Bill H.2240

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2051 FILED ON: 1/20/2011

HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2240

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Elizabeth A. Malia

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to enable judicial clarification of ownership in evictions.

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PETITION OF:

Name:	District/Address:	Date Added:
Elizabeth A. Malia	11th Suffolk	1/20/2011
William N. Brownsberger		1/28/2011
Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera	10th Hampden	1/28/2011
Jennifer E. Benson	37th Middlesex	1/26/2011
Joyce A. Spiliotis	12th Essex	1/31/2011
Thomas P. Kennedy		2/3/2011
Denise Provost	27th Middlesex	2/3/2011
George T. Ross	2nd Bristol	2/3/2011
John J. Binienda	17th Worcester	2/3/2011
Gloria L. Fox	7th Suffolk	2/3/2011
Antonio F. D. Cabral	13th Bristol	2/4/2011
Ellen Story	3rd Hampshire	2/4/2011
John W. Scibak	2nd Hampshire	2/4/2011
James J. O'Day	14th Worcester	2/4/2011
Jeffrey Sánchez	15th Suffolk	2/4/2011
Kay Khan	11th Middlesex	2/4/2011
Tom Sannicandro	7th Middlesex	2/4/2011
Carl M. Sciortino, Jr.	34th Middlesex	2/4/2011
John P. Fresolo	16th Worcester	2/4/2011
Benjamin Swan	11th Hampden	2/4/2011
Linda Dorcena Forry	12th Suffolk	2/4/2011

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2051 FILED ON: 1/20/2011

HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2240

By Ms. Malia of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2240) of Elizabeth A. Malia and others for legislation to authorize judicial clarification of ownership in eviction proceedings. The Judiciary.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Eleven

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An Act to enable judicial clarification of ownership in evictions.

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

SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 239 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “land has been” in line 6 the following word:-

“lawfully”.

SECTION 2. Section 1 of chapter 239, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the first sentence the following sentence:-

“For purposes of this section, ‘lawfully foreclosed’ shall mean that the foreclosure was initiated and carried out strictly according to the power of sale in the mortgage and chapter 244 of the General Laws by an entity that held both the promissory note and the mortgage at the time of foreclosure; that, if the foreclosing entity is governed by a trust agreement, the assignment of the note and mortgage into the trust was done in strict compliance with the terms of the trust agreement; and that there are no other conveyances in the chain of mortgage title that either are void ab initio or invalid or are adjudicated by the court hearing the action for possession or other court to be void by reason of fraud, duress, breach of contract, or other legal or equitable grounds; provided, however, that a mortgage of land shall be considered to have been lawfully foreclosed if the purchaser at foreclosure sale is a bona fide purchaser that never held the mortgage or note and is neither a subsidiary, parent, trustee, or agent of nor otherwise related to an entity that at any time held the mortgage or note and the foreclosure was initiated and carried out strictly according to the power of sale in the mortgage and chapter 244 of the General Laws and there are no void conveyances in the chain of mortgage title.”