On registered land, a buyer usually takes title free of any easement not noted on the certificate of title, but not if the buyer actually knew of a document creating one. In an October 2024 decision, the Appeals Court agreed that the Land Court records showed no easement over a beach path, but held that the neighbors claiming the path were entitled to discovery on what the owners actually knew when they bought, and sent the case back. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.
What happened
Two neighboring waterfront lots in Orleans on Pleasant Bay were once part of one registered parcel. After it was split in 1957, each side was subdivided separately, more than a decade apart, and each set up its own path to the beach. The neighbors bought their lot in 2022 with a recorded right to reach the beach over an adjacent lot. They said the end of that route was overgrown and wet, and that a worn path to the beach crossed onto a narrow strip the owners had bought in 2017. The owners’ certificate of title did not list any right of others over that strip. The owners sued to keep the neighbors off. The Land Court limited discovery to the registration records, then granted summary judgment for the owners.
What the court decided
In McClennen v. Astacaan, No. 23-P-1034 (Mass. App. Ct. October 10, 2024) (Rule 23.0 decision), 104 Mass. App. Ct. 1126 (2024), the Appeals Court affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded.
The registration rule. A purchaser of registered land who takes a certificate of title for value and in good faith holds the land free of encumbrances except those noted on the certificate and a few listed in the statute. G.L. c. 185, § 46. No easement in registered land can be gained by prescription or adverse possession, and no right of way by necessity is implied in a conveyance of registered land. G.L. c. 185, § 53. The Supreme Judicial Court has recognized two exceptions. A buyer takes subject to an unnoted easement if facts on the certificate would prompt a reasonable buyer to look further in the registration system, or if the buyer had actual knowledge of a prior unregistered interest. Jackson v. Knott, 418 Mass. 704 (1994).
The records did not show an easement. The court reviewed the deeds, plans and certificates and found no sign that anyone meant to give the neighbors’ lot a right over the owners’ strip. The two subdivisions were separately owned and no ways ran from one plan into the other. An old deed reservation the neighbors relied on gave rights over a different lot, and the people who made it did not own the owners’ land at the time, so they could not burden it. The court added that the same facts did not support an easement by implication. That part of the judgment was affirmed.
Actual knowledge needed discovery. A buyer with actual knowledge of a prior unregistered interest is not a good faith purchaser and loses the protection of the registration system. Commonwealth Elec. Co. v. MacCardell, 450 Mass. 48 (2007). Knowing that land has been used in a way that suggests an easement is not enough. There must be actual knowledge of documents, registered or unregistered, that create the easement. Calci v. Reitano, 66 Mass. App. Ct. 245 (2006). Knowledge can also come from intelligible oral or written information. MacCardell, 450 Mass. 48.
The record included emails from one owner saying the neighbors had an easement for guests to reach the beach, that he had seen their easement in the remote past, and that a prior resident said she was allowed to walk the path. The court said statements like these, without documents, generally are not enough to burden registered land. But limiting discovery to the registration records applied the wrong standard. The court vacated the protective order to that extent and sent the case back to decide whether either owner knew of an unregistered document granting the neighbors an easement over the strip.
What this means for you
Registered land, sometimes called Land Court land, works differently from ordinary recorded land. Long use of a path does not create a right to use it, and the certificate of title is usually the last word. If your certificate lists no easement, you start strong.
That protection has limits. What you knew when you bought can matter, and emails or conversations about a neighbor’s rights may become evidence. If you are the neighbor, your best evidence is a document granting the right and proof that the buyer knew of it.
What to do now
- Find out whether your land is registered. Get your certificate of title and the Land Court plans it references.
- Collect every deed, plan and agreement that mentions the path or beach, including unrecorded papers.
- Be careful what you put in writing about a neighbor’s rights while a dispute is brewing.
- If you are sued, ask a lawyer whether discovery into what the other side knew at purchase could help you.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. These cases move on short deadlines.
