Mass. Gen. Laws » Part II Title I Chapter 184
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 184, § 17A (2026)

Agreement for purchase and sale of real estate; acknowledgment; recordation

✓ text as last checked Sept. 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 17A. No agreement for the purchase and sale of real estate or any extension thereof shall be received for record in any registry of deeds unless such agreement or extension thereof is acknowledged by the parties agreeing to sell such real estate or one of them. No agreement for the purchase and sale of real estate which is recorded shall have any effect as against persons other than the parties thereto after the expiration of a period of ninety days from the date provided for the delivery of the deed by such agreement, or by such agreement as extended, as the case may be, unless prior to the expiration of such period an action or suit shall have been commenced to enforce such agreement and a memorandum like that described in section fifteen shall have been recorded in said registry of deeds; provided, that such agreement shall not be deemed to be extended, for the purposes of this section, by any instrument which is not recorded within ninety days from the date provided for the delivery of the deed by such agreement, or by such agreement as last previously extended.

If an individual, firm or corporation holds funds entrusted to him pursuant to a written agreement for the sale of real property and the written agreement expressly authorizes the individual, firm or corporation, as escrow agent, to continue to hold the funds in the event of a dispute between the buyer and seller concerning entitlement to the funds, no claim shall be maintained against the individual, firm or corporation, as escrow agent, whether as trustee, stakeholder or otherwise, if the escrow agent has complied with the mutual written instructions of the buyer and seller, if any, and any order or judgment of a court or final decision of an arbitrator with regard to accounting for or disbursing the funds. In an action commenced with regard to entitlement to such escrowed funds, a party to the action may file a motion seeking an order to have the funds paid into court by the escrow agent. Written notice of the motion shall be given by the moving party to all other parties and to the escrow agent. The escrow agent shall pay the funds into court within ten days of receipt of such order or within such other time as provided by the court.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1990–2021 · leading case: Bisceglia v. Bernadine Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of Massachusetts, Inc., 560 N.E.2d 567 (Mass. App. Ct. 1990).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Bisceglia v. Bernadine Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of Massachusetts, Inc., 560 N.E.2d 567 (Mass. App. Ct. 1990). “So too, there is no basis for the claim that a purchase and sale agreement which is not acknowledged, see G. L. c. 184, § 17A, and is signed only by the treasurer and not by the president or vice president as well, somehow complies with G.”
Queeno v. Colonial Co-Operative Bank, 826 N.E.2d 738 (Mass. App. Ct. 2005). “We also reject the bank’s argument that by failing to record their agreement pursuant to G. L. c. 184, § 17A, the plaintiffs waived the protections that statute would have afforded them if they had recorded the agreement.”
Barbour v. Stanton, 18 Mass. L. Rptr. 254 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2004). · cites it 2× “The trustees argue that, pursuant to G.L.c. 184, §17A, the Trust is not subject to claims arising from enforcement of the P&S Agreement because the P&S Agreement has no effect on it as a bona fide purchaser.”
Merchia v. Lamb & Assocs., P.C., No. 4:20-cv-40100 (D. Mass. Feb. 26, 2021). “Relief Pursuant G.L. c.184, §17A Ex. A ¶ 5 [#34-2]. There is also no dispute that the transaction for the Property never actually took place, Merchia never obtained clear and marketable title to the property, and no Quitclaim deed was recorded at the Worcester Registry.”
Queeno v. Cote, 11 Mass. L. Rptr. 26 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1999). “5 Although a purchase and sales agreement may be recorded if it is properly acknowledged by one of the parties, G.L.c. 184, §17A, it is generally not in the best interests of the seller to do so, particularly with new construction, as it creates a cloud on the title in the case…”
Queeno v. Cote, 12 Mass. L. Rptr. 450 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2000). “The bank contends that the plaintiffs failed to take advantage of the only statute which could have provided the priority they seek, namely, G.L.c. 184, §17A. Colonial further contends that the fact that it had some notice of the purchase and sale agreement between Saturday and…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.