Real Estate Market Heats Up

As the economy slowly improves, the real estate market is heating up in Massachusetts. CNN reports that bidding wars are back, with an unbelievable 250 bidders on one Cambridge property. Advisor Vincent Costantini says that real estate markets are building strength across the country, and the Boston area is especially popular. Both rents and sale prices are rising.

If you are thinking of buying or selling your home or commercial property and would like to consult a lawyer, or if you are facing a property dispute, Glickman Turley offers real estate legal services throughout the Boston area. Click here for more details.

New Regulations for Foreclosures in MA

The Boston Globe reported that Massachusetts will consider regulations that will assist homeowners avoid foreclosure. Under the proposed regulations, "many mortgage loan servicers would not be able to begin foreclosure proceedings on a borrower already in the process of modifying their loan." Additionally, loan servicers must ensure that the lender has the right to foreclose and that all paperwork is complete. The loan servicers would be required to notify homeowners when they are at risk of foreclosure.

Public comment period is scheduled for November 2012. After the public comment period, the state will have the opportunity to approve or to reject the new regulations. If approved, the regulations would supplement legislation already signed by Governor Deval Patrick back in August.

To read the full story, click here.

For representation on real estate issues, please contact Glickman Turley LLP at 617-399-7770.

Glickman Turley's experienced attorneys represent individuals on a wide range of immigration matters, as well as other legal issues. Please contact our attorneys if you wish to discuss representation on immigration matters, real estate purchase and sales, condominium associations, criminal defense, non-profit law, civil litigation, business litigation, business law, trademark law, probate matters including wills, powers of attorney, health care proxy, same-sex co-parent adoptions, guardianships, animal law, or LGBT legal matters.

SJC Rules in 275 Washington Street Corp. v. Hudson River International, LLC

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SCJ)  held that when a commercial tenant breaks a commercial lease, the landlord will not be able to collect damages until the end of the original lease term, even if the lease contains an indemnity clause. Damages may be wholly ascertained and fully assessed against a tenant at the end of the lease term because of "the possible intervention of factors, presently unknown, that make the determination of damages uncertain at the present." 


The defendant in 275 Washington Street Corp. v. Hudson River International, LLC, conceded that it will owe damages for abandoning the premises and ceasing to pay rent, but the issue on appeal was whether damages may be determined at present time. The landlord argued that since the premises were re-leased, the damages are easily ascertainable by calculating the difference in rent between the original and substituted leases. The SJC  was sympathetic to the landlord, but concluded that "the tenant's view is consistent with the present state of Massachusetts law and is one with which we are constrained to agree." 



Glickman Turley's experienced attorneys represent individuals on a wide range of immigration matters, as well as other legal issues. Please contact our attorneys if you wish to discuss representation on immigration matters, real estate purchase and sales, condominium associations, criminal defense, non-profit law, civil litigation, business litigation, business law, trademark law, probate matters including wills, powers of attorney, health care proxy, same-sex parent adoptions, guardianships, animal law, or LGBT legal matters.  

Massachusetts Appeals Court Hears Arguments Over 351 Year Old Will

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog reported that the Massachusetts Appeals Court heard arguments over dispute involving a will that is 351 years old. William Payne was a wealthy Massachusetts merchant who bequeathed in his will that a land called "Little Neck" in Ipswich, Massachusetts, "shall never be sold, and shall 'for euer' be used to benefit Ipswich public schools" and that "the sayd land not to bee sould or wasted." 


The trustees of the will had been planning to sell the land recently but a group of Ipswich parents are fighting to stop the sale. A lawyer for the trustees said that proceeds from the land sale could be invested and bring in more funds to Ipswich public schools. One Ipswich parent argued that the point of this lawsuit is not about the money, but rather a question of why anyone in Massachusetts would bother creating a charitable trust if the terms of the trust can be violated. Under current Massachusetts law, if the mission of the trust becomes impossible to carry out, then the terms of a charitable trust can be violated. The Massachusetts Appeals Court has not rendered a decision in this case yet. 


Glickman Turley's experienced attorneys represent individuals on a wide range of immigration matters, as well as other legal issues. Please contact our attorneys if you wish to discuss representation on immigration matters, real estate purchase and sales, condominium associations, criminal defense, non-profit law, civil litigation, business litigation, business law, probate matters including wills, powers of attorney, health care proxy, same-sex parent adoptions, guardianships, animal law, or LGBT legal matters.

SJC Rules Homestead Statute Does Not Protect House in Trust in Boyle v. Weiss

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that the holder of a beneficial interest in a trust that holds title to real estate and resides in the said real estate cannot acquire an estate of homestead in the said land and building under G.L. c. 188, sec. 1.

In Boyle v. Weiss, Maria A. Boyle recorded a declaration of homestead in a property in Lowell where she resided. The Lowell property had been conveyed to Boyle by her parents who had placed the property in a trust. Two days after recording a declaration of homestead, Boyle filed for bankruptcy, claiming an exemption for her beneficial interest in the trust, which held title to real property used as her residence. The SJC concluded that under Massachusetts law, a trust beneficiary residing in property owned by a trust may not acquire a homestead estate. The SJC said "...even though the debtor resides in the Lowell property and uses it as her home, as the owner of a fifty percent beneficial interest in the trust that holds title to the property but who does not direct or control the trustee, she cannot validly claim a homestead exemption for the property under the 2004 [Homestead] act."

Glickman Turley's experienced attorneys represent individuals on a wide range of immigration matters, as well as other legal issues. Please contact our attorneys if you wish to discuss representation on immigration matters, real estate purchase and sales, condominium associations, criminal defense, non-profit law, civil litigation, business litigation, business law, probate matters including wills, powers of attorney, health care proxy, same-sex parent adoptions, guardianships, animal law, or LGBT legal matters.

Massachusetts Sues 5 Banks Over Foreclosures

Massachusetts filed a suit against 5 major banks on December 1, 2011, over unfair and deceptive foreclosure practices. The Associated Press reported that  Attorney General Martha Coakley filed the suit against Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase &Co., Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc., and GMAC. The complaint named Mortgage Electronic Registration System., Inc. (MERS) and its parent company for failure to register legal transfers properly, which led to inaccuracies in Massachusetts' public land recording system. 


The article reported that Coakley announced at a press conference that "We have two clear goals with this lawsuit - one is to provide for real accountability for the role the banks have played in unlawful and illegal foreclosures, and secondly to provide for real and enforceable relief for the harm that the misconduct has caused." 


There had been settlement talks between the major banks and all 50 states that lingered for over a year following the housing crisis. The lawsuit filed by Attorney General Coakley will expose the banks to greater scrutiny by the court. One day after the suit was filed, GMAC Mortgage said it will cease to purchase new mortgage loans in Massachusetts but will honor its contractual obligations as a servicer and continue to serve existing customers.  


Glickman Turley's experienced attorneys represent individuals on a wide range of immigration matters, as well as other legal issues. Please contact our attorneys if you wish to discuss representation on immigration matters, real estate purchase and sales, condominium associations, criminal defense, non-profit law, civil litigation, business litigation, business law, probate matters including wills, powers of attorney, health care proxy, same-sex parent adoptions, guardianships, animal law, or LGBT legal matters.

Obama to Unveil Refinance Program

Obama will discuss on Monday a new housing program to be implemented by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. "[T]he initiative will relax eligibility standards for a federal refinancing program, "allowing those who owe more on their house than it is worth to take advantage of loans with lower interest rates." The new rules will apply to homeowners with federally guaranteed mortages who are current on their payments. Obama will be disussing the initiative during a meeting with homeowners on Monday in Las Vegas. See Associated Press article.

Congressmembers Urge Immigration Officials to Consider LGBT Family Ties in Deportation Cases

As reported by Immigration Equality (immigrationequality.org), some members of Congress urged immigration officials to consider LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transexual) family ties in deportation cases.

Under current immigration laws, US citizen and green card holders with same-sex spouses do not have the same right as heterosexual spouses in petitioning for marriage-based visas or other derivative based relief (for example, asylum) or using marital status as a positive equity in deportation/removal cases.

Glickman Turley's experienced attorneys represent individuals on a wide range of immigraiton matters, as well as LGBT issues. We represent families who need help in same-sex co-parent adoptions and non-traditional family estate planning.  Please contact our attorneys if you wish to discuss representation on immigration matters, real estate purchase and sales, condominium associations, criminal defense, non-profit law, civil ligitation, business litigation, business law, probate matters including wills, powers of attorney, health care proxy, adoptions, guardianships, animal law, or LGBT legal matters.

U-Visa for Victims of Crime

Attorneys at Glickman Turley LLP represent a variety of clients on U-visa petitions. Our clients who have been victims of domestic violence, sexual crimes, and racially motivated attacks have been granted protection in the US in the form of a temporary 4-year U-visa and later permanent resident status.

You may be eligible for a U-visa if you have been the victim of a crime in the US, have suffered substantial physical or emotional injuries, and helped or will help law enforcement with the investigation or prosecution of the crime. Please contact our attorneys if you believe that you may be eligible for a U-visa or if you would like to discuss representation on other immigration matters. Our attorneys also represent clients on matters relating to real estate purchase and sales, condominium associations, criminal defense, non-profit law, civil ligitation, business litigation, business law, probate matters including wills, powers of attorney, health care proxy, adoptions, and guardianships, animal law, gay lesbian bisexual transgender law.

Also, please see a recent USCIS memorandum regarding its approval of 10,000 U-visa petitions in the past year.

Supreme Judicial Court Protects Consumers in Recent Decision

In response to a request by the U.S. Court of Appeals, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts opined that real estate closings are the practice of law and cannot be conducted by escrow companies. Clearing title and interpreting the status of title, as well as drafting and interpreting deeds and other documents by which legal rights are created, modified, surrendered or secured are acts which only an attorney should be doing in order to protect those bounds by these documents. "(W)e believe that a lawyer is a necessary participant at the closing to direct the proper transfer of title and consideration, and to document the transaction, thereby protecting the private legal interests at stake as well as the public interest in the continued integrity and reliability of the real property recording and registration systems. "

This decision will also have an effect on out of state immigration lawyers which have satellite offices in Massachusetts but no real presence for the consumers using their services.

When you call Glickman Turley, attorneys answer your calls. There is no one between you and your lawyer. We protect your interests.

The decision can be found on the website for the Supreme Judicial Court. It is Real Estate Bar Association v. National Real Information Services, 459 Mass. 512 (2011).