When Tenants’ Purchase Rights Conflict, Agita Ensues
By neglecting to raise a key, compelling point in Land Court, a Dorchester landlord may have lost a case it could have otherwise won.
Regulatory Taking Claims Are Risky Endeavors
A recent Falmouth case shows property owners face big odds if they try to bring a lawsuit over a “regulatory taking.”
Landlords Get a New Deduction in Tax Law
There is exciting news to report on the federal Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017, which delivered a basket of goodies to taxpayers.
City of Champions Looks for a Winning Streak
In addition to excellent highway access, Brockton has three Commuter Rail stations, offering 30-minute trips to Boston’s South Station. Yet despite these amenities, economic success has been elusive. There are signs that this will change.
Land Court Rules Against Psychiatric Hospital in Dover Amendment Case
McLean Hospital is a nonprofit psychiatric hospital and research facility based in Belmont with a stellar reputation in the mental health industry.
Lease Dispute Centers on Accelerated Rents
Cummings Properties operates over 10 million square feet of well-maintained commercial real estate in desirable locations throughout Boston’s suburbs. Cummings is also an exemplary corporate citizen.
Intellectual Property Collateral Presents Special Issues for Lenders
Business lenders are accustomed to making loans secured by garden-variety assets such as accounts receivable, inventory and equipment, but sometimes they are called upon to make loans where the most valuable collateral is intellectual property, namely patents, copyrights and trademarks.
Beach Access Dispute Spawns Lawsuits
Cape Cod beaches are delightful attractions, but every summer brings heated arguments between shoreline owners and their inland neighbors over private beach access.
SJC Revamps Unjust Enrichment Doctrine
The doctrine of unjust enrichment is an ancient legal concept that allows contractors to get paid even if they have no contractual right to compensation.
Homeowner Earns Wrath of Mattapoisett Conservation Commission
Many of the finest real estate developments in Massachusetts sit on spacious lots with well-tended yards extending to the edge of scenic wetlands. These properties are impressive, but nitrogen pollutants from their septic systems and fertilized lawns seep into nearby harbors, estuaries and ponds.
Disparate-Impact Liability Quietly Arrives in Massachusetts
It is disgraceful to intentionally deny housing to people because of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin or various other attributes.
Lowell Celebrates too Soon in Landfill Lawsuit
Statutes of limitations are a defendant’s best friend. If plaintiffs do not timely file suit under these statutes, even the most dastardly and negligent defendant can avoid liability.
Court Allows Developer’s Civil Rights Action in Haverhill
When real estate developers have difficulties securing permits, they often blame municipal officials for singling them out unfairly.
SJC Reinterprets Anti-SLAPP Statute
Imagine that you are a real estate developer navigating the Massachusetts permitting process. You committed time and money to a project that will reward your risk-taking, while addressing community needs.
Condo Conversions Can Be Troublesome In Somerville
Several Massachusetts cities and towns, including Amherst, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge and Somerville, have local ordinances restricting condominium conversions of rental housing. Somerville deserves special attention among these communities.
Owner Learns Lesson After Brazen Unit Expansion
It is too often said that one can more easily obtain forgiveness than permission, but a Cape Cod condominium owner recently suffered dire consequences when she expanded her unit into the condominium’s common areas, without receiving permission or forgiveness from her fellow unit owners.
Making The Grade
The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio) is a private nonprofit committed to expanding the life science and health care industries in the Bay State. Its members include biomedical firms, academic hospitals and allied organizations.
Prestigious Law Firms Must Answer Minority Owners’ Suit
Lawyers who choose sides in disputes among owners of closely held businesses do so at their peril, as attorneys at WilmerHale and Gunderson Dettmer learned this summer in Baker v. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP. The plaintiffs’ allegations in that case are outlined below.
A New Risk For Real Estate In Bankruptcy Cases
The term “substantive consolidation” is unfamiliar to most, but after a recent bankruptcy court decision in Massachusetts, it may become a household phrase when the next economic downturn inevitably arrives.
New IDP Delivers On Mayor’s Goals
Shortly after taking office in 2014, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh issued a detailed report entitled “Housing a Changing City,” with ambitious plans to create 53,000 new dwelling units in Boston by 2030 for a population expected to exceed 700,000 residents by that date.
