Massachusetts General Laws ch. 151A sec. 16 – Liens of judgments and overdue contributions; recording and filing of notice; actions to enforce liens
Section 16. Judgments obtained under any provision of section fifteen and overdue contributions or payments in lieu of contributions, with interest thereon or penalties assessed in lieu of interest thereof, shall until collected be a lien upon the entire interest of the employer, legal or equitable, in any property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, subordinate, however, to claims for unpaid wages and prior recorded liens; provided, however, that no lien created by this section shall be valid against a subsequent purchaser or mortgagee in good faith and for value of real or personal property from or of such employer, or against a subsequent attaching creditor, unless with respect to real estate of the employer, a notice of such lien is recorded in the registry of deeds for the county where such real estate is located; and provided, further, with respect to personal property of the employer said notice is recorded with the clerk of the city or town where such personal property is located.
Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 151A sec. 16
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
The notice of lien shall be filed within ten years from January thirty-first next succeeding the last day of the calendar year in which wages were paid or within three years from the date the judgment was entered, whichever is later, and shall state the name and address of the employer, and the total amount then unpaid of the aforesaid overdue contributions, or payments in lieu of contributions, and interest thereon or penalties assessed in lieu of interest thereof, or of said judgment. A lien which results from a judgment shall terminate not later than twenty years from the date it was created. All other liens shall terminate not later than ten years from January thirty-first next succeeding the last day of the calendar year in which wages were paid.
In any case where there has been a refusal or neglect to pay any amount owed by the employer under this chapter, the commissioner, in addition to other modes of relief, may cause a civil action to be filed in a district or superior court department of the commonwealth in which the employer has real or personal property or in the municipal court department of the city of Boston or in the superior court department of Suffolk county to enforce a lien created by this section or to subject any property of whatever nature of the employer, or in which it has any rights, title or interest, to the payment of the amount owed the division by the employer.
No recording fee shall be paid by the commissioner for filing a notice of lien under this section.