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

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 79, § 3 (2026)

Recordation of taking order; procedure to acquire possession

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Section 3. The board of officers by whom an order of taking has been adopted under section one shall within thirty days thereafter cause a copy thereof, signed by them or certified by their secretary or clerk, or, in case of a taking by or on behalf of a city by a board of officers having no secretary or clerk, certified by the city clerk, to be recorded in the registry of deeds of every county or district in which the property taken or any of it lies. The copy of an order of taking made under chapter one hundred and fifty-nine in connection with proceedings thereunder to abolish grade crossings by the department of highways, or by the department of telecommunications and energy, may be filed and recorded without the payment of any fee therefor. Upon the recording of an order of taking under this section, title to the fee of the property taken or to such other interest therein as has been designated in such order shall vest in the body politic or corporate on behalf of which the taking was made; and the right to damages for such taking shall thereupon vest in the persons entitled thereto unless otherwise provided by law.

If the person in possession of property which has been taken in fee, or in which an easement has been taken, by eminent domain under this chapter refuses to permit the body politic or corporate by which the taking was made to enter thereon and take possession thereof or to exercise its rights under the taking after thirty days' notice in writing sent to him by registered mail or posted upon the property so taken or in which an easement has been so taken, the board of officers having the direction and control of the public improvement in connection with which the taking was made may issue its warrant to the sheriff of the county in which the property is situated or to his deputy directing him to make entry on the property so taken and to take possession thereof or of the easement therein which has been taken, on behalf of said body politic or corporate, and such sheriff or his deputy shall forthwith execute said warrant using such force as he may deem necessary for the purpose.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 22 cases, 1923–2014 · leading case: Devine v. Town of Nantucket, 449 Mass. 499 (Mass. 2007).
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Devine v. Town of Nantucket, 449 Mass. 499 (Mass. 2007). · cites it 3× “Under G. L. c. 79, § 3, the right to bring an action for damages vests “[ujpon the recording of an order of taking .”
Boston Edison Co. v. Massachusetts Water Resources Auth., 947 N.E.2d 544 (Mass. 2011). “G. L. c. 79, § 3 (“Upon the recording of an order of taking .”
Cumberland Farms, Inc. v. Montague Econ. Dev. & Indus. Corp., 650 N.E.2d 811 (Mass. App. Ct. 1995). · cites it 2× “On September 21, 1990, MEDIC issued its order of taking of the locus and recorded that taking with the Franklin registry of deeds on the same day, conformably with G. L. c. 79, § 3, which requires that recording be done within thirty days.”
Boston Water & Sewer Comm'n v. Commonwealth, 834 N.E.2d 1205 (Mass. App. Ct. 2005). · cites it 2× “As to count I, the Commission claims that the taking of the Calf Pasture was void ab initia due to the Commonwealth’s failure to record the taking (that is, the passage of the 1999 act) with the registry of deeds within thirty days, as required by G. L. c. 79, § 3. While the…”
Whitehouse v. Town of Sherborn, 419 N.E.2d 293 (Mass. App. Ct. 1981). “The plaintiffs’ complaint was filed on January 10, 1980, and alleges in substance that the taking was and remains invalid because the order of taking was not recorded within thirty days, as contemplated by G. L. c. 79, § 3. 3 The plaintiffs sought: (a) declarations that the…”
Hannon v. City of Newton, 744 F.3d 759 (1st Cir. 2014). “See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 79, § 3 . As a result, the city is required to pay a “reasonable amount” for the condemned property.”
Byfield v. City of Newton, 141 N.E. 658 (Mass. 1923). “G. L. c. 79, § 3. The circumstance that the notice sent to the petitioner stated the date of filing the copy of the taking as November 15, 1922, when the true date was November 16, 1922, does not require the granting of the writ.”
Barnes v. City of Springfield, 168 N.E. 78 (Mass. 1929). “In this respect the act differs from the provision of the present eminent domain *507 statute, G. L. c. 79, § 3 (first enacted as § 3 in a new chapter 48A added to the Revised Laws by St.”
Radway v. Selectmen of Dennis, 266 Mass. 329 (Mass. 1929). “As to the time when the right to damages accrues, see G. L. c. 79, §§ 3, 6; Edmands v. Boston, 108 Mass.”
Jordan v. Cnty. Commissioners, 167 N.E. 652 (Mass. 1929). “Since it did not appear to have been brought within one year after entry upon the premises, it was within the bar of the statute (G. L. c. 79, §§ 3, 16; McCarthy v. Simon, 247 Mass.”
Walker v. City of Medford, 172 N.E. 248 (Mass. 1930). “It was approved by the mayor, and duly recorded as required by G. L. c. 79, § 3, as amended. Prior to its adoption there was no vote, two-thirds or otherwise, passed by the board of aldermen specifically authorizing the taking or appropriating money for it, although certain…”
Boyce v. Greater Lowell Reg'l Vocational Technical Sch. Dist., 389 N.E.2d 451 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979). “579, § 6, a "petition for the assessment of damages .”
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