Mass. Gen. Laws » Part III Title V Chapter 260
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 31A (2026)

Right of entry for condition broken or possibility of reverter; procedure

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 31A. No proceeding based upon any right of entry for condition broken or possibility of reverter, to which a fee simple or fee simple determinable in land is subject, created before the second day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty-five, shall be maintained in any court after the first day of January, nineteen hundred and sixty-four, unless on or before the first day of January, nineteen hundred and sixty-four, (a) the condition has been broken or the reverter has occurred, and a person or persons having the right of entry or reverter shall have taken possession of the land, and in case of entry made after January first, nineteen hundred and fifty-seven, shall have filed a certificate of entry pursuant to section nineteen of chapter one hundred and eighty-four, or (b) a person or persons having the right of entry, or who would have it if the condition were broken, or would be entitled if the reverter occurred, or one of them if there be more than one, shall by himself, or by his attorney, agent, guardian, conservator or parent, have filed in the registry of deeds, or in the case of registered land, in the registry of the land court, for the district in which the land is situated, a statement in writing, duly sworn to, describing the land and the nature of the right and the deed or other instrument creating it, and where it may be found if recorded or registered, and, in case of registered land, naming the holder or holders of the outstanding certificate of title and stating the number of said certificate, and, in case of land not registered, naming the person or persons appearing of record to own the fee subject to such right or possibility, or shown by the records of the tax assessors at the last prior assessment date to be the owner or owners thereof.

Such statement shall be received and recorded or registered upon payment of the fee required by law, and shall be indexed in the grantor index under the person or persons so named, and in case of registered land, noted on the certificate of title. The register and assistant recorder shall also keep a separate list of such statements.

This section shall apply to all such rights whether or not the owner thereof is a corporation or a charity or a government or governmental subdivision other than the commonwealth, or is under any disability or out of the commonwealth, and it shall apply notwithstanding any recitals in deeds or other instruments heretofore or hereafter recorded, unless a statement is filed as above provided. Nothing in this section shall be construed to extend the period of any other applicable statute of limitations or to authorize the bringing of any proceeding to enforce any right which has been or may be barred by lapse of time or for any other reason.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8 cases, 1969–1995 · leading case: Boston Waterfront Dev. Corp. v. Commonwealth, 393 N.E.2d 356 (Mass. 1979).
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Boston Waterfront Dev. Corp. v. Commonwealth, 393 N.E.2d 356 (Mass. 1979). · cites it 10× “The petitioner finally contends that, even if the Lewis Wharf statutes did create a condition on its title to the land, the Commonwealth has lost the right to proceed against it for any breach of this condition on account of G.L.c. 260, § 31A. Therefore, it argues, the existence…”
Harrison v. Marcus, 486 N.E.2d 710 (Mass. 1985). · cites it 3× “184A, § 3, and G. L. c. 260, § 31A, Cape Cod and Islands Council, Inc.”
Bd., Selectmen of Provincetown v. Attorney Gen., 447 N.E.2d 677 (Mass. App. Ct. 1983). · cites it 3× “The presence of a defeasible fee, however, could raise serious questions under G. L. c. 260, § 31A. 6 It is therefore necessary to establish the exact nature of the estate devised.”
Town of Brookline v. Carey, 245 N.E.2d 446 (Mass. 1969). · cites it 3× “The judge ruled that the town was entitled to a decree registering title to the lot free of any claim by the respondent for the reason that she was barred from asserting any right by G. L. c. 260, § 31A. 2 The respondent appealed.”
Opinions of the Justices to the Senate, 424 N.E.2d 1092 (Mass. 1981). “The discussion in the Boston Waterfront opinion of the claim that the Commonwealth lost any right of reentry as to the property involved in that case by failing to comply with G. L. c. 260, § 31A, in effect a statute of limitations, indicates that the court thought that such an…”
Opinion of the Justices to the Senate, 338 N.E.2d 806 (Mass. 1975). · cites it 2× “. . have filed ... a statement in writing, duly sworn to, describing the land and the nature of the right and the deed or other instrument creating it.”
Wigglesworth v. Cowles, 648 N.E.2d 1289 (Mass. App. Ct. 1995). “, 15 Mass. App. Ct. 639, 644-645 (1983), and authorities cited, the trustees may have been under a fiduciary duty to protect the heirs by properly registering their reversionary interests pursuant to G.”
Econ. Dev. & Indus. Corp. v. United States, 546 F. Supp. 1204 (D. Mass. 1982). · cites it 5× “*1207 In a “statement of legislative purpose,” the statute indicated as follows: The general court notes that the insertion in the General Laws of [G.L. c. 260, § 31A] ... [has], contrary to the legislative intent thereof, created the misapprehension that [it] applied to lands…”
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 31A(b) — 1 case
Wigglesworth v. Cowles, 648 N.E.2d 1289 (Mass. App. Ct. 1995). “, 15 Mass. App. Ct. 639, 644-645 (1983), and authorities cited, the trustees may have been under a fiduciary duty to protect the heirs by properly registering their reversionary interests pursuant to G.”
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.