Land Court Revised Guidelines Issued

Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. - Massachusetts Environmental, Land Use & Real Estate Alert, 2009

On February 27, 2009 the Land Court issued guidelines revising those originally released in 2000 (“Guidelines”).  The purpose of the Guidelines is to assist registry personnel and users in determining the suitability of documents presented for filing and affecting registered land.  The intent is to provide consistency among the different registries, but the rules are not mandatory and are not intended to eliminate the use of sound judgment by registry personnel.  The Guidelines are also instructive for the recording of documents related to unregistered land. 

There are a total of sixty-three Guidelines, ten of which are new and twenty-one of which are revisions of original guidelines.  One original guideline was deleted.  Some highlights of the revisions follows:

Guideline 1. Acknowledgment: Requirements.  This guideline has been updated to comport with the requirements of Executive Order Revised No. 455 (03-13) 2004, but makes it clear that documents that do not comply with the new form will still be accepted, provided they would have been accepted prior to the promulgation of the Executive Order.  This Guideline also lists documents that require an acknowledgement.

Guideline 9. Condominiums: First Unit Deeds.  A form of condominium deed is included in this Guideline. If this form is used, or a similar form, the first unit deed may be accepted for registration without prior approval of the Land Court.

Guideline 57. Condominiums:  Approval of Condominium Documents.  This is a new guideline that details the Land Court approval process for condominium documents to be filed with regard to registered land. 

Guideline 58. Conveyance by Cities and Towns.  This new guideline requires a municipal clerk’s certificate reciting or giving evidence of the authority by which the municipal grant is made. It also requires a recitation in the deed that the provisions of G.L.c. 44, §63A relative to a payment in lieu of taxes have been complied with. 

Guidelines 63. Voluntary Withdrawal (G.L.c. 185, § 52); and 64.  Withdrawal From Registration (G.L.c. 183A, §16).  These guidelines has been added to address in detail the process to be followed when voluntarily withdrawing land from the registration system.  Guideline 63 addresses registered land generally and Guideline 64 applies to condominiums. 

The updated Guidelines should prove to be a valuable resource for conveyancing attorneys, as well as the land development community.

For more information, please contact Deborah Eliason at deliason@bdlaw.com.