Lowell Deeds

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking to more than 60 members of the Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers at an education seminar in Waltham. The first part of the program consisted of Attorney Catherine Eastwood of Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP giving a step-by-step explanation of the foreclosure process. Attorney Eastwood’s firm has an extensive practice in this area, so she was able to supplement her review of the law with the kind of real-world war stories that make a presentation interesting (and unnerving, when you realize all of the things that can go wrong). Following the foreclosure block, the focus shifted to the Commonwealth’s Registries of Deeds. I joined John Buckley of Plymouth and Bill O’Donnell of Norfolk in explaining the resources available at our respective registries. We also presented our similar, but certainly not identical, views of the “big picture” of where registries are headed. The program ended with a brief question and answer period on troublesome real estate issues, particularly easements and how they are found (or not found) in the registry records. It was a pleasure to appear before such an attentive audience that was clearly interested in learning more about real estate law and registry operations.