Rich Vetstein

A Different Type Of Tear-Down: Court Orders Million Dollar Marblehead Manse Demolished For Zoning Violation

by Rich Vetstein 02.21.2012 Construction Law
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Expensive Lesson–Build At Your Own Peril After a 16 year long saga, wealthy Marblehead mansion owner Wayne Johnson’s battle to save his house from a court-ordered wrecking ball has come to an end. The underlying legal saga is convoluted and complicated, but the end result was swift and destructive — the million dollar mansion is now [...]

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Massachusetts Landlords: Be Aware Of “The Professional Tenant”

by Rich Vetstein 02.19.2012 Landlord Tenant Law

Avoid The Professional Tenant Like The Plague Using best practices to screen and select good tenants is the most important thing a Massachusetts landlord can do to avoid costly non-payment and eviction problems down the road, as I have posted about on this Blog. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a [...]

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SJC Requests Friend-Of-The-Court Briefs In Important Foreclosure Case of HSBC Bank v. Matt

by Rich Vetstein 02.18.2012 Foreclosure
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In yet another move evidencing the Supreme Judicial Court’s ongoing concern over the impact of the foreclosure crisis in Massachusetts, the SJC is soliciting friend-of-the-court briefs in the next important foreclosure case, HSBC Bank v. Jodi Matt. As we wrote about in our prior post here, the SJC is considering whether a lender holding a [...]

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Massachusetts Registries of Deeds Planning Class Action Against MERS To Recoup Recording Fees

by Rich Vetstein 02.15.2012 Liens
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Banker and Tradesman is reporting that Bristol, Plymouth and Norfolk County Registrars of Deeds plan to file a class action suit against Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS), aiming to recoup land recording fees they believe they are owed. B&T reporter Colleen Sullivan reports that: The counties are being represented by Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a New [...]

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Condominium Bait and Switch Scheme Nets First Time Buyers Big Recovery

by Rich Vetstein 02.14.2012 Closings
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Six Year Litigation Odyssey Ends With $872,000 Payout After six years of litigation over a deceptive bait-and-switch condominium purchase scheme, a Cambridge couple has forced the listing broker in the deal to pay them $872,000 in compensation. The case is Oleg Batishchev v. Brenda Cote and others (click to download). The case started in 2005, [...]

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Apartment “Amenity Use Fee” Ruled Unlawful In Class Action Against Archstone Properties

by Rich Vetstein 02.11.2012 Disclosures

Federal Judge Rules $475 Apartment Amenity Use Fee Violates Massachusetts Security Deposit Law Some large apartment owners, such as Archstone Properties, have been charging tenants a separate “amenity use fee” for use of the community pool, workout room, media center and other amenities, or a separate “move-in” fee or pet fee. The fees can be [...]

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Breaking News: Massachusetts Joins National Foreclosure Abuse Settlement

by Rich Vetstein 02.09.2012 Foreclosure
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Updated (2.9.12 6:30pm) In the largest national settlement since the tobacco litigation, the Boston Globe is reporting that Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is expected today to sign on to a settlement brokered by attorneys general nationwide with five major US lenders over the banks’ role in the country’s foreclosure crisis. As we wrote about [...]

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Why Is The Massachusetts Association of Buyers Agents Scaring Short Sale Buyers?

by Rich Vetstein 02.08.2012 Massachusetts Real Estate Law

Short Sales Remain A Good Bargain For Educated Buyers I was shocked to see this headline today in Banker and Tradesman: Buyers’ Agents Caution: Stay Away From Short Sales, If You Can. Behind this sensationalist headline is the Massachusetts Association of Buyer’s Agents (MABA) which is “warning buyers to say away from short sales.” Say [...]

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Supplemental and Friend-Of-The-Court Briefs Filed In Eaton v. Federal National Mortgage Ass’n (Fannie Mae)

by Rich Vetstein 01.31.2012 Fannie Mae
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For interested legal observers of the foreclosure crisis, it really doesn’t get any better than this. Supplemental and amicus curie legal briefs have been filed in much awaited case of Eaton v. Federal National Mortgage Ass’n, and they make for great reading. The briefs were filed in response to the SJC’s concern, mid-appeal, over whether [...]

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Buyer Loses $31,000 Deposit After Refusing To List Current Residence For Sale As Financing Condition

by Rich Vetstein 01.30.2012 Massachusetts Real Estate Law
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Standard Mortgage Contingency Language At Issue I recently came across a very interesting and scary case from the Appeals Court, Survillo v. McDonough No. 11–P–290. Dec. 2, 2011. (It’s technically an “unpublished” opinion but it’s available to the public). The case underscores how carefully attorneys must craft the mortgage contingency to protect the buyer’s deposit [...]

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New Trends Emerging In Massachusetts Short Sale Legal Practice

by Rich Vetstein 01.24.2012 Foreclosure

The Offer to Purchase Has Become Much More Important With a glut of distressed property still on the market and lenders realizing foreclosures aren’t very cost-effective, analysts are predicting a healthy spike in short sales for 2012. Short sales are quite unique in terms of deal dynamics, and should be handled differently than the typical [...]

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Federal Judges Read Law Blogs (Including This One!)

by Rich Vetstein 01.18.2012 Massachusetts Real Estate Law

I just wanted to pass along a neat story from a colleague evidencing the growing trend of judges turning to law blogs in their research of opinions. Federal Judge William Young spoke yesterday at a real estate bar association meeting about his recent and somewhat controversial opinion in Culhane v. Aurora Loan Servicers which considered [...]

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Mandatory Upgrade Required For Home Oil Heating Systems Under New Massachusetts Law

by Rich Vetstein 01.13.2012 Environmental Law

Under a new Massachusetts oil heating law which went into effect on September 30, 2011, every homeowner with an oil heating system is required to install an oil safety valve or an oil supply line with protective sleeve in their system. The cost is approximately $150 to $350 depending on the system. The required upgrade [...]

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From Asbestos to Radon: The Massachusetts Home Inspection Process, A Legal Perspective

by Rich Vetstein 01.13.2012 Condominium Law
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The home inspection is one of the most critical aspects of every Massachusetts real estate transaction. Virtually every buyer in a standard purchase transaction (meaning not a short sale, foreclosure, or bank-owned property) will opt to perform a home inspection, and for good reason. You need to know whether there are any serious structural, mechanical [...]

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Breaking News: SJC Concerned Over Potential Disastrous Impact On Foreclosure Titles In Eaton v. Fannie Mae

by Rich Vetstein 01.09.2012 Fannie Mae

The Supreme Judicial Court has just issued an unusual order in the very important Eaton v. Federal National Mortgage Association case, indicating its deep concern over whether an adverse ruling against foreclosing lenders will have a disastrous impact on foreclosure titles and, if so, whether its ruling should be applied prospectively rather than retroactively. The [...]

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Massachusetts Land Court Docket and Public Case Information Now Available Online

by Rich Vetstein 01.06.2012 Land Court

Great news from the Land Court — its new online public case information system is now live! The Land Court is pleased to announce the availability of publicly available case information via the internet. It is called eAccess and the website address is www.masscourts.org. Be sure to bookmark this important tool! The site allows users [...]

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Do I Need A Plot Plan For My Massachusetts Real Estate Closing?

by Rich Vetstein 01.06.2012 Boundaries
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Plot Plans, also called Mortgage Inspection Plans, were once part of every Massachusetts real estate purchase closing. These days, some lenders do not require them and I will tell you why in this post. However, despite the limitations of a plot plan, I think it’s a good idea for buyers to purchase a plot plan [...]

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2011 Massachusetts Real Estate Law Year In Review

by Rich Vetstein 12.30.2011 Foreclosure
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It’s time again for our annual review of highlights in Massachusetts Real Estate Law for the past year. It’s been a very busy year. From the foreclosure fallout, to Occupy Boston, to the new homestead law, there’s been lots to report on. We’ll start in order of importance this year. SJC Decides Controversial U.S. Bank [...]

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Maximizing Massachusetts Short Sale Success: From Hardship Letter To Closing

by Rich Vetstein 12.25.2011 Fannie Mae
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Tireless Determination The Key To Massachusetts Short Sale Success What Is A Short Sale? A short sale is special type of real estate transaction between a homeowner, his mortgage holder(s), and a third party buyer where the property owner’s mortgage balance exceeds the market value of the property — known as being “under water.” In [...]

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Inertia Is Not An Option: Superior Court Rules BofA Can’t Drag Heels On HAMP Loan Modification

by Rich Vetstein 12.24.2011 Massachusetts Real Estate Law
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First Reported Mass. Ruling On Home Affordable Modification Program Liability The fallout from the sub-prime and mortgage crisis continues in Massachusetts courts, and some judges are reacting in favor of sympathetic borrowers. In Parker v. Bank of America, Massachusetts Superior Court (Dec. 15, 2011), Judge Thomas Billings considered what is unfortunately now a very common [...]

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