| 1 | 1 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2596 |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | _______________ |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | (2023-2024) |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | _______________ |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | SENATE, March 4, 2024. |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | The committee on The Judiciary, to whom was referred the petitions (accompanied by |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | bill, Senate, No. 1074) of Michael O. Moore for legislation to further clear titles to real property |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | affected by technical irregularities in recorded instruments; (accompanied by bill, House, No. |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | 1686) of Frank A. Moran and Estela A. Reyes for legislation to further regulate titles to real |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | property affected by technical irregularities in recorded instruments; and (accompanied by bill, |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | House, No. 1726) of Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr., for legislation to further clear titles to real property |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | affected by technical irregularities in recorded instruments, report the accompanying bill (Senate, |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | No. 2596). |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | For the committee, |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | James B. Eldridge 1 of 2 |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | FILED ON: 2/5/2024 |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2596 |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | _______________ |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | (2023-2024) |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | An Act to further clear titles to real property affected by technical irregularities in recorded |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | instruments. |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 184 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | 2is hereby amended by deleting section 24 in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | 3following section:- |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | 4 Section 24. When the owner of land or an interest in land signs an instrument in writing |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | 5conveying or purporting to convey the owner’s land or interest, or in any manner affecting or |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | 6purporting to affect the owner’s title thereto or interest therein, and the instrument, whether or |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | 7not entitled to record or register, is recorded or registered, and indexed, in the registry of deeds or |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | 8registered land district for the district wherein the land is situated, and a period of 10 years |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | 9elapses after the instrument is accepted for recording or registration, and the instrument or the |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | 10record or registration thereof because of defect, irregularity or omission fails to comply in any |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | 11respect with any requirement of law relating to: (i) individual or corporate seals; (ii) the form or |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | 12validity of an acknowledgment or certificate of acknowledgment; (iii) witnesses, attestation or |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | 13proof, form, method or time of execution; (iv) recitals of consideration, residence, address, or 2 of 2 |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | 14date; (v) the form of the grantor clause in which a person purports to grant, mortgage, assign, |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | 15release or discharge an interest in real property as representative of or on behalf of a person, trust |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | 16or entity who owns or holds such interest and is also named in the grantor clause; (vi) the |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | 17authority of a person who executes an instrument on behalf of a principal under a power of |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | 18attorney; (vii) the form or method by which a person executes an instrument on behalf of a |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | 19principal under a power of attorney; (viii) the authority of a person who executes an instrument |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | 20on behalf of a trust or entity and purporting to hold the office or position of trustee, manager, |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | 21partner, president, vice president or treasurer, or other similar office or position, or otherwise |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | 22purporting to be an authorized signatory for such trust or entity, including under a power of |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | 23attorney; or (ix) the form or method by which a person executes an instrument on behalf of a |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | 24trust or entity, such instrument and the record or registration thereof shall, notwithstanding any |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | 25or all of such defects, irregularities and omissions, be effective for all purposes to the same |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | 26extent as though the instrument and the record or registration thereof had originally not been |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | 27subject to the defect, irregularity or omission, unless within said 10-year period a proceeding is |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | 28commenced on account of the defect, irregularity or omission, and notice pursuant to section 15 |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | 29is duly recorded or registered and indexed and noted on the margin thereof under the name of the |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | 30signer of the instrument and, in the event of such proceeding, unless relief is thereby in due |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | 31course granted. |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | 32 SECTION 2. The provisions of this Act shall apply to instruments and documents |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | 33recorded or registered before, on or after the effective date, except as to any such instruments or |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | 34documents for which a court proceeding challenging the effectiveness or validity of any such |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | 35instrument or document and the title derived therefrom has been commenced pursuant to this |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | 36section as in effect prior to said effective date. |
|---|