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2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 23a - Certificate of Liens; Fee Schedule; Acceptance of Section Prior to Jan. 1, 1988

Section 23A. In any city or town accepting the provisions of this section, prior to January first, nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, the collector of taxes shall furnish a certificate of liens as provided in section twenty-three according to the following fee schedule: for land of less than one acre upon which there is no permanent structure a fee of ten dollars; for land upon which is situated no more than a single family residence and outbuildings a fee of ten dollars; for land upon which is situated no more than a two family residence and outbuildings a fee of fifteen dollars; for land upon which is situated no more than a three family residence with outbuildings a fee of twenty dollars; for land upon which is situated a residence for four or more families a fee of forty dollars; for land upon which is situated a commercial, industrial or public utility structure a fee of one hundred dollars; for farms, forest land and all other real property a fee of fifty dollars. In no case shall the fee exceed one half of one per cent of the assessed value of the real estate and the money so received shall be paid into the town treasury.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 23b - Certificate of Liens; Fee Schedule

Section 23B. In any city or town accepting the provisions of this section, the collector of taxes shall furnish a certificate of liens as provided in section twenty-three according to the following fee schedule: for land of less than one acre upon which there is no permanent structure, a fee of twenty-five dollars; for land upon which is situated no more than a single family residence and outbuildings, a fee of twenty-five dollars; for land upon which is situated no more than a two family residence and outbuildings, a fee of twenty-five dollars; for land upon which is situated no more than a three family residence with outbuildings, a fee of twenty-five dollars; for land upon which is situated a residence for four or more families, a fee of one hundred dollars; for land upon which is situated a commercial, industrial or public utility structure, a fee of one hundred and fifty dollars; for farms, forest land and all other real property, a fee of fifty dollars. In no case shall the fee exceed one half of one per cent of the assessed value of the real estate and the money so received shall be paid into the town treasury.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 24 - Levy by Distress or Seizure and Sale; Exemptions

Section 24. If a person refuses or neglects to pay his tax for fourteen days after demand, and after a warrant to collect and a warrant to distrain or commit is issued pursuant to section twenty-nine, the collector may without unnecessary delay levy the same by distress, or seizure and sale of his goods, except tools or implements necessary for his trade or occupation, beasts of the plough necessary for the cultivation of his improved land, military arms, uniforms and equipment, utensils for housekeeping necessary for upholding life, and bedding and apparel necessary for himself and family.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 25 - Detention of Goods Distrained; Notice; Sale

Section 25. The collector may keep the goods distrained, at the expense of the owner and, if they are not redeemed by payment by the owner or his agent of the tax due, shall within thirty days after the seizure, sell them by public auction for a payment of the tax and charges of keeping and sale, first posting notice of the sale in some public place in the town at least forty-eight hours prior thereto.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 27 - Levy of Tax on Land by Distress of Stock and Produce

Section 27. If a person is taxed for land in his occupation, but of which he is not the owner, the collector, or his designee, after demand for payment, the issuance of the warrant to collect, and the issuance of the warrant to distrain or commit pursuant to section twenty-nine, may levy the tax by distress by the sale of cattle, sheep, horses, swine or other stock or produce of such estate, belonging to the owner thereof, which, within nine months after such assessment has been committed to him, may be found upon the premises, in the same manner as if such stock or produce were the property of the person so taxed; provided, however, that such demand for payment need not be made if the person on whom the tax is assessed resided within the precinct of the collector at the time of the assessment, and subsequently removes therefrom and remains absent three months.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 29 - Issuance of Warrant to Collect; Hearing; Imprisonment

Section 29. If a person refuses or neglects to pay his tax for fourteen days after demand, the collector shall issue a warrant to collect said tax including interest, charges and fees. A warrant issued under this section may be signed by the collector or his deputy, and a facsimile of the signature of the collector shall have the same validity as his written signature.
If a person refuses or neglects to pay his tax after the collector or his designee has notified the person by mail or other means that a warrant to collect has been issued, and the collector or his designee exhibits a copy of the said warrant to collect, or delivers a copy thereof to the taxpayer, or leaves it at his last and usual place of abode, or of business, said collector or his designee may request a hearing in the district court having jurisdiction. Upon such request for hearing, the court may issue a summons, requiring said person to appear at a time and place named therein and submit to an examination on oath relative to his property and ability to pay and as to whether the tax, interest, charges and fees are owed. Such summons may be served by an officer qualified to serve civil process, including said collector or his designee, by delivering to the debtor an attested copy thereof, or by leaving it at his last and usual place of abode, at least seven days before the return day thereof. If service is not made, the court may order further notice.
If the court finds that the debt is owed and there is sufficient property and an ability to pay, a warrant to distrain or commit and take the body of such person and commit him to jail shall issue to the collector or his designee to serve upon said person, according to law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 30 - Certificate of Commitment

Section 30. A collector who commits a person to jail pursuant to a warrant to distrain or commit shall give to the keeper thereof a certificate signed by him stating that he has committed the person for nonpayment of his tax and for want of goods and chattels whereof to make distress and setting forth the amount said person shall pay for said tax, interest, charges and fees.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 31 - Release of Imprisoned Taxpayers; Proceedings

Section 31. The notice required by chapter two hundred and twenty-four to be given to a creditor may be given to any one of the assessors or to the collector of the city or town where the tax was assessed, any of whom may appear at the examination and do all other things which a creditor might do upon such supplementary proceedings. If a debtor is unable to pay such tax, he may be discharged in the manner provided under such proceedings.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 32 - Liability of Collector for Taxes, etc., After Discharge

Section 32. The collector shall be liable for the tax and the charges of imprisonment of a person discharged, unless he arrested and committed such person within two years after the tax was committed to him for collection, or unless he shall be exonerated therefrom by the town to which the tax is due.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 34 - Warrants; Release After Service; Rearrest

Section 34. If a tax assessed upon a person remains unpaid for fourteen days after demand therefor, a warrant to collect shall issue, and, thereafter, a warrant to distrain or commit may issue pursuant to section twenty-nine; but a collector or his designee to whom the court issues the warrant to distrain or commit may request that the court suspend the commitment of the taxpayer for a period of time not exceeding fourteen days and after such time if that person has not paid his tax, with all fees and charges due thereon, including the fee for service of said warrant and travel as provided by section fifteen, said officer shall then arrest said person on the aforesaid warrant, and commit him to the jail of the county where he makes the arrest or of the county wherein the city or town in which the tax is payable lies. The warrant shall run throughout the commonwealth, and any officer to whom it is directed as aforesaid may serve it and apprehend the person in any county.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 34a - Bond; Release of Delinquent Taxpayer From Custody

Section 34A. A person shall not be committed to jail for the non-payment of a tax, nor shall a person so committed be further detained therein, if he gives to the collector or to the officer charged with the service of the collector's warrant a bond running to the collector sufficient in amount to cover the amount of the tax and all interest and other charges and fees which are or may become due thereon, conditioned to pay the same to the collector or officer within thirty days thereafter or within such further time as the collector or officer may fix, and with such surety or sureties as the collector or officer or a master in chancery may approve. A person shall not be committed for such non-payment until he has been given a reasonable time to procure such a bond.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 35 - Actions Against Delinquent Taxpayers

Section 35. If a tax which has been committed to a collector remains unpaid after it has become due and payable, it may be recovered in an action of contract or in any other appropriate action, suit or proceeding brought by the collector either in his own name or in the name of the town against the person assessed for such tax.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 36 - Collection From Decedents' Estates

Section 36. If a person assessed for a tax dies or becomes insolvent before the payment thereof, or if a tax is assessed upon the estate of a deceased person, the executor, administrator or assignee shall, if a demand has been made on him therefor, forthwith on receipt of any money applicable to the payment of the tax, pay the same, and in default shall be personally liable therefor as for his own tax.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 37 - Lien of Taxes on Land; Duration; Sale; Title

Section 37. Taxes assessed upon land, including those assessed under sections twelve, thirteen and fourteen of chapter fifty-nine, shall with all incidental charges and fees be a lien thereon from January first in the year of assessment. Except as provided in section sixty-one, such lien shall terminate at the expiration of three years and six months from the end of the fiscal year for which such taxes were assessed, if in the meantime the estate has been alienated and the instrument alienating the same has been recorded, otherwise it shall continue until a recorded alienation thereof, but if while such lien is in force a tax sale or taking is made, and the deed or instrument of taking has been duly recorded within sixty days, but the sale or taking is invalid by reason of any error or irregularity in the proceedings subsequent to the assessment, the lien and also the lien or liens for any subsequent taxes or charges which have been added to the tax title account under authority of section sixty-one shall continue for ninety days after a surrender and discharge under section forty-six or a release, notice or disclaimer under sections eighty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, has been duly recorded, or for ninety days after the sale or taking has been finally adjudged invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction. If at any time while a lien established by this section is in force, a sale or taking cannot in the opinion of the collector be legally made because of any federal or state law or because of any injunction or other action of, or proceeding in, any federal or state court or because of the action of any administrative body, the lien, if the statement provided for in section thirty-seven A is filed, shall continue as provided in said section thirty-seven A, subject, however, to any lawful action under any paramount authority conferred by the constitution or laws of the United States or the constitution of the commonwealth. Said taxes, if unpaid for fourteen days after demand therefor, may, with said charges and fees, be levied by sale or taking of the real estate, if the lien or liens thereon have not terminated. No tax title and no item included in a tax title account shall be held to be invalid by reason of any error or irregularity which is neither substantial nor misleading, whether such error or irregularity occurs in the proceedings of the collector or the assessors or in the proceedings of any other official or officials charged with duties in connection with the establishment of such tax title or the inclusion of such item in the tax title account.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 37a - Sales, etc., That Cannot Be Legally Made; Statements by Collectors

Section 37A. If at any time while a lien established by section thirty-seven of this chapter or under chapter eighty or chapter eighty-three is in force, a sale or taking cannot in the opinion of the collector be legally made because of any federal or state law or because of any injunction or other action of, or proceeding in, any federal or state court or because of the action of any administrative body, the collector may file with the register of deeds for record or registration, as the case may be, a statement reciting that the statement is filed pursuant to this section to continue, until abatement or payment, the lien for a tax or assessment in an amount stated, which need not include accrued interest and costs, assessed for a year or on a date specified to a person or persons named upon an estate described. The statement shall also recite the reason why, in the opinion of the collector, a sale or taking cannot then be legally made; but any error or omission in the recitation of such reason shall not affect the validity of such statement. The filing of such statement for record or registration shall operate to extend the time within which a sale or taking may lawfully be made by continuing until payment or abatement of the lien for such tax or assessment and all assessments or portions thereof, rates and charges of every nature which have been added to or become a part thereof; but the filing of such statement shall not discharge the collector from liability upon his bond for failure to collect such tax, assessment or portion thereof, rate or charge, and the collector shall proceed to sell or take the land within six months after he first gets notice that the disability has been removed. The collector at any time may, and upon the payment or abatement of the tax to which such statement relates shall, file a renunciation of all rights under such statement; and the provisions relative to the recordation of such statement shall apply to the recordation of such renunciation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 37b - Certification of Amounts Necessary for Taking Land Under Sec. 37

Section 37B. The collector of taxes shall certify in writing to the board of assessors the amounts necessary for the taking of land under the provisions of section thirty-seven. The board of assessors shall include the amounts so certified in computing the amount to be raised under the provisions of section twenty-three of chapter fifty-nine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 38 - Mortgagees; Notice Requiring Demand for Payment

Section 38. If a mortgagee of land situated in the place of his residence, before July first of the year in which the tax is assessed, gives written notice to the collector that he holds a mortgage on land, with a description of the land, the demand for payment shall be made on the mortgagee instead of the mortgagor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 39 - Service of Tax Notice; Designating Place

Section 39. If a mortgagee or an owner of land causes a notice, designating a place in the town where such land lies at which all papers relative to taxes on such land which are to be served on him may be left, to be recorded in January of any year in the office of the clerk of such town and, during said month, to be delivered to the collector thereof, the collector shall serve at such place any notice, demand for payment or other paper relating to the taxes on such land which is to be served by him. The collector shall not advertise the sale of such land for two months after the time of a demand so made.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 40 - Notice of Sale; Contents

Section 40. The collector shall give notice by publication of the time and place of sale of land for nonpayment of taxes. Such notice shall contain a substantially accurate description of the several rights, lots or divisions of the land to be sold, which shall be furnished to the collector by the assessors upon demand of the collector, the amount of the tax assessed on each, and the names of all owners known to the collector. Such notice of the sale of the undivided real estate of a deceased person assessed to his heirs or devisees or assessed in general terms to his estate shall contain the names of all the heirs or devisees interested in such real estate, if the probate records of the county where the land lies disclose their identity.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 58 - Payments by Mortgagee; Addition to Debt

Section 58. If the whole or any portion of a tax on land remains unpaid after it is due, the holder of a mortgage upon the land may pay to the collector such amount as is due and unpaid, with the accrued charges and expenses; and the amount so paid may be added to the mortgage debt.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 59 - Payments by Mortgagors or Mortgagees

Section 59. If a tax on land is assessed to a mortgagor and mortgagee separately, any part thereof remaining unpaid on October first following its assessment may be paid by either party. If a mortgagee pays a tax, interest or costs thereon which by law or by the terms of the mortgage was payable by the mortgagor, the amount so paid shall be added to the mortgage debt. If it is by law or by the terms of the mortgage payable by the mortgagee, and is paid by the mortgagor, the amount so paid shall be deducted from the mortgage debt unless the parties have, in writing, otherwise agreed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 60 - Payments by Other Than Fee Owners

Section 60. If a person other than the owner of the fee rightfully pays the taxes assessed on land to the collector or treasurer, before a taking or sale, the collector or treasurer shall at the request of the person so paying give him a certificate of such payment stating the name of the person to whom the land is taxed, of the person paying the tax, and a substantially accurate description of the land. Such collector or treasurer shall charge one dollar for each certificate so issued, and the money so received shall be paid into the town treasury. Such certificate being recorded in the registry of deeds within thirty days from its date shall be notice to all persons of such payment and of the lien therefor. A person whose tax is paid by another shall upon repaying the same have the same right to recover it from the town, if illegally assessed, which he would have had if the tax had been paid by him under written protest.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 61 - Taxes Subsequent to Sale or Taking

Section 61. Whenever a town shall have purchased or taken real estate for payment of taxes the lien of the town on such real estate for all taxes assessed subsequently to the assessment for payment of which the estate was purchased or taken shall continue, and it shall be unnecessary for the town to take or sell said real estate for non-payment of said subsequent taxes, costs and interest; and on redemption from such taking or purchase, said subsequent taxes, costs and interest shall be paid to the town, and the payment shall be made a part of the terms of redemption, except that if any of the said subsequent taxes have not been certified by the collector to the treasurer to be added to the tax title account, then redemption may be made by payment only of the amount of the tax for which the estate was purchased or taken and of such subsequent taxes as shall have been so certified, together with costs and interest. The collector shall certify to the treasurer not later than September first of the year following that of their assessment all subsequent taxes which become part of the terms of redemption and the treasurer shall give him a certificate stating that the amount or amounts have been added to the tax title account or accounts and the collector shall be credited as if the tax had been paid in money. A city or town which has assigned a tax title held by it shall, after such assignment, have all the rights and powers to take or sell the real estate affected thereby, for the nonpayment of taxes, which it would have possessed had said city or town never been the holder of said tax title.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 60 - Collection of Local Taxes › Section 61a - Lands Subject to Tax Titles Held by Municipalities; Taking for Nonpayment of Taxes

Section 61A. Anything contained in section sixty-one to the contrary notwithstanding, if a tax is a lien on land only part of which is subject to a tax title or tax titles held by the town or part of which is subject to a tax title held by the town and the remainder of which is subject to another tax title or tax titles held by the town, the tax shall not be certified as provided in section sixty-one; but the collector shall take the land for the nonpayment of the tax as if no part of such land were subject to a tax title held by the town, except that the notice prior to the taking and the instrument of taking shall, after describing the land, state:—''A portion or all of this land is subject to a tax title or tax titles held by the Town [or City] of ''. The tax title account set up for the tax title resulting from such a taking and the tax title account set up for the prior tax title or tax titles shall be cross-referenced by the treasurer; and no tax title the account for which is so cross-referenced shall be assigned by the town.