[MassHistPres] Historic Preservation Restriction Case Studies

[Michael Ruderman]

On Tue, Jun 22, 2021 at 9:13 AM Ralph Slate <slater at alum.rpi.edu> wrote:

> ... I don't know if those older HPRs were filed with the Registry of
> Deeds, but even if it was, you can't just go to the Registry and say "give
> me all the properties with HPRs on them". And also, even if filed with the
> deeds, the restrictions can become lost, because as the property gets sold,
> they may just drop the line that says "subject to the restrictions...".
>

Ralph has identified a persistent problem in giving notice to the public of
preservation restrictions.

The solution is to create a document, perhaps an attorney's affidavit of
title, which will turn up in a title search. Include therein a table of all
the restricted properties by address, owners' full legal names (both at the
time the restriction was imposed and at present, as reflected in the
municipal tax assessment records), and the present title reference (deed
book and page, or Land Court certificate of title.) Add one final column to
the table with the date each restriction was imposed.

If you record this document in person, apologize to the desk clerk at the
Registry for all the typing necessary to "pick up" the many names,
addresses and title references. Look up your document sometime after
recording and make sure the grantor index includes all that data. If it
doesn't, give the Register a call and ask for a correction, which is very
easy to make in this age of digital indexes.

Michael Ruderman
Arlington
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/pipermail/masshistpres/attachments/20210622/9d802275/attachment.html>