Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 185, § 57 (2026)

Dealings by owner; registration as act of conveyance

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 57. An owner of registered land may convey, mortgage, lease, charge or otherwise deal with it as fully as if it had not been registered. He may use forms of deeds, mortgages, leases or other voluntary instruments, like those now in use, sufficient in law for the purpose intended. But no deed, mortgage or other voluntary instrument, except a will and a lease for a term not exceeding seven years, purporting to convey or affect registered land, shall take effect as a conveyance or bind the land, but shall operate only as a contract between the parties, and as evidence of authority to the recorder or assistant recorder to make registration. The act of registration only shall be the operative act to convey or affect the land, and in all cases the registration shall be made in the office of the assistant recorder for the district or districts where the land lies.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 15 cases, 1926–2015 · leading case: Martin v. Simmons Props., LLC, 2 N.E.3d 885 (Mass. 2014).

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Martin v. Simmons Props., LLC, 2 N.E.3d 885 (Mass. 2014). · cites it 2× “185, to support a different understanding of the law of easements concerning registered land as opposed to recorded land. The act states explicitly that an “owner of registered land may convey, mortgage, lease, change or otherwise deal with it as fully as if it had not been…”

Hickey v. Pathways Ass'n, Inc., 37 N.E.3d 1003 (Mass. 2015). “686, 690 (2005); G. L. c. 185, § 57. Every judgment of registration “shall set forth the estate of the owner and .”

Tetrault v. Bruscoe, 497 N.E.2d 275 (Mass. 1986). “See G. L. c. 185, §§ 57, 58 (1984 ed.). Before the Land Court took any action on the merits of the Commonwealth’s suit, the plaintiffs filed a complaint for declaratory judgment in the single justice session of the Supreme Judicial Court seeking substantially similar relief.”

Feinzig v. Ficksman, 674 N.E.2d 1329 (Mass. App. Ct. 1997). “See generally G. L. c. 185, §§ 57 et seq. Here, the judgment of the Superior Court, which, as we have observed, is a de facto encumbrance in the nature of an easement, is not registered, will not show on the certificate of title of the Ficksman property and thereby subverts the…”

Snow v. Van Dam, 197 N.E. 224 (Mass. 1935). “Although the deed was dated January 19, 1923, the registration, which was the operative act of conveyance (G. L. c. 185, § 57), took place on January 23, 1923.”

Lassman v. HSBC Bank USA., N.A. (In re DeMore), 530 B.R. 519 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2015). · cites it 2× “Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 185, § 57 . Similarly, section 67 provides:' The owner of registered land may mortgage it by executing a mortgage deed.”

Mbazira v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC (In re Mbazira), 518 B.R. 11 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2014). “2d 109 (while certificate holders were required to review the subdivision plan referred to in their certificates of title, as well as the certificates of other lot holders in the subdivision, none of those documents would have put them on notice as to what parties were granted…”

Malaguti v. Rosen, 160 N.E. 532 (Mass. 1928). “G. L. c. 185, § 57. They gave the defendants, as against the plaintiff, an equitable interest in the land and an equitable right to registration.”

Fed. Nat'l Bank v. Gaston, 152 N.E. 923 (Mass. 1926). · cites it 2× “Gaston, as one of the executors of his will, contends that the Land Court is without jurisdiction to deal with the subject matter because by G. L. c. 185, § 57, although an owner may mortgage registered land as if it were not registered and may use any form of mortgage…”

Goldsmith v. Woodman (In re Woodman), 497 B.R. 668 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2013). · cites it 2× “In support of his motion for summary judgment the trustee alleges that because Citi and Nationstar failed to record their mortgages with the Land Court as required by Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 185 § 57, they hold unperfected security interests under Massachusetts law.”

Meisel Press Mfg. Co. v. City of Boston, 172 N.E. 356 (Mass. 1930). “G. L. c. 185, § 57. The president of the petitioner, having testified that the taking shut off two drains which had carried the surface water from its land, said, in answer to a question asked in cross-examination, that after the new sewer was put in by the city a connection was…”

Cities Serv. Oil Co. v. Gen. Dynamics Corp., 437 N.E.2d 247 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982). “” Under G. L. c. 185, § 57, “no deed . . . shall take effect as a conveyance or bind the land .”

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