Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 236, § 47 (2026)

Time for bringing action for possession

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 47. If an execution is levied on land or rights the record title to which fraudulently stands in the name of a person other than the debtor and such other person is in possession claiming title thereto, the levy shall be void unless the judgment creditor to whom the land is set off or the purchaser at the sale or a person lawfully claiming under either of them commences his action to recover possession thereof within one year after the recording of the execution and return in the registry of deeds in the case of a levy by set-off or after the recording of the deed therein in the case of a levy by sale; and such land or rights so set off or sold may be redeemed by the defendant in said action or by any person lawfully claiming under him, within three months from the date of the judgment recovered in said action for possession, in the manner and according to the terms and conditions provided in section thirty-three upon payment of the costs of such action for possession.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 1922–1928 · leading case: Isam Mitchell & Co. v. Rastok, 135 N.E. 703 (Mass. 1922).
Isam Mitchell & Co. v. Rastok, 135 N.E. 703 (Mass. 1922). “Wheeler, 6 Gray, 520 ; G. L. c. 236, § 47. On February 24, 1916, a deputy sheriff seized and took the interest that the said John Raustock had on July 24, 1915 — the day of the attachment — in and to the real estate described in the bill and sold said property to the plaintiff…”
Isam Mitchell & Co. v. Norwach, 156 N.E. 882 (Mass. 1927). “The judgment creditor, who was the purchaser at the sale, brought his action to recover possession of the premises within one year after the return day of the execution in accordance with G. L. c. 236, § 47. That statute is restricted in its scope to instances where title and…”
Marble v. Bloom, 159 N.E. 735 (Mass. 1928). “This is a writ of entry brought under the provisions of G. L. c. 236, § 47, by the purchaser at an execution sale of real property, which, in an action brought by him, had been specially attached as standing in the name of the wife of the defendant in that action — one Barney…”
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