Amendment #147 to H4400

An Act relative to tax titles in the town of East Bridgewater

Mr. Diehl of Whitman moves to amend the bill by adding the following 3 sections:

“SECTION XXX. Whenever the town of East Bridgewater has conveyed or sold any land or holds a tax title, under chapter 60 of the General Laws, and the land meets the following criteria:

(1) the land transfer was memorialized by an instrument in writing, conveying or taking  or purporting to convey or take the land;

(2) the instrument effectuating the land transfer is duly recorded in the registry of deeds for the district where the land is situated;

(3) the land was or is located on any of the following East Bridgewater assessor's maps: 85, 86, 87, 95, 96, 104, 105 or 115;

(4) the land's description is based on a plan entitled "Plan of Land Belonging to The Hanson Land Co. Situated in the Towns of East Bridgewater and Hanson, Mass. By J.C. Torrey C.E. dated July 1888," filed on July 18, 1888 at the Plymouth county registry of deeds at plan 1, page 36; and

(5) either the notice or procedure for the taking and the sale or conveyance of the land, under said chapter 60, or the instrument of record thereof because of defect, irregularity or omission fails to comply with any requirement of law relating thereto, including a failure by the  town to foreclose the right of redemption, then the instrument or record of the land transfer shall, notwithstanding any deficiencies in clause (5), be effective for all purposes and shall operate to foreclose all rights of redemption to the same extent as though no such deficiencies existed, unless an instrument of redemption has been recorded prior to the effective date of this act.

SECTION XXX. This act shall only apply to the instruments pertaining to any fiscal years prior to and including fiscal years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, and shall not apply to any legal proceeding, commenced before the effective date of this act in the courts of the commonwealth, in which a party has appeared asserting a cause of action claiming the right to redeem.

SECTION XXX. This act shall take effect 1 year after the effective date of this act."