Massachusetts General Laws
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 239, § 8 (2026)
Three years quiet possession; effect
✓ text as last checked Sept. 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
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Section 8. There shall be no recovery under this chapter of any land or tenements of which the defendant, his ancestors or those under whom he holds the land or tenements have been in quiet possession for three years next before the commencement of the action unless the defendant's estate therein is ended.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2
cases, 1926–2000 · leading case: Dayton v. Brannelly, 152 N.E. 65 (Mass. 1926).
Dayton v. Brannelly, 152 N.E. 65 (Mass. 1926). “If it be assumed, and it is probably true, that the mortgage was valid, the assignment good, and the entry to foreclose legal; nevertheless the demandant is precluded from recovery by G. L. c. 239, § 8, which provides that there shall be no recovery by virtue of the summary…”
Elliott v. Chaouche, 2000 Mass. App. Div. 22 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 2000). “By way of affirmative defense and G.L.c. 239, §8 counterclaim, the defendant asserted that the numerous violations of the State Sanitary Code constituted a breach by the plaintiff of the implied warranty of habitability so as to preclude the plaintiffs recovery of possession.”
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