2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases › Chapter 254 - Liens on Buildings and Land › Section 5a - Court Order Authorizing Sale of Real Estate; Procedure

Section 5A. When the amount of a lien under section six of chapter 183A or under section 29 of chapter 183B has been established by a court, the court shall enter an order authorizing the sale of the real estate to satisfy such lien. The lienor may do all acts authorized by such order, but no sale pursuant to such order shall be effectual unless, previous to such sale, notice thereof has been published once in each of three successive weeks, the first publication to appear not less than twenty-one days before the date of such sale, in a newspaper published in the town where the land lies or, if no newspaper is published in such town, in a newspaper published in the county where the land lies, and this provision shall be implied in every court order for sale hereunder in which it is not expressly set forth. A newspaper which by its title page purports to be printed or published in such town, city or county, and having a circulation therein, shall be sufficient for the purpose.
For a lien under chapter 183A, such form shall be printed in substantially the following form:
SALE OF REAL ESTATE
UNDER GLM 183A:6
By virtue of a Judgment and Order of the ___ Court (docket no. ___) in favor of ___ against ___ establishing a lien pursuant to GLM 183A:6 on the real estate known as Unit ___ of the ___ Condominium for the purpose of satisfying such lien, the real estate will be sold at Public Auction at ___ o'clock . M. on the ___ day of ___ A.D. (insert year) at . The premises to be sold are more particularly described as follows:
Description: (Describe premises exactly as in the deed, including all references to title, restrictions, encumbrances, etc.)
Terms of sale: (State the amount, if any, to be paid in cash by the purchaser at the time and place of the sale, and the time or times for payment of the balance or the whole as the case may be.)
Other terms to be announced at the sale.
(Signed)___ ___ Lienholder
___(insert year)
For a lien under chapter 183B, such form shall be printed in substantially the following form:
SALE OF REAL ESTATE UNDER GLM 183B:29
By virtue of a Judgment and Order of the ___ Court (docket no, ___) in favor of ___ against ___ establishing a lien pursuant to GLM 183B:29 on the time-share known as ___ of the ___ for the purpose of satisfying such lien, the time-share will be sold at Public Auction at ___ o'clock .M. on the ___ day of ___ A.D. 19___ at . The premises to be sold are more particularly described as follows:
Description: (Describe premises exactly as in the deed, including all references to title, restrictions, encumbrances, etc.)
Terms of sale: (State the amount, if any, to be paid in cash by the purchaser at the time and place of the sale, and the time or times for payment of the balance or the whole as the case may be.)
Other terms to be announced at the sale.
(Signed)___ ___ Lienholder
___ 19
Such notice of sale in the above form, published in accordance with the provisions of this section, together with such other or further notice, if any, required by the court, shall be deemed a sufficient notice of the sale and the premises shall be deemed to have been sold, and the deed thereunder shall convey the premises, subject to, and with the benefit of, all restrictions, easements, improvements, outstanding tax titles, municipal or other public taxes, assessments, and first mortgages recorded prior to the recording of the complaint, whether or not reference to such restrictions, easements, improvements, outstanding tax titles, municipal or other public taxes, assessments, or first mortgages is made in the deed; but no purchaser at such sale shall be bound to complete the purchase if there are encumbrances, other than those included in the notice of the sale, which are not stated at the sale and included in the auctioneer's contract with the purchaser. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the premises shall be deemed to have been sold, and the deed thereunder shall convey the premises, as otherwise provided above but free of said first mortgages, if as of the date of such sale there are unpaid common expense assessments, costs, or reasonable attorneys' fees the lien for which is given priority over said first mortgages in subsection (c) of section six of chapter one hundred and eighty-three A. Any sale pursuant to this section shall convey the premises free of any right of redemption.
The person or entity selling, or their attorney, may cause a copy of the notice and an affidavit, stating that the requirements of the court order and of this section have been complied with, to be recorded with a note of reference thereto on the margin of the record of the complaint previously recorded, and such affidavit or a certified copy of the record thereof shall be admitted as evidence that the sale was duly executed.
For the purposes of this section, the term ''recorded'' shall mean recorded in the registry of deeds or land registration office for the county or district where the land lies.