Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 60, § 54 (2026)

Instrument of taking; form; contents; effect

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 54. The instrument of taking shall be under the hand and seal of the collector and shall contain a statement of the cause of taking, a substantially accurate description of each parcel of land taken, the name of the person to whom the same was assessed, the amount of the tax thereon, and the incidental expenses and costs to the date of taking. Such an instrument of taking shall not be valid unless recorded within sixty days of the date of taking. If so recorded it shall be prima facie evidence of all facts essential to the validity of the title so taken, whether the taking was made on or before as well as since July first, nineteen hundred and fifteen. Title to the land so taken shall thereupon vest in the town, subject to the right of redemption. Such title shall, until redemption or until the right of redemption is foreclosed as hereinafter provided, be held as security for the repayment of said taxes with all intervening costs, terms imposed for redemption and charges, with interest thereon, and the premises so taken, both before and after either redemption or foreclosure, shall also be subject to and have the benefit of all easements and restrictions lawfully existing in, upon or over said land or appurtenant thereto, and, except as provided in section seventy-seven, all covenants and agreements running with said premises either at law or in equity, when so taken.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 12 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1962–2024 · leading case: Vincent Realty Corp. v. City of Boston, 378 N.E.2d 73 (Mass. 1978).

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Vincent Realty Corp. v. City of Boston, 378 N.E.2d 73 (Mass. 1978). “Vincent Realty was thus alerted that title had vested in the city (G. L. c. 60, § 54), and that the city could foreclose the right to redeem according to statute.”

Johnson v. McMahon, 182 N.E.2d 507 (Mass. 1962). · cites it 3× “The instrument of taking was recorded on May 2,1956, as required by G. L. c. 60, § 54. Taxes on the locus for the years 1956,1957, and 1958 were not paid.”

Hanna v. Town of Framingham, 802 N.E.2d 1061 (Mass. App. Ct. 2004). “Under G. L. c. 60, § 54, title to land taken for unpaid taxes vests in the town as of the date of the taking, upon the town’s filing of an instrument of tax taking in the applicable registry of deeds within sixty days of the date of the taking.”

City of Worcester v. AME Realty Corp., 928 N.E.2d 656 (Mass. App. Ct. 2010). “60, §§ 16 and 43; and (b) that the city and the Land Court failed to furnish Venetis, as a recorded mortgagee, notice of the tax title foreclosure proceedings and so deprived him of procedural and (impliedly) substantive due process.”

City of Boston v. Ditson, 348 N.E.2d 116 (Mass. App. Ct. 1976). “The locus was taken by the city for nonpayment *324 of the 1969 real estate taxes assessed thereon, together with sewer and water charges and interest, under G. L. c. 60, § 54, by an instrument of taking recorded on May 7, 1970.”

Bartevian v. Cullen, 343 N.E.2d 851 (Mass. 1976). “” 3 Although a seasonably recorded instrument of taking is prima facie evidence of facts essential to the validity of a municipality’s title, such as the proper service of a demand for payment of taxes (G. L. c. 60, § 54), the undisputed facts show as matter of law that the…”

Southwick v. Plan. Bd., 891 N.E.2d 239 (Mass. App. Ct. 2008). “On June 22, 2001, several months prior to the filing of the plaintiff’s complaint on August 3, 2001, the town of Plymouth, acting pursuant to G. L. c. 60, § 54, took title to the lot in question on account of unpaid taxes.”

S/n-1 Reo Ltd. Liab. Co. v. City of Fall River, 81 F. Supp. 2d 142 (D. Mass. 1999). “See Mass. Gen. L. ch. 60, § 54; Jenney v. Tilden, 270 Mass.”

Ashley M. Mills v. City of Springfield & Another (Mass. Super. Ct. 2024). “at 463; G.L. c. 60, § 54. On March 31, 2017, the Collector-Treasurer for the City of Springfield executed an "Instrument of Taking" pursuant to G.”

TOWN OF BOURNE v. FRANCIS J. COFFEY, individually & as Pers. Rep.., 101 Mass. App. Ct. 496 (Mass. App. Ct. 2022). “" G. L. c. 60, § 54. Execution of an instrument of taking perfects the municipality's tax lien on the property, "effectively transfer[ring] control of the property from the delinquent taxpayer to the city or town.”

Stefanik v. Reno, 538 F. Supp. 2d 437 (D. Mass. 2008). “In addition, the City of Holyoke took the property in tax title in February of 1996 pursuant to Mass. Gen. L. ch. 60, § 54. This taking gave the City title to the property, subject to a right of redemption by S & B in accord with Mass.”

Grad's Town & Country Clothes Ltd. v. LaBaron of New Bedford, Inc., 1983 Mass. App. Div. 67 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 1983). “In regard to the Lawrence tax collector, the signing of an instrument of taking, even with his signature being notarized was without any valid effect on Grad or LaBaron.”

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