Yes, at least far enough to get into court. The Appeals Court held that a developer’s lawsuit over twenty-nine parking spaces was not frivolous, so the unit owners could not get it thrown out early with a special motion to dismiss under the lis pendens statute. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.
What happened
A developer filed a verified complaint in the Land Court about twenty-nine parking spaces. The owners of units in the development claimed, through nine unit deeds, that they held easements to use those spaces. The developer asked the court to declare its ownership rights and to quiet its title to the spaces. It also asked the court to approve a memorandum of lis pendens, a recorded notice that the property is in litigation. Many of the unit owners filed a special motion to dismiss, arguing the suit was frivolous. The judge denied their motion and approved the lis pendens, and the unit owners appealed.
What the court decided
In Old Wharf Village, LLC v. Guess, No. 24-P-1045 (Mass. App. Ct. May 2, 2025) (Rule 23.0 decision), the court affirmed.
The lis pendens statute, G.L. c. 184, § 15(c), lets a party file a special motion to dismiss a claim that supports a lis pendens. The motion is granted only if the claim is frivolous: it has no reasonable factual support, no arguable basis in law, or it is barred by a valid legal defense such as the statute of frauds. The Supreme Judicial Court has described this as a fast way to remove an unjustified lis pendens. Wolfe v. Gormally, 440 Mass. 699 (2004). The party bringing the motion has to prove frivolousness by a preponderance of the evidence. Ferguson v. Maxim, 96 Mass. App. Ct. 385 (2019). A party may appeal a ruling on the motion right away under § 15(d).
The unit owners argued that their deeds described the parking easements clearly enough to convey them. The court did not decide that question. It said the answer would not change the result on this motion, for two reasons.
First, there was reasonable support for reading the nine deeds as granting rights to specific, assigned spaces, and for concluding that the total number of assigned spaces was fewer than twenty-nine. All nine deeds referred to an exclusive right to a designated space or spaces. Three said one space. For the others, an affidavit from the developer’s realtor supported the view that one-bedroom units came with one space and two-bedroom units with two. Courts read the scope of an easement from the parties’ intent, based on the deeds and the surrounding circumstances. McLaughlin v. Selectmen of Amherst, 422 Mass. 359 (1996).
Second, everyone agreed that the developer had not yet assigned any particular space to any particular unit.
Put together, there was a real dispute over who owns at least some of the spaces, and no one could yet say which ones. So the developer’s claims were not devoid of factual or legal support. The court expressly took no position on who will win in the end.
What this means for you
If your deed gives you a parking right, the exact words matter. A right to “use parking” is different from a right to one designated space. If your deed is vague, the court may look at the surrounding circumstances, such as evidence of how the units were sold, to figure out what was intended.
This decision also shows the limits of the special motion to dismiss. It is a tool for knocking out claims that have no basis at all. It is not a way to win a close title dispute early. If the other side has some reasonable factual support, the case will usually go forward, and the lis pendens can stay on the record while it does.
A recorded lis pendens warns buyers and lenders that title is in dispute, which can complicate a sale or refinance of affected property until the case ends.
What to do now
- Pull your recorded deed and any site plan or master deed it refers to. Read exactly what parking right it grants.
- Gather what you were told at purchase: listings, sales materials, emails, and anything showing which space was yours.
- Write down how long you have used a particular space and whether anyone ever assigned it to you.
- If you are served with a lis pendens or title suit, note the deadlines to respond and to file any special motion.
- Talk with a lawyer before you sell, refinance or sign any agreement about the spaces while the case is pending.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. These cases move on short deadlines.
