By Gordon Orloff on Posted in Easements,Registered Land,Subdivision Control,Waterfront PropertyIn a satisfying win for Rackemann, the Appeals Court today upheld a Land Court decision that inland lot owners hold no easement rights over our clients’ waterfront property. Loiselle v. Hickey concerns a large subdivision in Dennis with a number of ways leading to Cape Cod Bay. An earlier case between many of the same parties… Continue Reading
By Gordon Orloff on Posted in Easements,Legislation,Waterfront PropertyMassachusetts is unusual in that an owner of waterfront property typically holds title to the low water mark. However, the area between the low and the high water marks normally remains subject to the rights of the public to fish, fowl (hunt birds) and navigate. The landowner cannot interfere with those so-called “public trust” rights… Continue Reading
By Gordon Orloff on Posted in Easements,Registered Land,Title,Waterfront PropertyA Massachusetts appellate court has ruled for the first time that new land which accretes to registered waterfront land is treated as registered land automatically, without the registered landowner filing additional proceedings. In Brown v. Kalicki, decided earlier this week, neighbors sought to establish an easement by prescription to use for recreational purposes a beach… Continue Reading
By Michael Parker on Posted in EasementsIn Taylor v. Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission, the SJC considered the scope of the rights that the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank had under an easement that it held over the Outermost Inn property in Aquinnah owned by Hugh and Jeanne Taylor. The Taylors were represented by my colleague here at Rackemann, and fellow blogger,… Continue Reading
By Gordon Orloff on Posted in Easements,Miscellaneous,Registered LandEarlier this month the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued an important decision in the case of Martin v. Simmons Properties, LLC. Mr. Martin holds an easement over the land of the defendant, Simmons. Simmons had blocked part of Martin’s easement. Land in Massachusetts can be registered or unregistered. Registered land has some special protections not afforded to unregistered land… Continue Reading
By Gordon Orloff on Posted in Easements,Subdivision ControlIn its 2012 decision in Cater v. Bednarek, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) upheld a Land Court decision that the plaintiffs’ easement had not been extinguished by abandonment or estoppel, even though it had not been cleared or used since its creation in 1899. However, the SJC remanded the case to the Land Court to consider whether it had been too restrictive in limiting the… Continue Reading
By Donald Pinto on Posted in EasementsIt’s been a hot summer in the world of easement law. Our appellate courts have issued three decisions which, collectively, reinforce the following important lessons: (1) easements can be created by implication, (2) once created, most easements last forever unless extinguished, and (3) proving that an easement has been extinguished isn’t easy. In mid-June, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) decided Cater v. Bednarek (pdf), in which it ruled that an… Continue Reading
By Gordon Orloff on Posted in Easements,TitleLast month the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) decided Cater v. Bednarek (pdf), an important case about easements and how they can – and can’t – be extinguished. The plaintiffs, the Caters, bought a vacant parcel of land in Truro that had the benefit of a right of way created by deed in 1899. That deed didn’t specify the location of… Continue Reading
By Richard Gallogly on Posted in Easements,Registered Land,TitleTheoretically, owners of registered land are entitled to rely on the information contained in their certificates of title. To the chagrin of many, however, that is no longer the case. In its decision this week in Williams Bros. Inc. of Marshfield v. Peck (pdf), the Appeals Court affirmed a Land Court ruling that an appurtenant easement is extinguished when the dominant and servient… Continue Reading
By Robert Foster on Posted in Easements,Title,Waterfront PropertyAlong with the Red Sox and Patriots’ Day, one of the unique features of Massachusetts is that modern property rights can be ruled by 370-year-old statutes. The Colonial Ordinance of 1641-1647 declared that owners of land adjoining the shore also own the tidal flats – the land between the high and low water marks (out… Continue Reading
