Final week, I settled a case in regards to the Metropolis of Boston Yard Sale Program. The lawsuit I introduced involved some fascinating matters in Massachusetts actual property regulation, which can inevitably come up once more for different properties bought by way of this program.
What’s the Metropolis of Boston Yard Sale Program?
The Metropolis of Boston Yard Sale Program was a program that the Metropolis of Boston administered to promote vacant heaps throughout the town. Boston had acquired many vacant heaps from tax foreclosures gross sales and different means through the years and needed to protect them for open-space functions.
Beneath this program, the town would provide to promote these vacant heaps to abutting owners for pennies on the greenback: typically between $500 – $1,000. The catch? Such properties might solely be used for open-space functions, reminiscent of gardening, landscaping, and off-street parking.
I’ve included a replica of 1 Yard Sale Utility beneath (the particular 12 months of this software is unknown, and I make no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of this doc).
Whereas the information for the Yard Sale program will not be one of the best, it seems that the sale of those vacant heaps was supposed to stick with the property of the house owner who bought them. For instance, when you owned a residential house in Jamaica Plain and bought an abutting lot underneath the Yard Sale Program, you have been anticipated to promote the Yard Sale lot as a part of any house sale.
Authorized Points
In my case, I represented a Boston house owner who lived subsequent to a Yard Sale property. The prior proprietor of my consumer’s house had bought the Yard Sale property within the Nineties however by no means offered the lot when he offered my consumer’s house. The proprietor of the Yard Sale property was attempting to promote it to a developer who needed to assemble housing on the lot. My consumer, who lived subsequent door to this Yard Sale lot was, in fact, not completely happy about this.
I filed a lawsuit in Land Court docket difficult the sale and spent a number of years combating this matter in court docket. Thankfully, my consumer and the proprietor of the Yard Sale lot have been capable of settle this matter in an ideal deal for my consumer (and, for my part, for the Yard Sale lot proprietor as properly).
As a result of we settled the case, we by no means obtained a ruling from the Court docket on this program’s many fascinating authorized points. For instance, it stays unclear whether or not properties offered by way of the Yard Sale program should completely stay obtainable for open-space makes use of or whether or not these restrictions finally expire. Additionally it is unclear whether or not the proprietor of one among these properties can take away these restrictions voluntarily (the Metropolis of Boston started an software course of a number of years in the past permitting house owners to hunt permission to do that).
Sensible Implications
If you’re shopping for or promoting a Boston property with any involvement within the Yard Sale program, you must converse to an skilled actual property lawyer. Understanding the numerous nuances of those properties and how one can navigate these authorized issues is crucial.