The court will issue a lis pendens prior to litigation over the legal ownership of real estate. This document is recorded at the registry of deeds. It notifies the public of the ownership dispute and makes all subsequent buyers subject to the trial’s outcome.
According to M.G.L. c. 184, section 15:
A wit of entry or other proceeding that affects the title to real property or the use and occupation thereof or the buildings thereon, shall not have any effect except against the parties thereto, their heirs and devisees and persons having actual non-record notice thereof, until a memorandum containing the names of the parties to the proceeding, the court in which it is pending, the date of the writ or other commencement thereof, the name of the town where the real property liable to be affected thereby lies and a description of the real property sufficiently accurate for identification is recorded in the registry of deeds for the county or district where the real property lies; but this section shall not apply to attachments, levies of execution or proceedings in the probate courts.
If you have questions about real estate law, please contact me at justin@jrmccarthy.com
Law Office of Justin R. McCarthy 