Richard Vetstein

58 Legislators Pushing Comprehensive Zoning Reform Bill “Inclusionary Zoning” Provision May Expand Controversial 40B Law With “Smart Growth” advocates strongly behind them, a cadre of Beacon Hill lawmakers are pushing a…more

For the second time in a week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has issued a major foreclosure opinion, this one in Culhane v. Aurora Loan Servicing of Nebraska, No. 12-1285. Writing for a distinguished panel…more

In a rare victory for a wrongful foreclosure claimant at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston, the court reversed a dismissal of the borrower’s claims, ruling that a back-dated mortgage assignment rendered a…more

Controversial New Internet Practice Raises Confidentiality Concerns & Realtor® Scorn The internet based real estate brokerage company, Redfin, is now arming buyers and sellers with insight into the negotiations that take…more

Massachusetts Land Court Paves Way For Clearing Defective Foreclosure Titles Court Uses Novel Equitable Assignment of Mortgage Theory In what could be the first test case of a new theory to clear up defective foreclosure…more

Burned up Massachusetts landlords are fuming with concern over the state’s newly passed but hazy medicinal marijuana law. The law — rolling out Jan. 1 — grants medical marijuana users the right to grow a two-month supply of weed…more

Mandatory 3 Business Day Waiting Period Will Delay Closings Action Needed: Comment On Proposed Rule While our attention has been diverted from more important issues such as Hurricane Sandy and the election, please be…more

On August 3, 2012, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law what’s been called the new Foreclosure Prevention Law. The new law makes significant changes to existing foreclosure practices, and also attempts to clean…more

In a case with national implications, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), in the much anticipated Eaton v. Federal National Mortgage Association case, held that lenders must establish they hold both the promissory…more

When I was a kid, my dad would often answer my questions with “because I said so,” and it would drive me crazy! Now it’s prudent advice to borrowers says Mark Greene at Forbes.com. Mr. Greene recently wrote one of the best…more

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has just issued an unusual order in the very important Eaton v. Federal National Mortgage Association case, indicating its deep concern over whether its ruling will have a disastrous…more

Richard D. Vetstein, Esq. talks about the very important case of Parker v. Bank of America. This is one of the first court rulings siding with a borrower on a lender’s liability for rejecting a HAMP loan modification…more

Electronic signature technology has been quickly gaining steam throughout the U.S. real estate community, and has now arrived in earnest in my home state of Massachusetts. Electronic signature software lets you send legally…more

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled today in much anticipated Bevilacqua v. Rodriguez case. The final edict is mix of bad and good news for owners of property whose titles have been rendered defective due to improper…more

The sophisticated financial minds who wrought the MERS regime sought to simplify the process of repeatedly transferring mortgage loans by obviating the need and expense of recording mortgage assignments with each transfer. No…more