To foreclose all rights of redemption on land acquired by sale or taking for taxes, the holder of the tax title to such land must file a complaint in the Land Court. As soon as possible after this filing, the plaintiff must complete and register a notice of filing complaint form; particular care should be taken to inspect this form for the case number and the date of filing. The name of the equity owner, the date of the tax taking or collector’s deed, the document number assigned to such tax taking or deed, and the number of the outstanding certificate of title on which it is noted should all be recited in this form exactly as these are listed on the relevant certificate of title and encumbrance sheet. Once a final judgment in a tax lien case is noted on a particular certificate of title, nothing subsequent may be accepted for registration with respect to that certificate until the Land Court has issued an order canceling the certificate and directing a new one to be prepared. The only exception would be if the Land Court has already issued a vacation of the final judgment.
The holder of title to land found by the Commissioner of Revenue to be of low value may establish such title by filing a complaint in the Land Court, a so-called Chapter 60, Section 80B proceeding. Title to low value land is held through a deed executed by the municipal treasurer and registered within fifteen (15) days after execution if to a purchaser who was the highest bidder at a public auction of the land or within sixty (60) days after sale to a city or town. As with a complaint for foreclosure of rights or redemption, the plaintiff in low value case (Chapter 80B) must complete and register as soon after filing the complaint as possible a notice of filing complaint form. The very same items must be checked on this form as with the equivalent foreclosure form. The only difference is that the low value form has to include the date, document number, and certificate of title number for the treasurer’s deed. Upon registration of a final judgment in a low value proceeding no later instrument may be registered with respect to the particular certificate of title until an order issued from the Land Court for cancellation of this certificate.
No deed conveying property acquired by a city or town by tax title foreclosure or through the low value process is valid and acceptable for registration unless it contains a recitation that the municipal board or officer granting the deed has received a particular statement from each grantee. In this statement (the exact language is in G.L. c.60, § 77B), each grantee must swear under the pains and penalties of perjury that neither he nor she nor any other person gaining equity in the property has ever been convicted of arson or fire insurance fraud or is delinquent in the payment of real estate taxes to the grantor city or town.
A recitation by the board or officer that the required statement has been received by the board or officer will suffice; the text of the statement need not be given. If it is given, the statement must be checked carefully against the statute.
An additional statutory requirement for deeds out of cities of town conveying foreclosed tax title or low value land is that they must be registered within fifteen (15) days after execution.
Additional statutory requirements in the case of a sale by a city or town are set forth in Guideline 58.