reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 17a - Agreement for Purchase and Sale of Real Estate; Acknowledgment; Recordation

Section 17A. No agreement for the purchase and sale of real estate or any extension thereof shall be received for record in any registry of deeds unless such agreement or extension thereof is acknowledged by the parties agreeing to sell such real estate or one of them. No agreement for the purchase and sale of real estate which is recorded shall have any effect as against persons other than the parties thereto after the expiration of a period of ninety days from the date provided for the delivery of the deed by such agreement, or by such agreement as extended, as the case may be, unless prior to the expiration of such period an action or suit shall have been commenced to enforce such agreement and a memorandum like that described in section fifteen shall have been recorded in said registry of deeds; provided, that such agreement shall not be deemed to be extended, for the purposes of this section, by any instrument which is not recorded within ninety days from the date provided for the delivery of the deed by such agreement, or by such agreement as last previously extended.
If an individual, firm or corporation holds funds entrusted to him pursuant to a written agreement for the sale of real property and the written agreement expressly authorizes the individual, firm or corporation, as escrow agent, to continue to hold the funds in the event of a dispute between the buyer and seller concerning entitlement to the funds, no claim shall be maintained against the individual, firm or corporation, as escrow agent, whether as trustee, stakeholder or otherwise, if the escrow agent has complied with the mutual written instructions of the buyer and seller, if any, and any order or judgment of a court or final decision of an arbitrator with regard to accounting for or disbursing the funds. In an action commenced with regard to entitlement to such escrowed funds, a party to the action may file a motion seeking an order to have the funds paid into court by the escrow agent. Written notice of the motion shall be given by the moving party to all other parties and to the escrow agent. The escrow agent shall pay the funds into court within ten days of receipt of such order or within such other time as provided by the court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 17b - Mortgage Loan Application; Real Estate Consisting of a Certain Dwelling House; Required Statements and Information

Section 17B. Every application for a mortgage loan on 1–to–4–family residential property and occupied or to be occupied in whole or in part by the obligor on the mortgage debt shall be made on a printed form which shall contain the following 2 statements in type of at least 2 points larger than the other type used on the application:
(1) The responsibility of the attorney for the mortgagee is to protect the interest of the mortgagee.
(2) Mortgagors may, at their own expense, engage an attorney of their selection to represent their interests in the transaction.
A printed copy of the above statements shall be given to the mortgagor at the time of making the application.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 17b1/2 - Variable or Adjustable Rate Subprime Loans for First-Time Home Loan Borrowers; Written Affirmation and Counseling Certificate Required; Approved Counseling Programs; Violations; Regulations

Section 17B1/2. No mortgagee who makes a loan to a first-time home loan borrower, to be secured by a mortgage on owner-occupied, 1 to 4 family residential property in the commonwealth, shall make a subprime loan at a variable or adjustable rate of interest unless the mortgagor affirmatively opts in writing for the variable or adjustable rate subprime loan and receives certification from a counselor with a third-party nonprofit organization that the mortgagor has received counseling in person on the advisability of the loan transaction; provided, further that said third party nonprofit organization shall have been approved by: (1) the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development; (2) a housing financing agency of the commonwealth; (3) the Massachusetts Homeownership Collaborative; (4) or the regulatory agency which has jurisdiction over the mortgagee. The commissioner of the division of banks shall maintain a list of approved counseling programs. At or before closing such a loan, the mortgagee shall obtain evidence that the mortgagor has completed an approved counseling program. If such subprime mortgage loan is made by a mortgagee in violation of this section, the variable or adjustable rate terms of the loan shall not be enforceable and the mortgagee shall only be entitled to collect an interest rate equal to the lesser of the original interest rate, including any discounted rate, or the current adjusted interest rate throughout the remaining term of the loan. The commissioner of banks shall issue directives or guidelines or adopt regulations to administer and carry out this section and to further define the terms used in this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 18 - Entry Into Land; Legal Proceedings Required to Recover Possession of Land or Tenements; Jurisdiction

Section 18. No person shall make an entry into land or tenements except in cases where his entry is allowed by law, and in such cases he shall not enter by force, but in a peaceable manner.
No person shall attempt to recover possession of land or tenements in any manner other than through an action brought pursuant to chapter two hundred and thirty-nine or such other proceedings authorized by law. The superior and district courts shall have jurisdiction in equity to enforce the provisions of this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 21 - Encumbrances Upon Real Property; Duty of Grantor to Inform Grantee

Section 21. If real property upon which any encumbrance exists is conveyed by deed or mortgage, the grantor, in whatever capacity he may act, shall before the consideration is paid, by exception in the deed or otherwise make known to the grantee the existence and nature of such prior encumbrance so far as he has knowledge thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 22 - Encumbrance of Record; Liability for Removal

Section 22. Whoever conveys real property by a deed or mortgage which contains a covenant that it is free from all encumbrances shall, if it appears by a public record that an actual or apparent encumbrance, known or unknown to him, exists thereon, be liable in an action of contract to the grantee, his heirs, executors, administrators, successors or assigns, for all damages sustained in removing the same.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 23 - Conditions or Restrictions; Term of Years; Applicability

Section 23. Conditions or restrictions, unlimited as to time, by which the title or use of real property is affected, shall be limited to the term of thirty years after the date of the deed or other instrument or the date of the probate of the will creating them, except in cases of gifts or devises for public, charitable or religious purposes. This section shall not apply to conditions or restrictions existing on July sixteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, to those contained in a deed, grant or gift of the commonwealth, or to those having the benefit of section thirty-two.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 23a - Proceedings Relating to Building Restrictions; Limitation of Actions

Section 23A. No action, suit, or proceeding shall be maintained either at law or in equity in any court to recover damages or to compel the removal, alteration, or relocation of any structure by reason of any violation of any private restriction or condition in the nature of a restriction by which the use of real property is affected in regard to: (a) building set-back requirements from front, side, or rear property lines, (b) the size, type, number of dwelling units, or number of stories of any structure, (c) the addition of any porch, garage, sign, bay window or similar addition, or the location or construction of any driveway, fence or wall, or (d) the materials used or the expenditures made for construction, unless such action, suit, or proceeding is commenced within six years next after the completion of such building, addition, or other construction.
For the purposes of this section, the record of assessment of any house or other structure for taxation shall be prima facie evidence of the completion of such house or structure by the first day of January of the year of assessment.
This section shall not be construed as extinguishing, limiting or abridging any defense against any such action, suit or proceeding which would otherwise be available nor as affecting sections nineteen to twenty-three, inclusive, or sections twenty-four to thirty, inclusive.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 23b - Restrictive Covenants Based on Race, Religion, National Origin or Sex; Validity; Exception

Section 23B. A provision in an instrument relating to real property which purports to forbid or restrict the conveyance, encumbrance, occupancy, or lease thereof to individuals of a specified race, color, religion, national origin or sex shall be void. Any condition, restriction or prohibition, including a right of entry or a possibility of reverter, which directly or indirectly limits the use for occupancy of real property on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or sex shall be void, excepting a limitation on the basis of religion on the use of real property held by a religious or denominational institution or organization or by an organization operated for charitable or educational purposes which is operated, supervised or controlled by or in connection with a religious organization.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 23c - Solar Energy Systems; Installation or Use; Restrictive Provisions

Section 23C. Any provision in an instrument relative to the ownership or use of real property which purports to forbid or unreasonably restrict the installation or use of a solar energy system as defined in section one A of chapter forty A or the building of structures that facilitate the collection of solar energy shall be void.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 23d - Community Residences for Disabled Persons; Restrictive Provisions

Section 23D. Any restriction, reservation, condition, exception, or covenant in any subdivision plan, deed or other instrument of or pertaining to the transfer, sale, lease or use of property which would permit residential use of property but would prohibit a community residence for disabled persons shall, to the extent of such prohibition, be void.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 24 - Defects, Irregularities or Omissions in Deeds; Curative Period

Section 24. When any owner of land the title to which is not registered, or of any interest in such land, signs an instrument in writing conveying or purporting to convey his land or interest, or in any manner affecting or purporting to affect his title thereto, and the instrument, whether or not entitled to record, is recorded, and indexed, in the registry of deeds for the district wherein such land is situated, and a period of ten years elapses after the instrument is accepted for record, and the instrument or the record thereof because of defect, irregularity or omission fails to comply in any respect with any requirement of law relating to seals, corporate or individual, to the validity of acknowledgment, to certificate of acknowledgment, witnesses, attestation, proof of execution, or time of execution, to recitals of consideration, residence, address, or date, to the authority of a person signing for a corporation who purports to be the president or treasurer or a principal officer of the corporation, such instrument and the record thereof shall notwithstanding any or all of such defects, irregularities and omissions, be effective for all purposes to the same extent as though the instrument and the record thereof had originally not been subject to the defect, irregularity or omission, unless within said period of ten years a proceeding is commenced on account of the defect, irregularity or omission, and notice thereof is duly recorded in said registry of deeds and indexed and noted on the margin thereof under the name of the signer of the instrument and, in the event of such proceeding, unless relief is thereby in due course granted.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 25 - Indefinite References; Effect; Application

Section 25. No indefinite reference in a recorded instrument shall subject any person not an immediate party thereto to any interest in real estate, legal or equitable, nor put any such person on inquiry with respect to such interest, nor be a cloud on or otherwise adversely affect the title of any such person acquiring the real estate under such recorded instrument if he is not otherwise subject to it or on notice of it. An indefinite reference means (1) a recital indicating directly or by implication that real estate may be subject to restrictions, easements, mortgages, encumbrances or other interests not created by instruments recorded in due course, (2) a recital or indication affecting a description of real estate which by excluding generally real estate previously conveyed or by being in general terms of a person's right, title or interest, or for any other reason, can be construed to refer in a manner limiting the real estate described to any interest not created by instruments recorded in due course, (3) a description of a person as trustee or an indication that a person is acting as trustee, unless the instrument containing the description or indication either sets forth the terms of the trust or specifies a recorded instrument which sets forth its terms and the place in the public records where such instrument is recorded, and (4) any other reference to any interest in real estate, unless the instrument containing the reference either creates the interest referred to or specifies a recorded instrument by which the interest is created and the place in the public records where such instrument is recorded. No instrument shall be deemed recorded in due course unless so recorded in the registry of deeds for the county or district in which the real estate affected lies as to be indexed in the grantor index under the name of the owner of record of the real estate affected at the time of the recording. This section shall not apply to a reference to an instrument in a notice or statement permitted by law to be recorded instead of such instrument, nor to a reference to the secured obligation in a mortgage or other instrument appearing of record to be given as security, nor in any proceeding for enforcement of any warranty of title.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 27 - Restrictions Imposed After December 31, 1961; Limitations on Enforceability; Extension of Period

Section 27. No restriction imposed after December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and sixty-one shall be enforceable:—
(a) unless the person seeking enforcement (1) is a party to the instrument imposing the restriction and it is stated to be for his benefit or is entitled to such benefit as a successor to such party, or (2) is an owner of an interest in benefited land which either adjoins the subject parcel at the time enforcement is sought or is described in the instrument imposing the restriction and is stated therein to be benefited, and
(b) after thirty years from the imposition of the restriction, unless (1) the restriction is imposed as part of a common scheme applicable to four or more parcels contiguous except for any intervening streets or ways, and provision is made in the instrument or instruments imposing it for extension for further periods of not more than twenty years at a time by owners of record, at the time of recording of the extension, of fifty per cent or more of the restricted area in which the subject parcel is located, and an extension in accordance with such provision is recorded before the expiration of the thirty years or earlier date of termination specified in the instrument and names or is signed by one or more of the persons appearing of record to own the subject parcel at the time of such recording, and in case of such recording, twenty years, or the specified extension term if less than twenty years, has not expired after the recording of any such extension without the recording of a further like extension; or (2) in the case of any other restriction, a notice of restriction is recorded before the expiration of the thirty years, and in case of such recording, twenty years have not expired after the recording of any notice of restriction without the recording of a further notice of restriction.
A notice of restriction under this section shall not extend the period of enforceability unless it (a) is signed by a person then entitled of record to the benefit of the restriction and describes his benefited land, if any, (b) describes the subject parcel, (c) names one or more of the persons appearing of record to own the subject parcel at the time, and (d) specifies the instrument imposing the restriction and its place of record in the public records.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 28 - Restrictions Imposed Before January 1, 1962; Limitations on Enforceability; Extension of Period

Section 28. No restriction imposed before January first, nineteen hundred and sixty-two shall be enforceable after the expiration of fifty years from its imposition unless a notice of restriction is recorded before the expiration of such fifty years or before January first, nineteen hundred and sixty-four, whichever is later, and in case of such recording, twenty years have not expired after the recording of any notice of restriction without the recording of a further notice of restriction.
A notice of restriction under this section shall not extend the period of enforceability unless (a) it meets the requirements specified by the last paragraph of section twenty-seven, or (b) the restriction was imposed as part of a common scheme applicable to four or more parcels contiguous except for any intervening streets or ways and the notice (1) is signed by a person then entitled of record to the benefit of the restriction and describes his benefited land, if any, (2) describes the subject parcels to be affected, and (3) specifies the way or ways, public or open to public use, upon which each such parcel abuts, or nearest to which it is located and its street number, if any, and (4) specifies the instrument imposing the restriction and its place of record in the public records. The holder of record of a recorded mortgage upon any land may sign a notice under this section in place of the owner thereof if the notice specifies the mortgage and its place of record in the public records and names one or more of the persons appearing of record to own the land at that time.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 29 - Notice or Extension of Restriction; Prerequisites

Section 29. No notice or extension of restriction under sections twenty-seven or twenty-eight shall be effective against a subject parcel (a) if its title is registered, unless the notice or extension is noted on the certificate or certificates of title thereof or (b) if its title is not registered, unless (1) the notice or extension is indexed in the grantor index under the names of the persons named therein as owners of the subject parcel, (2) if the instrument imposing the restriction is recorded at a registry of deeds, the notice or extension is noted on the margin of the record of the instrument, and (3) if the instrument imposing the restriction is a will, a duplicate or certified copy of the notice or extension is filed with the records of the probate of the will. No notice under clause (b) of section twenty-eight shall be effective unless indexed in a special index which each register shall maintain arranged alphabetically by city or town and within each city or town, by the ways named, in which are listed the books and pages of record of the notices of restriction and of the instruments therein specified as creating them. Where an instrument imposes more than one restriction a notice or extension may, if it so specifies, apply only to a particular restriction or restrictions. A notice under section twenty-seven or twenty-eight may be given with respect to any number of parcels subject to the restriction and may be joined in by the owners of any number of parcels having the benefit thereof and may be signed in behalf of any person by an attorney or agent and on behalf of any person under disability by a guardian, conservator or parent. No notice given under section twenty-seven or twenty-eight shall entitle any person to enforce a restriction other than the person giving the notice and his successors in title, nor entitle anyone to enforce a restriction if at the time of recording of the notice the restriction is for any reason no longer enforceable.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 34 - Good Faith Purchasers of Interests in Real Estate From Trustees; Binding Effect on Trust; Recording Conditions

Section 34. Any recordable instrument purporting to affect an interest in real estate executed by any person or persons who, in the records of the registry of deeds for the county or district in which the real estate lies, are or appear to be the trustees of a trust shall be binding on the trust in favor of a purchaser or other person relying in good faith on such instrument, notwithstanding (a) inconsistent provisions of the trust, unless said trust is recorded in said registry of deeds, with the place of recording referred to in some instrument in the chain of title to the real estate affected, (b) any amendment, revocation, removal or resignation of trustee, appointment of additional trustee, or other matter affecting the trust, unless the same is recorded in said registry of deeds and noted on the margin of said trust in said registry, or (c) any inadequacy in the consideration recited. As used in this section the term ''trust'' shall not include a trust under a will.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184 - General Provisions Relative to Real Property › Section 35 - Trustee's Certificate; Requirements; Effect

Section 35. Notwithstanding section 25 to the contrary, a certificate sworn to or stated to be executed under the penalties of perjury, and in either case signed by a person who from the records of the registry of deeds or of the registry district of the land court, for the county or district in which real estate owned by a nontestamentary trust lies, appears to be a trustee thereunder and which certifies as to: (a) the identity of the trustees or the beneficiaries thereunder; (b) the authority of the trustees to act with respect to real estate owned by the trust; or (c) the existence or nonexistence of a fact which constitutes a condition precedent to acts by the trustees or which are in any other manner germane to affairs of the trust, shall be binding on all trustees and the trust estate in favor of a purchaser or other person relying in good faith on the certificate. The certificate most recently recorded in the registry of deeds for the county or district in which the real estate lies shall control.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184a - Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities › Section 5 - Options; Preemptive Rights; Leases; Easements; Validity

Section 5. (a) An option in gross with respect to an interest in land or minerals or a preemptive right in the nature of a right of first refusal in gross with respect to an interest in land or minerals becomes invalid if it is not exercised within thirty years after its creation.
(b) A lease to commence at a time certain or upon the happening of a future event becomes invalid if its term does not actually commence in possession within thirty years after its execution.
(c) A nonvested easement in gross becomes invalid if it does not vest within thirty years after its creation.
(d) Any option in gross with respect to an interest in land or minerals, or a preemptive right in the nature of a right of first refusal in gross with respect to an interest in land or minerals, or a lease, or a nonvested easement in gross which option in gross, preemptive right in the nature of a right of first refusal in gross, lease, or nonvested easement in gross held by a government or government agency or subdivision or by a public instrumentality or public authority or by a quasi-public entity, or by an instrumentality created pursuant to chapter forty F becomes invalid if it is not exercised or becomes vested within fifty years after its creation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184a - Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities › Section 7 - Fee Simple Determinable in Land or Fee Simple Subject to Right of Entry for Condition Broken; Term

Section 7. A fee simple determinable in land or a fee simple in land subject to a right of entry for condition broken shall become a fee simple absolute if the specified contingency does not occur within thirty years from the date when such fee simple determinable or such fee simple subject to a right of entry becomes possessory. If such contingency occurs within said thirty years the succeeding interest, which may be an interest in a person other than the person creating the interest or his heirs, shall become possessory or the right of entry exercisable notwithstanding the rule against perpetuities.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184a - Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities › Section 9 - Effect of Act on Validity of Prior Limitations

Section 9. Except as provided in the first sentence of section seven, this chapter shall not be construed to invalidate or modify the terms of any limitation which would have been valid prior to January first, nineteen hundred and fifty-five.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184b - Short Form Terms for Wills and Trusts › Section 1 - Terms; Incorporation by Reference; Copy of Section Defining Term

Section 1. The terms defined in this chapter may be used in any will or trust and, except as otherwise provided in the instrument, shall have the full force, meaning and effect of the words by which they are so defined. Adoption or employment in substance of a defined term in such instrument shall be a sufficient incorporation by reference of the applicable section of this chapter in effect at the date of the execution of the instrument, but this provision shall not preclude other methods or incorporation of any section in part only or subject to such modification as the incorporating instrument may provide. An attorney at law preparing a will or trust who uses a term defined in this chapter shall furnish to the testator or settlor a copy of the section of this chapter by which the term is defined; provided, however, that failure to do so shall not affect the validity of the incorporation by reference.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations › Title I - Title to Real Property › Chapter 184b - Short Form Terms for Wills and Trusts › Section 3 - Statutory Disability Discretionary Powers

Section 3. The following discretionary powers, which shall be known as the ''Statutory Disability Discretionary Powers'', may be conferred by reference upon any fiduciary, and, unless otherwise provided in the instrument by which it is conferred, shall apply to all distributions to be made under the terms of the instrument or under powers or discretions granted to the fiduciary by the instrument to a minor, to a person under such other age as may be specified in the instrument, or to a person whom the fiduciary determines to be unable to properly care for his property by reason of advanced age, mental weakness or physical incapacity:
The fiduciary may make distribution to any person to whom this discretion is applicable or apply or distribute the same for his benefit or account, or retain all or any part of the same, whether principal or income, in trust for him and thereafter at any time or times distribute part or all to him or apply or distribute the same for his benefit or account. When the discretion hereunder terminates, whether by reason of the age, or otherwise, the fiduciary shall distribute any property retained in trust for such person hereunder to such person, or to his guardian or conservator or to his estate, as the case may be. Such discretion shall not apply to any distribution to which the spouse, surviving spouse or surviving child of the testator or settlor making the instrument is entitled either outright or under a trust or share which qualifies for a marital or orphan deduction under applicable federal tax laws, except that distributions may be made to or applied for the benefit of such spouse, surviving spouse or surviving child, as the case may be.
2023 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 2 - Justices and Chief Justice

Section 2. The land court department shall consist of 7 justices, including the chief justice, appointed to the land court department. The justice as provided under section 1 of chapter 211B as the chief justice for the land court department, in addition to his judicial powers and duties, shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section 3 of chapter 211, have the power, authority and responsibility of a chief justice as set forth in section 10 of chapter 211B.
2023 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 6 - Recorder; Appointment; Powers and Duties

Section 6. The governor, with the advice and consent of the council, shall appoint a recorder, who shall hold office during good behavior, but subject, however, to retirement under the provisions of any applicable general or special law relative to retirement systems. Said recorder shall have responsibility for the internal administration of his office, including personnel, staff services and record-keeping. The chief justice or the recorder may submit any dispute that arises between said chief justice and said recorder, concerning the management and administration of the recorder's office, the duties, powers and obligations of the recorder or a member of the recorder's staff, or the interpretation of the personnel standards provided for under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, to the chief justice of the trial court, who shall, within thirty days, determine the matter. The decision of the chief justice of the trial court shall be binding on the parties. The recorder shall not be involuntarily separated from service as such except in the manner provided by section four of chapter two hundred and eleven. He shall attend the sessions of the court, keep a docket of all causes, and affix the seal of the court to all processes or papers requiring it. The recorder may, subject to the approval of the chief justice of the trial court as to compliance with personnel standards promulgated pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, appoint deputy recorders, a first assistant clerk and an assistant clerk of the land court department and may designate, with like approval, two employees, having the title of deputy assistant clerk, who shall, under his direction, perform the duties of clerk of court. The recorder shall have the same powers as a clerk-magistrate in the superior court department of the trial court insofar as such powers relate to civil matters and shall have the authority to hear and rule on petitions for tax foreclosure and for redemption from tax titles pursuant to chapter sixty.
2023 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 7 - Custody and Control of Papers and Documents

Section 7. The recorder shall be under the direction of the chief justice of the land court division and shall have the custody and control of all papers and documents filed with him in any complaint for registration, action or proceeding in said court, and shall carefully number and index them. Said papers and documents may be kept in Boston in the recorder's office, which shall be near the land court, or may be electronically maintained by the recorder's office. He may, with the approval of the chief justice of the land court department, employ necessary assistants and messengers.
2023 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 8 - Places Recorder or Deputy Allowed to Act

Section 8. The recorder and any deputy recorder may act in any county, and after land has been registered, may make all memoranda affecting the title and enter and issue certificates of title as provided in this chapter.
2023 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 9 - Facsimile or Electronic Rendering of Signature of Recorder

Section 9. An authorized facsimile or electronic rendering of the recorder's signature on any court records, orders, decisions, documents or legal papers, or copies thereof, or upon any writ, summons, order of notice, order of attachment or execution shall have the same validity as a written signature of the recorder.
2023 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 10 - Registers of Deeds Acting as Assistant Recorders

Section 10. The register of deeds in each district where land has been registered shall have the same authority as the recorder to make memoranda affecting the title of such land, and to enter and issue new certificates of title, and to affix the seal of the court to such certificates and duplicate certificates of title; but in executing the provisions of this chapter, registers of deeds shall be subject to the general direction of the recorder, in order to secure uniformity; and, in the performance of their duties under this chapter, the official designation of registers of deeds shall be assistant recorders for their respective registry districts.
2023 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 10a - Technical Assistants; Termination

Section 10A. The assistant recorder in any registry, with the approval of the chief justice of the land court department, may appoint one or more technical assistants who shall perform such duties as the court may from time to time assign to them and whose compensation shall be the same as that of the first assistant register of deeds for said registry district. Subject to applicable laws, said assistant recorder, or in the case of abolished counties the state secretary or said assistant recorder, may terminate such technical assistant or assistants unless said chief justice objects in writing within 14 days after the notice of termination.
2023 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 11 - Oath and Bond of Recorder and Assistant Recorders; Additional Duties

Section 11. The recorder and all assistant recorders shall be sworn before the chief justice of the land court, and a record thereof shall be made. They shall give bond in a sum to be fixed by the court, for the faithful performance of their official duties, before entering upon the same. They may administer oaths to persons appearing before them in matters pertaining to the registration of land, if an oath is required. They shall keep accurate accounts of all money received as fees or otherwise, which shall be subject to examination by the director of accounts, in the same manner as accounts of registers of deeds. The recorder shall pay over quarterly to the state treasurer all such money received by him either directly or through the assistant recorders, except that money so received for the cost of publication of notices and for the payment of services and expenses of sheriffs and deputy sheriffs shall be disbursed directly by the record. In case of the absence of an assistant recorder, the assistant register for the district, or if there is no assistant register, the person acting as clerk in the office of the register of deeds, shall perform the duties of the assistant recorder, who shall be responsible for him.
2023 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 12 - Examiners of Title; Appointment; Acting for Recorder

Section 12. The chief justice of the land court department may appoint one or more examiners of title who shall be attorneys at law and he may also appoint a chief title examiner who shall perform all the duties of an examiner of title and such other duties in connection with the work of the court as the chief justice or justice may assign. Any deputy recorder appointed under section six, who is designated for the purpose by the chief justice by a writing filed in the recorder's office, shall in case of absence, sickness or disability of the recorder, or if a vacancy exists in the office of the recorder, perform all of the official duties of the recorder. In case of the absence, sickness or disability of both the recorder and any deputy recorder designated to perform the official duties of the recorder, or of the recorder alone, if a vacancy exists in the position of the deputy recorder designated to perform the official duties of the recorder, the chief title examiner under the title of deputy recorder shall perform all of the official duties of the recorder.
2023 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 13 - Court Officers

Section 13. Upon request of the chief justice, the sheriff of any county other than Suffolk shall assign a deputy to attend the sittings of the land court department in that county. The court administrator, in consultation with the chief justice of the trial court, shall appoint two officers for attendance upon the sessions of said court in Suffolk county.
2023 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 13a - Stenographers

Section 13A. At the trial of any issue of fact in the land court department the first justice may appoint a stenographer, who shall be sworn and shall attend the trial or such part thereof as the first justice may direct, and perform like duties and receive the same compensation therefor as a stenographer appointed by the superior court who is not on salary; and the sums so payable for his attendance at court and for any transcript of his notes or part thereof furnished to the first justice by his direction shall be paid by the commonwealth, upon the certificate of the chief justice of the land court.
2023 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 14 - Salaries and Expenses; Practice of Law; Fees

Section 14. The salary of the recorder of the land court department shall be 81.57 per cent of the salary of the chief justice of said department and shall be paid, subject to appropriation, by the commonwealth. The salaries of the deputy recorder and the chief title examiner of said department shall be eighty-three and one-half percent of said recorder's salary and shall be paid, subject to appropriation, by the commonwealth. The salaries of the assistant clerks of said department shall be seventy-seven percent of said recorder's salary and shall be paid, subject to appropriation, by the commonwealth. The salaries of the title examiners of said department shall be paid by the commonwealth in accordance with the job classification and pay plan established, subject to appropriation, by the court administrator.
The recorder, deputy recorder, chief title examiner, title examiners, and assistant clerks shall devote their entire time during business hours to their respective duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law.
All salaries and expenses of the court shall be paid by the commonwealth, except the salaries of the assistant recorders and the expenses incurred by them under this chapter and the compensation and expenses of their technical assistants appointed under section ten A, which shall be paid by the respective counties. All fees collected by the assistant recorders, except those received upon the filing of petitions, which shall be transmitted with the petitions to the recorder, shall be paid to their respective counties.
2023 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 15 - Trial of Causes and Questions of Fact; Jury Trials; Transfer of Actions to Superior Court

Section 15. Except as provided in section sixteen, all cases in the land court shall be tried and all questions of fact finally determined by the court, unless a timely demand for jury trial is made. In actions which are governed by the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure such demand shall be made in accordance with said Rules. In all other actions the defendant with his answer or a plaintiff within ten days after the time limited by law for filing an appearance and answer, or within ten days after the time allowed by the court for filing an answer, may claim a trial by jury. If trial by jury is claimed, issues therefor upon any material question of fact shall be framed in the land court, and within thirty days after the expiration of the time for claiming a trial by jury, except as otherwise provided in section sixteen and in chapter two hundred and thirty-seven, copies thereof and of all other material papers in the case, certified by the recorder, shall be entered by the moving party in the superior court for the county where the land lies for a jury trial thereon. Failure to enter the copies and papers required by this section or section sixteen or by section twenty-three of chapter two hundred and thirty-seven within the times limited by said sections, respectively, shall constitute a waiver of the claim to a trial by jury, and thereafter the superior court shall have no further jurisdiction of the case. Upon the motion of either party in the superior court the cause shall be advanced for speedy hearing, but no matters shall be tried in the superior court except those specified in the issues. Questions of law arising in the superior court may be appealed by any party aggrieved by any opinion, direction, or judgment of the court to the appeals court or, subject to the provisions of section ten of chapter two hundred and eleven A, to the supreme judicial court. Questions of law arising in the land court on any decision, judgment, or decree may be appealed by any party aggrieved thereby to the appeals court or, subject to the provisions of section ten of chapter two hundred and eleven A, to the supreme judicial court. The land court, after any decision or judgment dependent upon questions of law, may report such decision or judgment, with so much of the case as is necessary for understanding such questions of law, for the determination of the appeals court.
The land court may, upon application of either party or upon its own motion, transfer to the superior court any action in which no right, title or interest to land is involved and which is not set forth in section one as being within the exclusive original jurisdiction of the land court.