Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H1686 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 483 FILED ON: 1/13/2023
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1686
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Frank A. Moran
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act to further clear titles to real property affected by technical irregularities in recorded
13	13	instruments.
14	14	_______________
15	15	PETITION OF:
16	16	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Frank A. Moran17th Essex1/13/2023Estela A. Reyes4th Essex2/8/2023 1 of 3
17	17	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 483 FILED ON: 1/13/2023
18	18	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1686
19	19	By Representative Moran of Lawrence, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1686) of
20	20	Frank A. Moran and Estela A. Reyes for legislation to further regulate titles to real property
21	21	affected by technical irregularities in recorded instruments. The Judiciary.
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
25	25	(2023-2024)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act to further clear titles to real property affected by technical irregularities in recorded
28	28	instruments.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 SECTION 1. General Laws Chapter 184, Section 24 is hereby amended by deleting
32	32	2Section 24 in its entirety and replacing the same with the following Section 24.
33	33	3 Section 24. When any owner of land or of any interest in such land, signs an instrument
34	34	4in writing conveying or purporting to convey his land or any interest therein, or in any manner
35	35	5affecting or purporting to affect his title thereto or an interest therein, and the instrument,
36	36	6whether or not entitled to record or registration, is recorded or registered and indexed in the
37	37	7registry of deeds or registered land district for the district wherein such land is situated, and a
38	38	8period of ten years elapses after the instrument is accepted for record or registration, and the
39	39	9instrument or the record or registration thereof because of defect, irregularity or omission fails to
40	40	10comply in any respect with any requirement of law relating to seals, corporate or individual, to
41	41	11the form of grantor clause in which a person purports to grant, mortgage, assign, release or
42	42	12discharge an interest in real property as representative of or on behalf of a person, trust or entity 2 of 3
43	43	13who owns or holds such interest and is also named in the grantor clause, to the validity of
44	44	14acknowledgment, to a certificate of acknowledgment, witnesses, attestation, proof, method or
45	45	15form of execution, or time of execution, to recitals of consideration, residence, address, or date,
46	46	16to the authority of a person executing such an instrument on behalf of an individual under a
47	47	17power of attorney, to the method by which an individual under a power of attorney executes such
48	48	18an instrument on behalf of the principal, or to the authority of a person executing such an
49	49	19instrument on behalf of a trust or entity and purporting to hold the office or position of trustee,
50	50	20manager, partner, president, vice president, treasurer or other similar office or position, including
51	51	21assistant to any such office or position, or otherwise purporting to be an authorized signatory for
52	52	22such trust or entity, including under a power of attorney on behalf of such trust or entity, such
53	53	23instrument and the record thereof shall, notwithstanding any or all of such defects, irregularities
54	54	24and omissions, be effective for all purposes to the same extent as though the instrument and the
55	55	25record thereof had originally not been subject to the defect, irregularity or omission, or to the
56	56	26form of grantor clause in which a person purports to grant, mortgage, assign, release or discharge
57	57	27an interest in real property in a capacity other than that in which such person actually owns or
58	58	28holds such interest, unless within said period of ten years a proceeding is commenced on account
59	59	29of the defect, irregularity or omission, and notice thereof pursuant to section 15 of this chapter is
60	60	30duly recorded or registered as appropriate and indexed and noted on the margin thereof under the
61	61	31name of the signer of the instrument, the owner or holder of the affected interest at the time of
62	62	32the recording or registration of the instrument and the record owner or holder of the interest at
63	63	33the time of the filing of such notice and, in the event of such proceeding, unless relief is thereby
64	64	34in due course granted. 3 of 3
65	65	35 SECTION 2. The provisions of this Act shall take effect January 1, 2025, and shall apply
66	66	36to instruments and documents recorded or registered before, on or after said date, except as to
67	67	37any such instruments or documents for which a court proceeding challenging the effectiveness or
68	68	38validity of any such instrument or document and the title derived therefrom has been commenced
69	69	39pursuant to this section as in effect prior to such effective date.