Robert Nislick, Attorney at Law
Massachusetts Real Estate & Litigation Attorney | (508) 405-1238
All has been quiet for years in your suburban neighborhood. Early one morning, you are awoken by the sound of crowing. Your neighbor has decided to keep a rooster. You soon learn that roosters crow all day, not just at dawn. The constant noise makes working from home impossible and it is impacting yourContinue reading Chicken and Rooster Regulations in Massachusetts Towns and Cities
The Massachusetts statute for willful trespass to trees, G. L. c. 242, § 7, states that: “A person who without license willfully cuts down, carries away, girdles or otherwise destroys trees, timber, wood or underwood on the land of another shall be liable to the owner in tort for three times the amount of the damagesContinue reading The Measure of Damages in Trespass to Trees Cases
Whether you can park on the easement depends heavily on the language used in the grant of easement.
By Robert Nislick You are a Massachusetts landowner and would like to develop or improve your property. You have applied or appealed to your town’s zoning board of appeals for a special permit or variance. The ZBA has denied your requests for zoning relief. You may have considered appealing the decision to the Land CourtContinue reading Navigating the Two-Year Waiting Period on Unfavorable Special Permit and Variance Applications in Under the Massachusetts Zoning Act
By Robert Nislick You are a landowner in Massachusetts. Suppose that you are in the midst of a dispute with your neighbor concerning your boundary line. Perhaps your neighbor’s shed encroaches on your property. Maybe you have fenced your neighbor off from his land for more than twenty years, and you are contemplating filing anContinue reading The Surveyor’s Right to Enter Land in Massachusetts
By Robert Nislick You are a Massachusetts homeowner. Your property abuts a street that may never have been paved. It could be a dirt road that is hard to navigate in wet weather and dusty and bumpy when it is dry. Alternatively, your property abuts a street that exists only on paper. The way existsContinue reading The Rights of an Easement Holder to Improve a Right of Way or Paper Street in Massachusetts
By Robert Nislick In order for one Massachusetts landowner to establish title by adverse possession to land owned of record by another, the claimant must prove “nonpermissive use which is actual, open, notorious, exclusive and adverse for twenty years.” Lawrence v. Concord, 439 Mass. 416, 421 (2003). Frequently, a person who is adversely possessing another’sContinue reading The Doctrine of Tacking in Massachusetts Adverse Possession Claims
By Robert Nislick “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Leviticus 19:18. In the world of real estate litigation, however, not everyone abides by this commandment. During this holiday season, as we celebrate miracles and pray for peace, I offer the following wish: Love your neighbor, landlord, tenant, easement holder, servient estate owner, licensee, trespasser,Continue reading Love Your Neighbor, Et Cetera – A Holiday Wish
By Robert Nislick Massachusetts homeowners frequently have questions about the ownership of trees on their property and the right to cut overhanging branches from a neighbor’s tree. Here are some of those questions, with answers, based on Massachusetts law. Question: If a tree trunk is wholly on Alan’s property, who owns the tree? Answer: AlanContinue reading Frequently Asked Questions About Tree Law in Massachusetts
By Robert Nislick When Massachusetts real estate owners are involved in land disputes, they frequently want to know how getting a lis pendens may help them. A plaintiff may seek to obtain and record a memorandum of lis pendens on a defendant’s property when instituting a proceeding that affects the title to real property orContinue reading Getting and Removing a Lis Pendens in Massachusetts