Should the Red Sox start Jackie Bradley, Jr. in left? I don’t know. But I do know that the Boston Bar Association’s Land Use and Development Committee, co-chaired by my colleague and fellow MLUM contributor Johanna Schneider, is co-sponsoring
Massachusetts Land Use Monitor
Real-Time News & Commentary on Land Use & Real Estate Law
The Massachusetts Land Use Monitor, published by Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster, focuses on legal developments and issues related to land use and real estate in Massachusetts. It covers topics such as property rights, easements, joint ownership disputes, real estate transactions, zoning and permitting processes, and foreclosure duties. The blog discusses court decisions affecting land use, regulatory changes impacting developers and property owners, and practical considerations in property law including rights of first offer, easements by estoppel and implication, and partition actions. It also addresses the impact of state and municipal regulations on land development and property management.
Latest from Massachusetts Land Use Monitor - Page 9
Old “Common Enemy Rule” Still Causing A Flood Of Trouble
In its recent decision in Graziano v. Riley (pdf), the Appeals Court overturned a Superior Court ruling that required the defendant landowners to remove a berm they had built to stop water from flowing onto their property. Problem was, the defendants’ berm caused flooding on their neighbors’ (the plaintiffs) adjoining property. The defendants built…
SJC Seeks Friendly Advice On Ability Of MERS To Foreclose
By Donald Pinto
The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is soliciting amicus briefs in Galiastro v. Mortgage Electronic Registration System, Inc., an appeal that presents the issue of whether the defendant, MERS, has standing to foreclose in its own right as the named mortgagee in a mortgage, when it…
Give Your Sweetheart The Gift Of Knowledge, Courtesy Of The BBA’s Land Use & Development Committee
By Donald Pinto
On Valentine’s Day, the Boston Bar Association’s Land Use & Development Committee, co-chaired by my Rackemann colleague and fellow blogger Johanna Schneider, will host a lunch meeting to discuss recent developments in the law of standing. The meeting will feature guest speakers…
SJC Revisits Affordable Housing, Chapter 40B
By Donald Pinto
The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently turned its attention back to affordable housing under the state’s comprehensive permit law, M.G.L. c. 40B, §§ 20-23 (Chapter 40B). Since a high point in 2008, when it decided four Chapter 40B cases, the SJC…
Time Not A Vaccine Against Infectious Invalidity
In an “unpublished decision” in Patenaude v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Dracut (pdf), an Appeals Court panel recently held that a lot rendered unbuildable by infectious invalidity was not “cured” by the passage of time – specifically, the running of the…
Breaking: NREIS Going Out Of Business
By Donald Pinto
Looks like its last closing will be its own. We’ve just learned that National Real Estate Information Services, Inc. (NREIS), a Pennsylvania company that once provided “real estate settlement services” (i.e. real estate closings with little or no attorney involvement) is closing its…
Breaking: SJC Issues Important Affordable Housing Decision
By Donald Pinto
The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) today issued its decision in Zoning Board of Appeals of Lunenburg v. Housing Appeals Committee. This decision affirms a decision of the Housing Appeals Committee (HAC) that overturned the Lunenburg Zoning Board of Appeals’ denial of a comprehensive permit…
Gosnold’s Gambit Thaws Subdivision Freezes
Gosnold is the Massachusetts town that comprises Cuttyhunk and the other Elizabeth Islands, which stretch southwest from Woods Hole (Falmouth), between Buzzard’s Bay and Vineyard Sound. Along with Martha’s Vineyard, Gosnold is in Dukes County. Interestingly, except for Cuttyhunk and Penikese, the Elizabeth…
Boston’s E+ Building Program Gets Off the Ground
As reported here, the City of Boston, after conducting a design contest dubbed the E+ Green Building Program, selected three firms to design and build ten “energy-positive homes” on city land, which will be available to buyers for less than $400,000…