Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, the city of Lawrence, acting by and through its city council, is hereby authorized to accept a deed, in which all persons who have an interest in title join as grantors, in lieu of foreclosure to any vacant lot of land within said city which meets the requirements set forth in this act. Upon acceptance and recording of said deed, any real estate taxes and other municipal charges and liens shall be considered to be uncollectible, and shall be accounted for by the city in the same manner as if a tax title foreclosure had been completed.

The procedure provided for in this act shall be applicable only to vacant lots of land within the city of Lawrence which contain no more than twelve thousand square feet of land. There shall be no other liens or encumbrances on the property other than the liens of the city. With the exception of grantors which are agencies of the state or federal government, no grantor may deed more than two parcels of land to the city pursuant to this act and said grantor must have held title to said property for at least one year prior to the effective date of this act. No grantor under this act may purchase or otherwise acquire from the city any parcel of land acquired by the city hereby. At the time of the acceptance of the deed, the grantor may not have any outstanding violations of the building or sanitary codes which shall be certified in writing by the city building inspector and board of health. A copy of such certification recorded with the deed shall be conclusive evidence of compliance with the requirements of the preceding sentence for purposes of determining the validity of the deed.

SECTION 2. This act shall cease to be in effect on August first, nineteen hundred and ninety-eight.