 - Collector's Deed; Contents; Effect

Section 45. The collector shall execute and deliver to the purchaser a deed of the land, stating the cause of sale, the price for which the land was sold, the name of the person on whom the demand for the tax was made, the places where the notices were posted, the name of the newspaper in which the advertisement of the sale was published, and the residence of the grantee, and shall contain a warranty that the sale has in all particulars been conducted according to law. The deed shall convey the land to the purchaser, subject to the right of redemption. The title thus conveyed shall, until redemption or until the right of redemption is foreclosed as hereinafter provided, be held as security for the repayment of the purchase price, with all intervening costs, terms imposed for redemption and charges, with interest thereon, and the premises conveyed, both before and after either redemption or foreclosure, shall also be subject to and have the benefit of all easements and restrictions lawfully existing in, upon or over said land or appurtenant thereto, and, except as provided in section seventy-seven, all covenants and agreements running with said premises either at law or in equity, when so conveyed. Such deed shall not be valid unless recorded within sixty days after the sale. If so recorded it shall be prima facie evidence of all facts essential to the validity of the title thereby conveyed, whether the deed was executed on or before as well as since July first, nineteen hundred and fifteen. No sale hereafter made shall give to the purchaser any right to possession of the land until the right of redemption is foreclosed, as hereinafter provided.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 46 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 46 - Defective Titles; Reimbursement of Purchasers; Reassessment

Section 46. If it subsequently appears that, by reason of an error, omission or informality in the assessment or the sale, the purchaser has no claim upon the property sold, he may within six months after the date of the deed, offer by writing given to the collector to surrender and discharge his deed or to assign and transfer to the town all his right, title and interest in the premises, as the collector shall elect. Such offer shall contain a specific statement of the reason why the holder has no claim on the land sold, with the evidence on which he relies, and if such evidence consists of any public record or of facts shown therein, such offer shall contain a specific reference thereto. Upon such surrender and discharge or assignment and transfer, the town shall pay to the purchaser the amount which he paid, with interest at the rate of eight per cent per annum, which payment shall be in full for all damages for any defects in the proceedings or under the warranty in such deed. No town and no treasurer or collector thereof shall pay or be liable for any amount due under this section unless such statement is filed.  Upon such payment except in case an assignment and transfer is given to the town, the collector shall cause a surrender and discharge of the tax title deed to be recorded in the proper registry of deeds; and thereupon, if the error, omission or informality by reason of which it appears that the purchaser has no claim upon the property sold occurred in the assessment of the tax or assessment, the collector shall notify the board by which the tax or assessment was laid, which shall forthwith reassess it as provided in section seventy-seven of chapter fifty-nine, and if it occurred in the proceedings of the collector, he shall forthwith proceed to collect the unpaid tax or assessment in conformity to law.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 47 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 47 - Tax Title Owners; Filing Required Statements

Section 47. Whoever has a title to land under a sale for non-payment of taxes or other assessment and is a resident of the town where such land lies shall file with the treasurer thereof and in the registry of deeds a statement of his residence and place of business, with the street and number, if any. Such person, who is not a resident of such town or who removes therefrom, shall appoint an agent residing therein, or in the town where the tax deed is recorded, authorized to release such land. He shall also file the statement above required in which he shall also state the name of such agent and his residence and place of business, with the street and number, if any. Whenever a person holding a tax title changes his residence or place of business or agent, he shall file a new certificate. Tender of payment to, and service of process upon, such agent shall be a sufficient tender to, or service upon, the holder of such tax title.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 48 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 48 - Insufficient Bids; Municipality as Purchaser; Collector's Duties

Section 48. If at the time and place of sale no person bids for the land offered for sale an amount equal to the tax and charges, and if the sale has been adjourned one or more times, the collector shall then and there make public declaration of the fact; and, if no bid equal to the tax and charges is then made, he shall give public notice that he purchases for the town by which the tax is assessed said land as offered for sale at the amount of the tax and the charges and expenses of the levy and sale. Said amount, together with the cost of recording the deed of purchase, shall be allowed him in his settlement with such town, provided he has caused the deed to be duly recorded within sixty days after the purchase and to be delivered to the town treasurer.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 49 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 49 - Purchase Price Unpaid; Validity of Sale

Section 49. If the purchaser fails to pay the collector within twenty days after the sale the amount bid by him, the sale shall be void, and the town shall be deemed to be the purchaser of the land, under the preceding section.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 50 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 50 - Municipalities as Purchasers; Deeds; Tax Title Accounts; Foreclosures

Section 50. If the town becomes the purchaser, the deed to it, in addition to the statements required by section forty-five, shall set forth the fact that no sufficient bid was made at the sale or that the purchaser failed to pay the amount bid, as the case may be, and shall confer upon such town the rights and duties of an individual purchaser. Every such deed and every instrument of taking described in section fifty-four shall be in the custody of the town treasurer, and there shall be set up on the books of the town, whether kept by the treasurer or otherwise, a separate account of each parcel of land covered by any such deed or instrument, to which shall be charged the amount stated in the deed or instrument, the cost of recording the same, and, upon certification in accordance with section sixty-one, all uncollected taxes assessed to such parcel for any year subsequent to that for the taxes for which such parcel was purchased or taken, with all legal costs and charges thereon, including interest accrued up to the date of such certification, until redemption, foreclosure or assignment. The tax title account hereby required to be kept, or a duly authenticated copy thereof, shall be prima facie evidence of all facts essential to the determination of the amount necessary for redemption. The town treasurer shall institute proceedings for foreclosure as soon as such proceedings are authorized by sections sixty-two and sixty-five.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 50a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 50a - Municipalities; Land Held Under Tax Sales; Protecting Interests

Section 50A. In the event of the filing of a certificate under clause (38) of section five of chapter forty in respect to any particular real estate held by a town under a purchase or taking for non-payment of taxes, the collector shall make a written demand upon the owner of record thereof requiring that he take certain specified action to preserve, care for or maintain the same or protect by insurance or otherwise the town's interest therein, within a period fixed in the demand the expiration of which, except in case of emergency, shall be not earlier than seventy-two hours after the date on which the service of said demand is completed. Said demand shall be served upon such owner of record by mailing the same to him at his last known residence or place of business, postage prepaid, and by posting a copy thereof upon such real estate. In default of action in compliance with such demand, the town may proceed to take the specified action and the expenses incurred on account thereof shall be included in the tax title account for such real estate and be treated in all respects as part of the legal costs and charges of collection.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 50b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 50b - Municipalities; Foreclosure Proceedings; Appropriations

Section 50B. Every city or town shall include in its annual budget the amount estimated by its treasurer as the amount necessary for land court proceedings for tax title foreclosure; provided, that the amount so included shall be not less than eighty dollars for each tax title ripe for foreclosure held by said city or town as security for the payment of taxes involving property having a current assessed valuation in excess of one thousand dollars.  If in any year the amount so estimated is not included in the budget as finally passed the treasurer shall certify in writing to the assessors such portion of the amount estimated in accordance with the preceding paragraph as has not been provided and the assessors shall raise in the assessment for such year the amount certified to them by the treasurer and thereupon said amount shall be added to the treasurer's appropriation and may be expended by said treasurer for necessary land court proceedings for tax title foreclosure.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 51 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 51 - Several Parcels of Small Value; Sale Together

Section 51. If unimproved and unoccupied land does not exceed four thousand square feet in area, or is laid out in lots or parcels no one of which exceeds such area, and the taxes unpaid for any one year do not exceed fifty cents on such land, or on any such lot or parcel thereof, the collector may give notice of the sale by publication of an advertisement stating the name of the owner of record of each lot on January first of the year of assessment, the tax due thereon and the number of such lot on a street, way or plan, without further description thereof. The collector may convey in one deed to the same purchaser or convey to the town any number of the lots so advertised and sold, and said deed shall state the name of said owner of record of each lot conveyed therein, on January first of said year, the amount of the taxes and costs due for each lot, and the number on the street, way or plan of each lot respectively, and need contain no further description of the lot, owner or amount due. The cost of the sale shall be apportioned equally among all the lots sold, and the cost of the deed shall be apportioned equally among all the lots conveyed thereby.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 52 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 52 - Management and Sale of Land Acquired for Taxes

Section 52. Cities and towns may make regulations for the possession, management and sale of land purchased or taken for taxes, not inconsistent with law, regulations promulgated by the department of revenue or the right of redemption. The treasurer of any city or town holding 1 or more tax titles may assign and transfer such tax title or titles, individually or bundled, to the highest bidder after a public auction, after having given 14 days' notice of the time and place of such public auction by publication, which shall conform to the requirements of section 40, and having posted such notice in 2 or more convenient and public places in said city or town, provided that the sum so paid for such assignment is not less than the amount necessary for redemption, and may execute and deliver on behalf of the city or town any instrument necessary therefor. The treasurer shall send notice of the intended assignment to the owner of record of each parcel at his last known address not less than 10 days prior to the assignment, but failure to receive such notice shall not affect the validity of the assignment. The instrument of assignment shall be in a form approved by the commissioner and shall be recorded within 60 days from its date and if so recorded shall be prima facie evidence of all facts essential to its validity. The instrument of assignment shall, for each parcel assigned thereunder, state the amount for which the tax title on the parcel could have been redeemed on the date of the assignment, separately stating for each parcel the principal amount and the total interest accrued until the date of assignment. The principal amount shall be the sum of the amounts for which the parcel was taken and amounts subsequently certified under section 61. Except as hereinafter otherwise provided, all provisions of law applicable in cases where the original purchaser at a tax sale is another than the city or town shall thereafter apply in the case of such an assignment, as if the assignee had been a purchaser for the original sum at the original sale or at a sale made at the time of the taking and had paid to the city or town the subsequent taxes and charges included in the sum paid for the assignment. Any extension of the time within which foreclosure proceedings may not be instituted granted by a city or town treasurer prior to assignment shall be binding upon the assignee.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 53 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 53 - Taking for Taxes; Notice

Section 53. If a tax on land is not paid within fourteen days after demand therefor and remains unpaid at the date of taking, the collector may take such land for the town, first giving fourteen days' notice of his intention to exercise such power of taking, which notice may be served in the manner required by law for the service of subpoenas on witnesses in civil cases or may be published, and shall conform to the requirements of section forty. He shall also, fourteen days before the taking, post a notice so conforming in two or more convenient and public places.  Whenever the collector of taxes of a city or town shall have taken land therein he may, in the name and on behalf of said city or town, take immediate possession of such land and, until the tax title so acquired is redeemed, collect the rent and other income from such land, which rent and income, after the payment therefrom of all necessary expenses in the care, repair and management of such land, shall be applied on account of the taxes, assessments, rates, charges, interest and costs due said city or town on said land, with any balance remaining being paid to the person otherwise entitled thereto. Upon petition of any person having a right to redeem such tax title, the superior court for the county within which the land lies, if it adjudges justice and the circumstances so warrant, may, upon such terms as it shall deem equitable, enjoin a taking of possession under this section or command the surrender of a possession taken.  Neither said city or town nor any of its officers, agents or employees shall be liable or accountable to the owner or to any other person having an interest in such land for failure to collect rent or other income therefrom; and neither said city or town nor any of its officers, agents or employees shall be liable for injury or damage caused by the possession of land under the section to such land or to the person or property of any person.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 54 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 54 - Instrument of Taking; Form; Contents; Effect

Section 54. The instrument of taking shall be under the hand and seal of the collector and shall contain a statement of the cause of taking, a substantially accurate description of each parcel of land taken, the name of the person to whom the same was assessed, the amount of the tax thereon, and the incidental expenses and costs to the date of taking. Such an instrument of taking shall not be valid unless recorded within sixty days of the date of taking. If so recorded it shall be prima facie evidence of all facts essential to the validity of the title so taken, whether the taking was made on or before as well as since July first, nineteen hundred and fifteen. Title to the land so taken shall thereupon vest in the town, subject to the right of redemption. Such title shall, until redemption or until the right of redemption is foreclosed as hereinafter provided, be held as security for the repayment of said taxes with all intervening costs, terms imposed for redemption and charges, with interest thereon, and the premises so taken, both before and after either redemption or foreclosure, shall also be subject to and have the benefit of all easements and restrictions lawfully existing in, upon or over said land or appurtenant thereto, and, except as provided in section seventy-seven, all covenants and agreements running with said premises either at law or in equity, when so taken.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 55 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 55 - Fees for Taking

Section 55. If land has been so taken there shall be allowed to the collector and added to the tax the charges and fees fixed by section fifteen, and also the cost of recording the instrument of taking, provided he has caused such instrument to be duly recorded within sixty days after the taking and to be delivered to the town treasurer.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 56 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 56 - Taking in Name of One of Several Owners; Extent of Taking

Section 56. The assessment, sale or taking may be made in the name of one or more of the record owners at the date of assessment, and if so made, shall, subject to section forty-three, be deemed to be in the name of the owner thereof. Every such sale or taking shall be of the whole estate and not of the undivided interest of any joint owner thereof.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 57 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 57 - Affidavit of Collector, etc.; Evidence

Section 57. The affidavit of the collector, deputy collector or disinterested person reciting the proceedings required by law in the sale of land for taxes, with copies of the advertisement and notices annexed thereto, recorded within three months after such sale in the registry of deeds, shall be competent evidence of demand, notice and service.
MA Gen L ch 60 § 57a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title IX - Taxation|Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes|Section 57a - Payment by Check or Electronic Funds Transfer Not Duly Paid; Penalty

Section 57A. If any check or electronic funds transfer in payment of any tax, interest, penalty, fee or other charge imposed under chapters 59 to 61A, inclusive, or chapter 80 or for any other municipal service rendered is not duly paid there may, in addition to any other penalties provided by law, be paid as a penalty by the person who tendered such check or electronic funds transfer, upon notice and demand by the city or town tax collector, in the same manner as the tax or other amount to which the check or electronic funds transfer relates, an amount equal to 1 per cent of the amount of such check or electronic funds transfer; provided, however, that if the amount of such check or electronic funds transfer is less than $2,500, the penalty under this section shall be $25. Any person upon whom such penalty is imposed may appeal to the city or town tax collector who shall abate the same if the tax collector determines that such person tendered such check or electronic funds transfer in good faith and with reasonable cause to believe that it would be paid.