Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 60, § 65 (2026)

Rights of redemption; petition for foreclosure; legal fees

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 65. Except as provided in section sixty-two, whoever then holds the title to land acquired by a sale or taking for taxes may bring a petition in the land court for the foreclosure of all rights of redemption of said land either after 12 months from the sale or taking, or in case of a city or town, at any time following the sale or taking if the buildings thereon have been found to be abandoned property pursuant to section eighty-one A, or there has been a certification pursuant to section 81B that the redemption amount as determined pursuant to section 62 exceeds the assessed value of the parcel; provided, however, a petition for the foreclosure of all rights of redemption may be filed at any time following the consent in writing of the record owner. Such petition shall be made in the form to be prescribed by said court and shall set forth a description of the land to which it applies, with its assessed valuation, the petitioner's source of title, giving a reference to the place, book and page of record, and such other facts as may be necessary for the information of the court. Two or more parcels of land may be included in any petition brought by a town, whether under a taking or as purchaser of such title or titles, if such parcels are in the same record ownership at the time of bringing such petition. The land court in each petition filed by a city or town may, upon motion, order the payment of legal fees to a city or town, which amount shall be added to the tax title account of the land to which the right of redemption is being foreclosed; in no event shall the legal fees awarded exceed the actual costs incurred and the judge shall consider the taxpayer's ability to pay said fees in any such fee award.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 35 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1925–2025 · leading case: Vincent Realty Corp. v. City of Boston, 378 N.E.2d 73 (Mass. 1978).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Vincent Realty Corp. v. City of Boston, 378 N.E.2d 73 (Mass. 1978). · cites it 2× “Pursuant to G. L. c. 60, § 65, more than two years from the date of takings, 4 the city, in 1974, petitioned the Land *778 Court for a final decree of foreclosure barring all rights of redemption.”

Heaney v. Lamento (In re Whiz Kids Dev., LLC), 576 B.R. 731 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2017). · cites it 3× “As the Debtor’s right of redemption in the property could not have been foreclosed prior to November 20, 2015 under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 60, § 65 , the Debtor held an interest in the property on the petition date (August 11, 2015), albeit an encumbered one.”

New England Power & Marine, Inc. v. Town of Tyngsborough (In Re Middlesex Power Equip. & Marine, Inc.), 292 F.3d 61 (1st Cir. 2002). “The Town brought actions under Massachusetts law, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 60, § 65 (2000), to foreclose tax hens on NEPM’s four parcels of land on August 26, 1997, in Massachusetts Land Court.”

In Re Weber, 283 B.R. 630 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2002). · cites it 2× “In 1992, the Town of Framingham effected a tax taking of the Property for failure to pay real estate taxes accruing since 1990, and, on December 8, 1993, filed a “Complaint to Foreclose the Right of Redemption” (the “Complaint”) in the Land Court, pursuant to Mass.Gen.Laws ch.…”

Town of Milford v. Boyd, 434 Mass. 754 (Mass. 2001). “See G. L. c. 60, § 65 (municipality must wait six months from time of tax taking before filing petition to foreclose).”

Town of Andover v. State Fin. Servs., Inc., 736 N.E.2d 837 (Mass. 2000). “” In June, 1994, the town filed a petition in the Land Court against State Financial to foreclose the right of redemption under the provisions of G. L. c. 60, § 65. On October 3, 1994, a citation with notice of the petition to foreclose all rights of redemption in the land was…”

Noone v. Town of Palmer, 2 F. Supp. 3d 1 (D. Mass. 2014). “) See generally Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 60, § 65 . During the ensuing proceedings before the Land Court, Spud Noone, who filed a No *5 tice of Special Appearance indicating that he did not consent to the jurisdiction of the court, raised the land patent and jurisdictional issues “on…”

Hardy v. Jaeckle, 358 N.E.2d 769 (Mass. 1976). “These are petitions under G. L. c. 60, § 65, to foreclose the rights of redemption of the owners of and *574 all other persons interested in two parcels of land taken by the town of Nantucket (town) for the nonpayment of taxes which had been assessed to John Doe, a fictitious…”

Town of Lynnfield v. Owners Unknown, 492 N.E.2d 86 (Mass. 1986). “The judge ruled that, after a petition for the fore *471 closure of redemptive rights has been filed in the Land Court pursuant to G. L. c. 60, § 65 (1984 ed.), the court has complete discretion in deciding whether to allow a party to redeem property taken for the nonpayment of…”

Town of Lancaster v. Foley, 15 Mass. App. Ct. 967 (Mass. App. Ct. 1983). “Part had been taken in 1963 from predecessors in title of the Foleys (see note 1) by judicial foreclosure (“1963 foreclosure”) under G. L. c. 60, §§ 65, 68 & 69. Another portion was the subject of administrative proceedings (concerning land of low value, G.”

Town of Norwood v. Norwood Civic Ass'n, 165 N.E.2d 124 (Mass. 1960). “This proceeding was brought under G. L. c. 60, § 65, 1 as amended by St. 1938, c.”

Ithaca Fin., LLC v. Lopez, 121 N.E.3d 1183 (Mass. 2019). “In such a case, a person may redeem the property by paying or tendering to the city treasurer the amount owed, but only "prior to the filing of a petition for foreclosure" under G. L. c. 60, § 65. See G. L. c. 60, § 62, first par.”

Show all 35 citing cases →

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.