reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 12 - Failure of Proprietor to Pay Assessment

Section 12. If a proprietor fails to pay an assessment for six months after demand therefor by the collector or other proper officer, or after a notice of such assessment posted and published in the manner prescribed for the first meeting, the committee of the proprietors or other officers authorized by them for that purpose may sell by public auction and give to the purchaser a deed of so much of the right or share of such proprietor as is sufficient to pay the amount so due from him and all the reasonable charges of the sale, first giving thirty days' notice of the time and place appointed for such sale in the manner prescribed for notifying the first meeting.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 13 - Redemption of Shares

Section 13. The proprietor of the share or part sold may, within one year after the sale, redeem it by paying to the purchaser or his assigns the purchase price with interest at the rate of twelve per cent a year from the time of the sale.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 14 - Sale by Proprietors

Section 14. If there are ten or more proprietors, they may, by vote of more than two thirds both in number and interest at a legal meeting, sell their estate and divide the proceeds thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 15 - Division of Property; Deposit of Records; Fees

Section 15. After the final division of their common property, the proprietors may deposit their records with the clerk of the city or town where the land or any part of it lies; and the clerk may make and certify copies from the records as the clerk of the proprietors might have done. Such proprietors shall, upon so depositing their records, pay the fee provided by clause (27) of section thirty-four of chapter two hundred and sixty-two, and the fees for copies of said records shall be as provided by clause (28) of said section thirty-four.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 16 - Termination of Corporation

Section 16. A final division of the common property shall not dissolve the corporation until the expiration of ten years thereafter; but the proprietors at the time of the division and their heirs shall retain their corporate powers for the purpose of collecting all assessments, debts and effects due or belonging to the corporation, and shall be liable for its debts.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 17 - Powers After Disposal of Property

Section 17. The proprietors may, within ten years after such division, call and hold meetings and vote and raise money by assessments, as before provided, for the payment of their debts and all other charges and demands against them, and may do all other lawful acts necessary for closing their business.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 18 - Management of Distinct Lots or Parcels of Land Enclosed and Fenced in One Common Field

Section 18. If several distinct lots or parcels of land are enclosed and fenced in one common field, or if all the proprietors of such lands agree so to enclose them, the proprietors, if not less than five, may, in the manner hereinafter provided, hold regular meetings for the purpose of managing their common concerns.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 19 - Issuance of Warrant for Meeting Upon Application of Proprietors of Land Comprising Common Field

Section 19. On application of two or more proprietors to a justice of the peace, he shall issue his warrant for a meeting, as provided in section one, which shall be called either in the manner prescribed in section two or by personal notice served on each proprietor fourteen days at least before the time appointed for the meeting. Each proprietor may vote according to the relative amount or value of his interest, if known; otherwise, in accordance with section ten.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 20 - Officers

Section 20. The proprietors may from time to time choose a clerk, three or more assessors, a collector and such other officers as they find to be necessary; each of whom shall continue in office until removed by the proprietors or until his successor is qualified. The clerk and assessors shall be sworn.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 22 - Rules as to Pasturing

Section 22. They may adopt such rules as to pasturing the land and as to other matters in which they have a common interest as they consider just and equitable and most for the general good; but in all other respects each proprietor may manage and cultivate his land as he thinks best.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 23 - Voting Rights; Land Enclosed for One Proprietor's Exclusive Benefit

Section 23. At meetings of proprietors for adopting rules or regulations as to pasturing, land of a proprietor enclosed for his exclusive benefit shall not be valued or reckoned in determining his right to vote on questions relative to pasturing his land.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 24 - Trespass by a Proprietor

Section 24. If a proprietor puts horses, cattle or other beasts into the general field contrary to the regulations of the proprietors, either by putting in more than the number allowed him, or by putting them in before the day fixed therefor, or by keeping them therein longer than the time limited, he shall be considered a trespasser, and his beasts may be impounded as taken doing damage.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 25 - Assessments Upon Proprietors

Section 25. The proprietors may from time to time raise money for defraying their common charges and managing their affairs, which shall be assessed by the assessors upon the several proprietors in proportion to their respective interests; and a proprietor aggrieved by such assessment may apply for an abatement to the county commissioners, who shall hear and determine the case, and whose judgment thereon shall be final.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 26 - Collection of Assessments

Section 26. The clerk shall issue his warrant to the collector, requiring him to collect all amounts so assessed and to pay them over to the clerk or other proper officer according to the orders of the proprietors. The collector shall collect said amounts in the same manner as collectors of towns are authorized to collect town taxes.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 27 - Remedy for Injury to Land Caused by Beasts of Stranger

Section 27. A proprietor injured in his lands by the beasts of a stranger shall have the same remedy therefor as if his land had been enclosed and used separately.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 28 - Apportionment of Fence Among Proprietors

Section 28. The whole fence enclosing such general field shall, so far as found convenient, be apportioned among the proprietors according to the number of acres held and cultivated or otherwise used by each; and the part to be maintained by each proprietor shall be apportioned to him by two or more fence viewers, unless the proprietors agree on such apportionment. The proportion of fence of each proprietor shall be recorded in the books of the proprietors by the clerk, if any; otherwise, by the clerk of the town where the general field is situated.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 29 - Non-Use of Land; Liability for Maintenance or Assessment on Fence

Section 29. A proprietor shall not, so long as he declines to cultivate his land or use it for pasturing, for the growth of wood or otherwise, be required to maintain any part of the fence or to pay any assessment on account of his land.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 30 - Expenses of Apportionment and Maintenance

Section 30. The expense of apportioning the fence and also of making and maintaining such part thereof as cannot be conveniently and justly apportioned to any one proprietor shall be borne by all the proprietors liable to be assessed in proportion to their respective interests; and the part apportioned to each proprietor shall be made and maintained by him so long as he uses his part of the general field for pasturing, planting, mowing or otherwise.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 31 - Repair of Fence by Other Proprietor

Section 31. If the part of the fence apportioned to a proprietor becomes deficient and he does not repair it within three days after notice of such deficiency has been given to him by a fence viewer of the town, it may be repaired by any other proprietor. Two or more fence viewers may examine such repairs, and, if they adjudge them sufficient, may ascertain and determine the cost of the same and make a signed statement thereof and of the amount of their fees.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 32 - Recovery of Cost of Repairs; Double Damages

Section 32. The person making such repairs may demand of the proprietor bound to make them, or of the tenant holding under him, double the cost of the repairs and of the fees of the fence viewers so ascertained; and if they are not paid within one month after notice and demand, he may recover them in tort.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 33 - Emergency Repair of Fence; Recovery of Cost of Repairs

Section 33. If a part of the fence is suddenly blown down or carried away by a flood or tempest at a time when the crops of grain or grass in the field are thereby exposed to immediate destruction or injury, the proprietor to whom such part of the fence was assigned shall repair it within twenty-four hours after notice thereof given to him by a fence viewer; and if he fails so to do, the fence may be repaired by any other proprietor, who may recover double the cost of the repairs and fees, as provided in the preceding section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 34 - Enclosure by Proprietor of Own Land; Effect on Common Field

Section 34. A proprietor may enclose his land at his own expense; and, so long as he keeps it enclosed with a sufficient fence, may cultivate and use it as he thinks fit; and during such period, so far as such enclosed land is concerned, he shall neither be assessed for any expenses incident to the common field nor exercise any control over the portion thereof not enclosed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 35 - Maintenance of Boundaries Within General Field; Violation

Section 35. Every proprietor of land lying unfenced in a general field shall once in every two years, if requested by the owner of the adjoining land, run lines with such owner between their lots and make and keep up the boundaries between them by sufficient bound stones, at their joint expense. If he fails so to do after seven days' notice by the adjoining owner, he shall forfeit two dollars to the use of such adjoining owner.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 36 - Jurisdiction of Superior Court; Order to Fence

Section 36. If it is for the interest of the proprietors of five or more parcels of land to enclose them in one common field, the superior court for the county where the land or any part of it lies may, upon the application of a majority in interest of the proprietors, after notice to all other persons interested and a hearing, order it to be so enclosed, if it appears to be for the common benefit of the parties.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 37 - Fields Established by Court Order; Management

Section 37. After a common or general field is so established by an order of the court, the further proceedings in relation thereto shall be the same as are provided when a field is so enclosed by the consent of the proprietors; and the proprietors shall be entitled to the privileges and be subject to the duties before provided in this chapter relative to the proprietors of fields enclosed by consent.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 38 - Division of General Field; Petition; Committee to Make Division

Section 38. Three or more proprietors of lots in a general field lying within one general fence or enclosure may, by a written petition to the proprietors of such field at a meeting of said proprietors legally warned for the purpose, request to have their lots, either alone or jointly with any other lots in such field, divided from the remainder of the field in order to be enclosed by one common fence and occupied by them as an entire field separately from the other proprietors. If the majority of proprietors in interest present at such meeting withhold or refuse their assent to such division, the superior court may, upon like application, appoint five disinterested and suitable persons within the county where the general field is situated, to be a committee to make the division, if they deem it expedient, and to assign to each field its proportion of the partition fence which by reason of such division should be kept up and maintained by the proprietors of the said general fields respectively.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 39 - Division of General Field; Court Order

Section 39. The committee shall, as soon as may be after their appointment, make return of their doings under their hands to the court; and after its acceptance by the court, the fields so divided shall be deemed separate general fields and the proprietors of the field set off, and the remaining proprietors of the original field, respectively, shall be distinct and separate proprietary bodies, having like powers and privileges and subject to like duties and liabilities as the proprietors of the original general field before the division; but no order for such division shall be made, and no such committee appointed, until the other proprietors have had notice of the petition for such division. Such notice shall be given by serving upon the clerk of the proprietors a copy of the petition at least thirty days before such order or appointment is made.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 179 - Proprietors of Wharves, Real Estate Lying in Common, and General Fields › Section 40 - Discontinuance of a Common Field

Section 40. A majority in interest of the proprietors of a common field, whether established by consent or by order of court, may discontinue it at a legal meeting warned for the purpose; but the discontinuance shall not take effect until the expiration of six months after such vote.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 1 - Application of Chapter

Section 1. This chapter shall apply to all corporations whenever established, except so far as such application may be inconsistent with provisions still in force of any special acts of incorporation, enacted before March eleventh, eighteen hundred and thirty-one, and not subject to amendment, alteration or repeal by the general court, or with provisions of any special acts of incorporation enacted after October first, nineteen hundred and seventy-one.
All corporations existing on October first, nineteen hundred and seventy-one and their directors, officers, members and stockholders shall be entitled to all the rights, privileges and immunities and be subject to all the liabilities set forth in this chapter to the same extent as corporations formed under this chapter and their directors, officers and members; provided that this chapter shall not take away or impair any remedy which may exist by law against a corporation existing on said date, its directors, officers, members or stockholders, for a liability incurred prior thereto.
All corporations shall be subject to such laws as may be enacted after October first, nineteen hundred and seventy-one affecting or altering their corporate rights or duties or dissolving them.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 2 - Definitions

Section 2. In this chapter the following words shall, unless a contrary intention appears, have the following meanings:—
(a) ''articles of organization'', the articles of organization of a corporation, including any special acts, as from time to time restated or amended, including articles of merger or consolidation;
(b) ''by-laws'', the code or codes of rules adopted for the regulation or management of the affairs of the corporation irrespective of the name or names by which such rules are designated;
(c) ''corporation'', a domestic corporation (i) heretofore established either by general or special law for any one or more of the purposes mentioned in section four or (ii) organized under this chapter on or after October first, nineteen hundred and seventy-one;
(d) ''directors'' or ''board of directors'', the directors of a corporation, including persons and officers having the powers of directors;
(e) ''member'', one having membership rights, whether or not designated as a member, in a corporation in accordance with the provisions of its articles of organization or by-laws.
(f) ''public charity'', a corporation holding funds subject to the provisions of section eight of chapter twelve.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 3 - Incorporators; Manner of Incorporation; Classes of Members; Personal Liability of Officers and Directors to Corporation

Section 3. One or more persons, of the age of eighteen years or more in the case of natural persons, may act as incorporators to form a corporation for any of the purposes mentioned in section four. The corporation shall be formed in the manner prescribed in and subject to section thirty of chapter sixty-nine, section two B of chapter one hundred and fifty-five and sections eleven, twelve and thirteen of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B, except that the corporation shall have no capital stock, the articles of organization shall omit references to stock and stockholders, the articles of organization shall specify the purposes for which the corporation is formed and the corporation may not assume a name that is misleading as to its corporate purposes.
A corporation may have one or more classes of members. If the corporation has one or more classes of members, the designation of such class or classes, the manner of election or appointment, the duration of membership and the qualification and rights, including voting rights, of the members of each class shall be set forth in the articles of organization or the by-laws. If a corporation does not have members, any action or vote required or permitted by this chapter to be taken by members of the corporation shall be taken by action or vote of the same percentage of the directors of the corporation.
The articles of organization, in addition, may state a provision eliminating or limiting the personal liability of officers and directors to the corporation or its members for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as an officer or director notwithstanding any provision of law imposing such liability; provided, however, that such provision shall not eliminate or limit the liability of an officer or director (i) for any breach of the officer's or director's duty of loyalty to the corporation or its members, (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, or (iii) for any transaction from which the officer or director derived an improper personal benefit. No provision adopted pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph shall eliminate or limit the liability of an officer or director for any act or omission occurring prior to the date upon which such provision becomes effective.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 3a - Correction of Inaccurate Corporate Records; Filing

Section 3A. Whenever any document authorized or required to be filed with the state secretary under any provision of this chapter has been so filed and is an inaccurate record of the corporate action therein referred to, or was defectively or erroneously executed, such instrument may be corrected by filing with the state secretary a certificate of correction of such document which shall be executed and filed in accordance with this section. The certificate of correction shall specify the inaccuracy or defect to be corrected and shall set forth that portion of the document in corrected form. The corrected document shall be effective as of the date the original document was filed, except as to those persons who are substantially and adversely affected by the correction and as to those persons the corrected instrument shall be effective from the filing date.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 4 - Purposes

Section 4. A corporation may be formed for any one or more of the following purposes:
(a) for any civic, educational, charitable, benevolent or religious purpose;
(b) for the prosecution of any antiquarian, historical, literary, scientific, medical, chiropractic, artistic, monumental or musical purpose;
(c) for establishing and maintaining libraries;
(d) for supporting any missionary enterprise having for its object the dissemination of religious or educational instruction in foreign countries;
(e) for promoting temperance or morality in the commonwealth;
(f) for fostering, encouraging or engaging in athletic exercises or yachting;
(g) for encouraging the raising of choice breeds of domestic animals and poultry;
(h) for the association and accommodation of societies of Free Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias or other charitable or social bodies of a like character and purpose;
(i) for the establishment and maintenance of places for reading rooms, libraries or social meetings;
(j) for establishing boards of trade, chambers of commerce and bodies of like nature;
(k) for providing nonprofit credit counseling services, as defined in section four A;
(l) for encouraging agriculture or horticulture; for improving and ornamenting the streets and public squares of any city or town by planting and cultivating ornamental trees therein and also otherwise improving the physical aspects of such city or town and furthering the recreation and enjoyment of the inhabitants thereof;
(m) for the purpose of purchasing, holding, preserving and maintaining burial grounds in accordance with the provisions of chapter one hundred and fourteen;
(n) for establishing a not-for-profit association of employers as authorized by section twenty-five E of chapter one hundred and fifty-two, including such not-for-profit associations of employers organized as nonprofit corporations.
If a corporation is formed under this chapter for the purpose of rendering one or more professional services as defined in chapter one hundred and fifty-six A, the relationship between the corporation or an employee thereof rendering professional service and the person receiving such service shall be the same as if such corporation or employee rendered such service to said person as an individual practitioner, including any liability arising out of the rendering of such service.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 4a - Credit Counseling Services; Practice of Law

Section 4A. Credit counseling services as used in this chapter shall mean (a) the providing of financial and budgetary advice and judgment to individuals in connection with the creation of a budgetary plan; or (b) the creation of a plan whereby an individual turns over an agreed amount of his income to a nonprofit credit counseling corporation which distributes it to his creditors in accordance with a plan which they have approved and which may provide for smaller payments or a longer term than the original contract; or (c) the providing of educational services relating to the use of credit; or (d) any combination of these.
No person, other than an attorney or a nonprofit charitable corporation organized under the provisions of this chapter, shall render those credit counseling services specified in clause (b). Each such corporation shall comply with the provisions of section eight F of chapter twelve.
Any such corporation formed for credit counseling purposes shall not engage in the practice of law. If it appears that an individual receiving credit counseling services needs legal advice or counsel, he shall be referred to an attorney of his own choice, the local bar association referral service, or a local legal aid program, whichever course may seem most appropriate.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 5 - Investigation by Local Authorities of Proposed Corporation or Corporations Seeking Change of Location or Name

Section 5. Before making and issuing a certificate of incorporation to or approving a change of location of the principal office of a corporation formed for any of the purposes described in section four or approving the change of name of any corporation formed as aforesaid which is subject to section twenty-six, the state secretary may forward a statement to the aldermen of any city, except Boston, or to the selectmen of any town, where such corporation occupies or uses or is to occupy or use any premises for the transaction of any of its corporate activities, and, if such premises are or are to be in Boston, to the police commissioner, giving a list of the applicants for incorporation or the officers of the corporation seeking to change its name or location, the purposes of such proposed incorporation or change of name as stated by them, the location of the premises occupied or used or proposed to be occupied or used, which shall include the street and number, if any, and all other facts which may be stated in the application for incorporation or the petition for approval of change of name or location. The mayor and aldermen, selectmen or police commissioner, upon the receipt of such statement, shall immediately make investigation for the purpose of ascertaining whether any of the proposed incorporators, or officers of the petitioning corporation, or any other persons known to be, or apparently, identified with the said proposed or petitioning corporation as members, employees or otherwise, and actually participating or to participate in the management of its affairs, or in the direction of its business, have been engaged in the illegal selling of alcoholic beverages, as defined in section one of chapter one hundred and thirty-eight, or in keeping places or tenements used for illegal gaming, or any other business or vocation prohibited by law, or are persons of ill repute, or whether any location to be occupied is unsuitable, and shall forthwith report to the state secretary all the facts ascertained. If, in his opinion, it appears from said report or otherwise that a probable purpose or probable result of the formation of the proposed corporation or of the proposed change of name or location is or will be to cover or shield any illegal business or practices, or any business not within the scope of the expressed corporate purposes, he shall refuse to issue a certificate of incorporation or approve the change of name or location, as the case may be.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 6 - Corporate Powers; Religious Corporations; Indemnification of Officers, Et Al.

Section 6. A corporation shall have in furtherance of its corporate purposes the powers specified in paragraphs (a) to (d), inclusive, and clause (k) of section nine of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B and the power to convey land to which it has a legal title. Except as otherwise provided in its articles of organization, a corporation shall have in furtherance of its corporate purposes all of the other powers specified in said section nine except those provided in paragraph (m). To the extent provided in its articles of organization, a corporation shall have the powers specified in sections nine A and nine B of said chapter one hundred and fifty-six B, except that a corporation which constitutes a public charity shall not have the power specified in said section nine B. No power referred to above shall be exercised in a manner inconsistent with this chapter or any other chapter of the General Laws, but this chapter shall not limit or reduce any powers of corporations whether general or special existing on October first, nineteen hundred and seventy-one.
Corporations organized under this chapter or corresponding provisions of earlier laws exclusively for religious purposes shall have the right to purchase, hold, preserve and maintain burial grounds; provided, that no land shall be so used for burial purposes unless such use shall have been permitted and approved in accordance with the provisions of chapter one hundred and fourteen.
Any corporation may hold real and personal estate to an unlimited amount, which estate or its income shall be devoted to the purposes set forth in its charter or articles of organization or in any amendment thereof, and it may receive and hold, in trust or otherwise, funds received by gift or bequest to be devoted by it to such purposes; this provision shall be applicable notwithstanding the specification of a limited amount in any special law.
Indemnification of directors, officers, employees and other agents of a corporation and persons who serve at its request as directors, officers, employees or other agents of another organization or who serve at its request in a capacity with respect to any employee benefit plan may be provided by it to whatever extent shall be specified in or authorized by (i) the articles of organization or (ii) a by-law adopted by the incorporators pursuant to section three or by the members or (iii) a vote adopted by a majority of the members entitled to vote on the election of directors.
The provisions of this section shall apply to by-laws adopted by the incorporator regardless of whether such by-laws were authorized or adopted at any time prior to the effective date of this act.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 6b - Notice of Actions Proposed Under Sec. 7 or Sec. 8a; Notice to Certain Non-Voting Members

Section 6B. If members of a corporation are entitled to vote on any corporate action but are not entitled to vote on action proposed under section seven or eight A, the corporation shall give to such members prior notice of any action proposed under said section seven or eight A. Such notice shall be given in any manner reasonably likely to make such members aware of the proposed action, and a defect in the giving of such notice shall not invalidate or otherwise affect such action.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 6c - Directors, Officers or Incorporators; Good Faith Performance of Duties; Liability

Section 6C. A director, officer or incorporator of a corporation shall perform his duties as such, including, in the case of a director, his duties as a member of a committee of the board upon which he may serve, in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation, and with such care as an ordinarily prudent person in a like position with respect to a similar corporation organized under this chapter would use under similar circumstances. In performing his duties, a director, officer or incorporator shall be entitled to rely on information, opinions, reports or records, including financial statements, books of account and other financial records, in each case presented by or prepared by or under the supervision of (1) one or more officers or employees of the corporation whom the director, officer or incorporator reasonably believes to be reliable and competent in the matters presented, or (2) counsel, public accountants or other persons as to matters which the director, officer or incorporator reasonably believes to be within such person's professional or expert competence, or (3) in the case of a director, a duly constituted committee of the board upon which he does not serve, as to matters within its delegated authority, which committee the director reasonably believes to merit confidence, but he shall not be considered to be acting in good faith if he has knowledge concerning the matter in question that would cause such reliance to be unwarranted. A director, officer or incorporator of a corporation shall not be liable for the performance of his duties if he acts in compliance with this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 6d - Filing Certificate of Change Regarding Powers of Directors, Etc.

Section 6D. Following any change in the board with the power of directors, and presiding financial and recording officers with the powers of president, treasurer, and clerk, the corporation may file in the office of the state secretary a certificate of such change signed under penalties of perjury by the recording officer.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 7 - Amendment or Restatement of Articles of Organization; Change of Purposes or Name; Approval

Section 7. A corporation may authorize, by vote of two-thirds of its members entitled to vote thereon or, in the case of a corporation having capital stock, the holders of two-thirds of its capital stock entitled to vote thereon at a meeting duly called for the purpose, with notice given as provided in section six B, any amendment of its articles of organization, including a change of its purposes or name, or a restatement of its articles of organization which restatement may affect any permitted amendment; provided, however, that any provision added to or change made in its articles of organization by such amendment could have been included in, and any provision deleted thereby could have been omitted from, original articles of organization filed at the time of such meeting; and provided also, that no articles of amendment or restated articles of organization shall be approved and filed by the state secretary (i) if as a result thereof the name of a corporation subject to section twenty-six would be changed, until after approval of such change by the state secretary, or (ii) if the purposes of any corporation are to be amended to include purposes which are such that the articles of organization of a corporation newly organized under this chapter for such purposes must be approved by any department or officer of this commonwealth as a condition of organization under this chapter, until after approval of the articles of amendment or the restated articles of organization by such department or officer. Articles of amendment shall be signed and submitted to the state secretary in the manner prescribed in and subject to section seventy-two of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B, and restated articles of organization shall be signed and submitted to the state secretary in the manner prescribed in and subject to section seventy-four of said chapter one hundred and fifty-six B.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 7a - Amendment or Restatement of Articles of Organization, or Articles of Consolidation or Merger; Inability to Comply With Sec. 7 or Sec. 10; Approval

Section 7A. A corporation that is unable to comply with section seven or section ten may petition the state secretary for any amendment to its articles of organization, or for a restatement of its articles of organization, authorized by said section seven or for approval of articles of consolidation or merger authorized by said section ten. The petition shall state the relief sought and the reason for inability to comply, shall contain a list of the officers and members of the corporation, so far as they are known, and shall be signed under the penalties of perjury by an officer or member. The state secretary may require the petitioner to supply information as to what attempt, if any, has been made to secure the vote required to comply with said section seven or said section ten with respect to the proposed action, as well as any other pertinent information, and may direct the petitioner to give further notice to the persons entitled to vote, so far as they are known, by publication or otherwise, in such manner as he shall specify. If the state secretary becomes satisfied that the proposed action is approved by such persons entitled to vote as have expressed an opinion in relation thereto, or of a reasonable proportion thereof, and if he finds that the petition otherwise conforms to the provisions of law, he shall endorse his approval thereon, and the document shall be filed and otherwise dealt with in accordance with section seven or section ten as the case may be and other applicable provisions of law, and shall be treated in all respects as an amendment to or restatement of the articles of organization, or as articles of consolidation or merger as the case may be.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 9 - Evidence of Corporate Existence

Section 9. Any civic, educational, charitable, benevolent, church or cemetery organization created or organized under the laws of the commonwealth, the evidence of the corporate existence of which is not on file in the records of the state secretary by reason of the destruction of records or by reason of the fact that it was organized before such recording was required, may file such evidence with the state secretary. The evidence of corporate existence shall include, so far as originals are available, copies of agreements of association and articles of organization or similar documents, and a certificate executed by the president, treasurer, clerk and a majority of the directors, setting forth, so far as known, the history and present status of the corporation and its structure such as would have been disclosed by the filing of the original corporation documents and amendments thereto. The state secretary, if satisfied of its corporate existence, shall endorse his approval upon such copies of the agreement of association and articles of organization or similar documents and upon such certificate, and, upon receipt of a filing fee of five dollars, shall file the same in his office, and shall issue a certificate of incorporation, in such form as he shall determine, dated as of the earliest date upon which such documents shall indicate the corporation to have been in existence. Any civic, educational, charitable, benevolent, church or cemetery organization to which a certificate of incorporation is so issued shall thereafter comply with the provisions of the general laws relating to similar corporations.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 10b - Consolidation and Merger; Effect; Amendments

Section 10B. Any consolidation or merger carried out in the manner specified in section ten or ten A shall have the effect set forth in section eighty of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B and the articles of merger or articles of consolidation, as the case may be, may thereafter be amended in the manner provided in this chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 10c - Application of Laws; Exception

Section 10C. Every corporation shall, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, be subject to sections six, eight, ten, eleven, fourteen, thirty-two, thirty-five, thirty-seven, thirty-eight A, forty-three, forty-nine, fifty-five, fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty-eight, sixty-nine, one hundred and two, one hundred and four, one hundred and five, one hundred and six, one hundred and eight, and one hundred and fifteen of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B, except that the provisions of section fifty-five of said chapter one hundred and fifty-six B shall not affect the requirement under section eleven A of this chapter concerning the authorization of a petition for the dissolution of a charitable corporation constituting a public charity.
The foregoing provisions and the other provisions of said chapter one hundred and fifty-six B that are made applicable to corporations governed by this chapter shall be subject to the following: (a) those provisions of said chapter one hundred and fifty-six B that pertain to stock and stockholders, shares and classes or series of shares and stock and transfer records shall, except in the case of a corporation having capital stock outstanding, be applicable as nearly as may be to members, classes of members and records of membership; (b) the definitions of terms provided in this chapter shall be applicable; and (c) the filing fees provided in section eleven C of this chapter shall be applicable.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 180 - Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes › Section 11 - Dissolution; Non-Charitable Corporation

Section 11. A corporation which does not constitute a public charity and which desires to close its affairs may, unless otherwise provided in its articles of organization, by the vote of a majority of its members legally qualified to vote in meetings of the corporation, authorize a petition for its dissolution to be filed in the supreme judicial or superior court setting forth in substance the grounds of the application; and after such notice as the court may order and after hearing, the court may decree a dissolution of the corporation. Upon any dissolution in accordance with this chapter, the existence of the corporation shall cease, subject to applicable provisions of law for continuation to close its affairs, for the appointment of receivers and for revival.
Upon dissolution of a corporation in accordance with this chapter, the clerk of the court in which the decree therefor is entered shall forthwith make return thereof to the state secretary giving the name of the corporation and the date upon which such decree was entered. The state secretary shall thereupon notify the person shown by his records to have last served as clerk of the corporation of the entry of such decree and the date thereof.