Not always. In September 2026 the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that a lender that completed every step of a foreclosure by entry still could not get title to the current owners’ home, because the lender’s owner had left that same mortgage off his bankruptcy schedules years earlier. This is a published decision of the Appeals Court and is binding statewide.
What happened
In 1998 the owners of a house in Randolph gave a mortgage that was later assigned to the lender. The house was registered land, so the mortgage was listed on the Land Court certificate of title, and the title showed no discharge of it when the house was sold in 2001. The lender’s sole shareholder dissolved the company, and its assets, including the mortgage, passed to him. In 2010 he filed for personal bankruptcy and listed no interest in this property or mortgage, even after a title company wrote to him about it. He received a discharge in 2011. In 2016 the lender registered a certificate of entry on the property. In 2017 the current homeowners bought the house, with the old mortgage and the certificate of entry still listed on the title. After reviving the company, the lender asked the Land Court in 2020 for a new certificate of title naming it as owner. The Land Court refused, and the lender appealed.
What the court decided
In Main Street Mortgage Group, Corp. v. Tran, No. 25-P-568 (Mass. App. Ct. September 10, 2026), the court affirmed the judgment for the homeowners and their new lender.
How foreclosure by entry works. After a default, a mortgagee may take possession by an open and peaceable entry that no one opposes. If that possession continues peaceably for three years after the certificate of entry is recorded, the right to redeem the property is forever foreclosed. G.L. c. 244, § 1. A homeowner who wants to challenge a foreclosure by entry must generally do so before the three years run. Singh v. 207-211 Main St., LLC, 78 Mass. App. Ct. 901 (2010). Actual notice to the homeowner is not required. The registered certificate is the notice.
The Land Court has discretion. The lender argued that once it met the three-year requirement, the Land Court had to issue a new certificate of title. The Appeals Court disagreed. For registered land, the statute lets the Land Court order a new certificate on such terms as equity and justice may require. G.L. c. 185, § 70. The judge is not a clerk who must stamp the request.
Judicial estoppel. Judicial estoppel stops a party from taking a position in one case that directly contradicts a position it successfully took in an earlier case. Otis v. Arbella Mut. Ins. Co., 443 Mass. 634 (2005). Applying it is a matter of the judge’s discretion. Here, by leaving the mortgage off his bankruptcy schedules, the shareholder told the bankruptcy court it was not his asset, and the bankruptcy court granted him a discharge. The lender then told the Land Court it held that same mortgage and could use it to take the house. Those positions could not both be true.
The lender argued that the company and the shareholder were different parties. The court held that did not matter, because the shareholder was the real party in interest in both cases. He held the mortgage when he filed bankruptcy, and he stood to gain from the company’s petition. The court found no abuse of discretion in applying judicial estoppel.
What this means for you
Foreclosure by entry is rare, and it is dangerous for homeowners. It can happen without a lawsuit, without a sale, and without notice sent to you. A certificate of entry registered on your title starts a three-year clock, and if no one opposes the entry in that time, your right to redeem can be lost.
This decision gives homeowners a defense in one important situation. If the person behind the lender left the mortgage out of a bankruptcy case and got a discharge, the lender may be barred from using that mortgage against you later. The court also made clear that, for registered land, the Land Court can weigh fairness before issuing a new certificate of title.
The lesson is not that every old mortgage is unenforceable. Here the homeowners won because of the bankruptcy history. Without facts like these, a completed foreclosure by entry may stand.
What to do now
- Check your title. Look for old mortgages that were never discharged, and for any certificate of entry recorded or registered against your property.
- If you are buying a home, make sure your title review deals with every open mortgage before you close.
- If you find a certificate of entry, act quickly. The three-year period runs from when it is recorded.
- Find out who owns the lender and whether that person or company went through bankruptcy. Bankruptcy filings are public records.
- Get legal help before the deadline, not after a petition is filed.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. These cases move on short deadlines.
