Legal Resources: Real Estate

Residential Real Estate Disputes

Quiet Title Actions – We represent national title insurers as well as individuals, seeking to cure title defects ranging from misidentified title plans, deed description errors, conveyancing errors, and missing elements in the chain of title. A recent action in Rhode Island Superior Court involved a plot plan that misidentified one property for another, a prior quiet title action that misidentified the property in another error, and our successful effort to expedite a hearing during the pandemic to vacate a judgment

Read More »

Residential and Commercial Property Purchases, Closings, and Loans

Residential – Goldman & Pease has efficiently handled hundreds of residential home purchases and sales over the years, and in addition to the review and execution of all necessary documents and analyses, we bring a real estate litigator’s eye to the review of title documents. On more than one occasion we have alerted clients to potential title issues that would have otherwise gone unnoticed, and have know-how to fix these issues prior to closing.   Commercial – Regularly represent banks, mortgage

Read More »

Commonwealth Extends Eviction Moratorium. What this means for Commercial Landlords

Chapter 65 of the Acts of 2020 (i.e., An Act Providing for a Moratorium on Evictions and Foreclosures during the COVID-19 Emergency) (“Act”) was extended by Governor Baker. Our office drafted an Article on the Act as it relates to the Moratorium’s impact on residential evictions (“Moratorium”). This update will focus on the commercial landlord and its rights while the Moratorium is in effect. How Does the Moratorium Impact Commercial Landlords? The Moratorium prohibits any non-essential eviction of a “small business

Read More »

Appeals Court Holds Condominium Developer’s Lender Cannot Foreclose on Common Areas

Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Appeals Court held that a bank that loaned money to a condominium developer and gave each unit buyer a partial mortgage discharge upon purchase did not have a remaining mortgage interest in undeveloped common areas of the Condominium. Specifically, in Trustees of the Beechwood Village Condominium Trust vs. USAlliance Federal Credit Union, No. 18-P-89, the Massachusetts Appeals Court stated: “We conclude that all of the land associated with the condominium development, including the common area, was

Read More »

As a landlord, am I able to reinvest a tenant’s security deposit into my property?

No, residential landlords are not allowed to use any portion of a tenant’s security deposit during the term of the tenancy. After the tenancy has ended, the landlord can only apply the security deposit to damages to the apartment caused by the tenant (more than wear and tear) and unpaid rent. In Massachusetts, residential landlord’s duties and responsibilities for holding/applying security deposits are governed by M.G.L. c. 186 §15B. Upon inception of a tenancy, landlords are only allowed to accept the

Read More »

Real Estate Legal Update 2018

By Howard Goldman –       I.            Introduction Changes resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018, may make this new tax year a true game changer for the real estate market.  Our update prepares you with an understanding of the key changes and how they affect the real estate market. Looking at buying a new property?  In the digital age, emails and texts can blur the lines between informal communications and a formal contract.  Follow the Five Commandments of

Read More »

Real Estate in the Digital Age

Preventing the Simple Email or Text from Becoming a Formal Contract I. Introduction Gone are the days when parties brokering a real estate transaction entered into a formal, written contract by first reaching for paper and ink. Today, a cell phone and a zealous broker is all that it may take to enter into a binding agreement. The ubiquity of technology has made communications via email and text message both convenient and now, with recent case law, potentially risky. In a

Read More »

Variance To Build a Parking Structure in South Boston

Dorothy A. Leblanc and Denise Leblanc v. Christine Araujo, Angelo Buonopane, Peter Chin, Michael Monahan, and Robert Shortsleeve, as they constitute members of the Board of Appeal for the City of Boston and Paul McCologan, Sr. and Benjamin Forde, Suffolk Superior Court, Docket Number 07-5353F.This was a 4 day trial. It was a de novo appeal to the Superior Court of the granting of a variance to the Defendants to build a parking structure in South Boston. The Plaintiffs, whom we

Read More »

Real Estate Cases

Massachusetts Real Estate Cases Types of cases handled by the Massachusetts real estate attorneys at Goldman & Pease: Conducted hundreds of evictions on behalf of landlords and property managers for non-payment of rent, drug evictions, nuisance evictions, failure to vacate after a lease termination, violation of pet policies, noise, harassment, and violation of lease terms. Engage in curative title actions in Superior Court and Land Court for title insurance companies and private owners of land, for such matters as boundary disputes,

Read More »

Legal Description of the Premises Dispute

Joy Harding v. Tabitha Coleman and Mary E. Jackson, Suffolk Superior Court, C.A. No. 04-2466.G & P represented the Defendants/purchasers in this matter. The key issue in this case was a dispute regarding the legal description of the subject premises. The subject property contained two parcels of land that clearly were delineated in the deed that Plaintiff purchased previously from another party. Plaintiff alleged he did not mean to sell the contiguous parcel not containing a home. Plaintiff alleged that he

Read More »

Residential Real Estate Disputes

Quiet Title Actions – We represent national title insurers as well as individuals, seeking to cure title defects ranging from misidentified title plans, deed description errors, conveyancing errors, and missing elements in the chain of title. A recent action in Rhode Island Superior Court involved a plot plan that misidentified one property for another, a prior quiet title action that misidentified the property in another error, and our successful effort to expedite a hearing during the pandemic to vacate a judgment

Read More »

Residential and Commercial Property Purchases, Closings, and Loans

Residential – Goldman & Pease has efficiently handled hundreds of residential home purchases and sales over the years, and in addition to the review and execution of all necessary documents and analyses, we bring a real estate litigator’s eye to the review of title documents. On more than one occasion we have alerted clients to potential title issues that would have otherwise gone unnoticed, and have know-how to fix these issues prior to closing.   Commercial – Regularly represent banks, mortgage

Read More »

Commonwealth Extends Eviction Moratorium. What this means for Commercial Landlords

Chapter 65 of the Acts of 2020 (i.e., An Act Providing for a Moratorium on Evictions and Foreclosures during the COVID-19 Emergency) (“Act”) was extended by Governor Baker. Our office drafted an Article on the Act as it relates to the Moratorium’s impact on residential evictions (“Moratorium”). This update will focus on the commercial landlord and its rights while the Moratorium is in effect. How Does the Moratorium Impact Commercial Landlords? The Moratorium prohibits any non-essential eviction of a “small business

Read More »

Appeals Court Holds Condominium Developer’s Lender Cannot Foreclose on Common Areas

Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Appeals Court held that a bank that loaned money to a condominium developer and gave each unit buyer a partial mortgage discharge upon purchase did not have a remaining mortgage interest in undeveloped common areas of the Condominium. Specifically, in Trustees of the Beechwood Village Condominium Trust vs. USAlliance Federal Credit Union, No. 18-P-89, the Massachusetts Appeals Court stated: “We conclude that all of the land associated with the condominium development, including the common area, was

Read More »

As a landlord, am I able to reinvest a tenant’s security deposit into my property?

No, residential landlords are not allowed to use any portion of a tenant’s security deposit during the term of the tenancy. After the tenancy has ended, the landlord can only apply the security deposit to damages to the apartment caused by the tenant (more than wear and tear) and unpaid rent. In Massachusetts, residential landlord’s duties and responsibilities for holding/applying security deposits are governed by M.G.L. c. 186 §15B. Upon inception of a tenancy, landlords are only allowed to accept the

Read More »

Real Estate Legal Update 2018

By Howard Goldman –       I.            Introduction Changes resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018, may make this new tax year a true game changer for the real estate market.  Our update prepares you with an understanding of the key changes and how they affect the real estate market. Looking at buying a new property?  In the digital age, emails and texts can blur the lines between informal communications and a formal contract.  Follow the Five Commandments of

Read More »

Real Estate in the Digital Age

Preventing the Simple Email or Text from Becoming a Formal Contract I. Introduction Gone are the days when parties brokering a real estate transaction entered into a formal, written contract by first reaching for paper and ink. Today, a cell phone and a zealous broker is all that it may take to enter into a binding agreement. The ubiquity of technology has made communications via email and text message both convenient and now, with recent case law, potentially risky. In a

Read More »

Variance To Build a Parking Structure in South Boston

Dorothy A. Leblanc and Denise Leblanc v. Christine Araujo, Angelo Buonopane, Peter Chin, Michael Monahan, and Robert Shortsleeve, as they constitute members of the Board of Appeal for the City of Boston and Paul McCologan, Sr. and Benjamin Forde, Suffolk Superior Court, Docket Number 07-5353F.This was a 4 day trial. It was a de novo appeal to the Superior Court of the granting of a variance to the Defendants to build a parking structure in South Boston. The Plaintiffs, whom we

Read More »

Real Estate Cases

Massachusetts Real Estate Cases Types of cases handled by the Massachusetts real estate attorneys at Goldman & Pease: Conducted hundreds of evictions on behalf of landlords and property managers for non-payment of rent, drug evictions, nuisance evictions, failure to vacate after a lease termination, violation of pet policies, noise, harassment, and violation of lease terms. Engage in curative title actions in Superior Court and Land Court for title insurance companies and private owners of land, for such matters as boundary disputes,

Read More »

Legal Description of the Premises Dispute

Joy Harding v. Tabitha Coleman and Mary E. Jackson, Suffolk Superior Court, C.A. No. 04-2466.G & P represented the Defendants/purchasers in this matter. The key issue in this case was a dispute regarding the legal description of the subject premises. The subject property contained two parcels of land that clearly were delineated in the deed that Plaintiff purchased previously from another party. Plaintiff alleged he did not mean to sell the contiguous parcel not containing a home. Plaintiff alleged that he

Read More »
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