Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XIII Chapter 79
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 79, § 10 (2026)

Damages for injuries to property caused by acts in pais

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 10. When the real estate of any person has been taken for the public use or has been damaged by the construction, maintenance, operation, alteration, repair or discontinuance of a public improvement or has been entered for a public purpose, but such taking, entry or damage was not effected by or in accordance with a formal vote or order of the board of officers of a body politic or corporate duly authorized by law, or when the personal property of any person has been damaged, seized, destroyed or used for a public purpose, and by such taking, damage, entry, seizure, destruction or use he has suffered an injury for which he is entitled to compensation, the damages therefor may be recovered under this chapter. If the injury was caused by or on behalf of the commonwealth or of a county, city, town or district, the officer or board of officers under whose direction or control the injury was caused shall award the damages upon the petition of any person entitled thereto. If the injury was caused by a railroad corporation, the county commissioners of the county in which the property taken, damaged, entered upon, seized, destroyed or used was located, and, if the injury was caused by a private corporation other than a railroad, the aldermen of the city or the selectmen of the town in which such property was located, shall award the damages upon the petition of any person entitled thereto or of the corporation liable therefor. In case of a specific taking, entry, seizure or other act causing destruction or damage or depriving the owner of the use of his property permanently or for a definite period of time the damages shall be assessed as of the date of such taking, entry, seizure or other act and the right thereto shall vest on such date and a petition for an award of damages therefor under this section may be filed within one year thereafter; otherwise damages shall be assessed with respect to any parcel of property as of the date when such property was first injuriously affected, the right thereto shall vest upon the completion of the public improvement which caused the injury, and a petition for an award of damages therefor under this section may be filed within one year after such completion.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 26 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1923–2025 · leading case: Davidson v. Commonwealth, 395 N.E.2d 1314 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979).
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Davidson v. Commonwealth, 395 N.E.2d 1314 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979). · cites it 2× “17, § 2A, constitutes a lawful exercise of the police power, as the Commonwealth contends, for which no compensation is required, or a taking of property requiring compensation, as the plaintiff claims.”
Cayon v. City of Chicopee, 277 N.E.2d 116 (Mass. 1971). · cites it 4× “This case involves a petition for assessment of damages alleged to be due the petitioner under G. L. c. 79, § 10, by reason of takings, constructive or otherwise, of land allegedly owned by him.”
Gilbert v. City of Cambridge, 745 F. Supp. 42 (D. Mass. 1990). · cites it 3× ““Mass.Gen.L. ch. 79, § 10 provides a specific statutory remedy for governmental actions which amount to a taking without formal condemnation proceedings.”
Blair v. Dep't of Conservation & Rec., 457 Mass. 634 (Mass. 2010). “92AV2, § 17, necessarily invoking the right to obtain compensation pursuant to G. L. c. 79, § 10. Because the Act includes explicit exceptions as well as a variance procedure, the Act does not, on its face, establish an interest in land without compensation under every possible…”
Mun. Light Co, Ashburnham v. Commonwealth, 608 N.E.2d 743 (Mass. App. Ct. 1993). “The light companies complain that the Commonwealth, by its opposition to Seabrook, so damaged the economic interests of the light companies that it in effect made a taking by eminent domain of their property.”
L'Huilier v. City of Fitchburg, 246 Mass. 349 (Mass. 1923). · cites it 2× “344, Part II, § 28, now G. L. c. 79, §§ 10, 14, 16, that a petition to the Superior Court for a jury for the assessment of damages arising from specific repairs must be filed within one year from the day when work is actually commenced.”
Wilson v. Commonwealth, 583 N.E.2d 894 (Mass. App. Ct. 1992). “The classic case arises when a governmental body, by virtue of its eminent domain power, transfers title from a private property owner to itself. See Danforth v. United States, 308 U.”
Massachusetts Tpk. Auth. v. Perini Corp., 208 N.E.2d 807 (Mass. 1965). “222) that the Legislature may permit recovery of damages beyond what “the landowner . . .”
Rivers v. Town of Warwick, 641 N.E.2d 1062 (Mass. App. Ct. 1994). “The plaintiffs, owners of a summer house and four parcels of land in Warwick, brought this action to recover damages under G. L. c. 79, § 10, and c. 82, § 24, for the action of the town, in town meeting, in discontinuing two roads (Page Road and Flagg Road) and part of a third…”
United States Gypsum Co. v. Exec. Off. of Env't Affairs, 867 N.E.2d 764 (Mass. App. Ct. 2007). “The judge accurately noted that Pizzuti was not presently seeking compensation for the supposed taking (which would require a separate proceeding under G. L. c. 79, § 10) but rather hoped to obtain a de nova evidentiary hearing regarding the inclusion of the CCC within the DPA,…”
Athanasiou v. Town of Westhampton, 30 F. Supp. 3d 84 (D. Mass. 2014). · cites it 2× “In particular, Plaintiffs assert in their amended complaint a claim for a taking in pais under M.G.L. c. 79, § 10 (Count I) and a claim under 42 U.”
Nabhan v. Bd. of Selectmen of Salisbury, 423 N.E.2d 1023 (Mass. App. Ct. 1981). “9 The plaintiffs also contended that the defendants’ actions had to be enjoined because they constituted a taking by eminent domain, G. L. c. 79, § 10, which had not been first authorized by town meeting, as required by G.”
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