Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Chapter 59 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 57C, as appearing in the 1994 Official Edition, the following section:-

Section 57D. A notice of preliminary tax for real estate and personal property shall include an affidavit of address, to be signed and sworn to by the owner of record of said property. The affidavit shall include the following information: name of the owner, street number, street name, city or town, state, zip code and telephone number of said owner.

In the event that the residence of the owner of record is located outside of the commonwealth, he shall appoint an agent located within the commonwealth and the enclosed affidavit shall be completed by stating the agent's full name, street number, street address, city or town, zip code and telephone number. In no event shall post office boxes be accepted as an address for purposes of this section.

Any legal notice mailed to the address listed in the affidavit, whether the address of the owner of record or his agent, shall be presumed to be good and sufficient service for the purpose of instituting any legal action relating to the property.

In the event that there is a change of address for the owner of record or his agent, the owner shall immediately notify the local board of assessors by mailing a new affidavit.

If an owner fails to comply with this section, within thirty days, the city or town shall issue a warning to the owner. Failure to respond to said warning, within thirty days, shall result in the imposition of a fine of one hundred dollars per preliminary tax bill issued to said owner. If the owner fails to respond to and pay said fine, within thirty days, the city or town may determine that said fine constitutes a lien upon said property. All other remedies for the taking of property by a city or town for failure to pay taxes shall be available under this section.

The provisions of this section shall take effect in any city or town upon its acceptance by such city or town.