The 1835 Town Hall Committee sought an informal opinion from the Attorney General’s office on the legality of Article 18. The Attorney General’s Office did not provide a legal opinion because, as Nicole Caprioli from the AG’s office advised us, they do not involve themselves with municipal government issues. They are consumer advocates and the issue described would be “decided in the courts”.

It is why we sought clarification from a real estate attorney with a copy of the Ebenezer Pope deed and referencing this law:

Chapter 184 GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATIVE TO REAL PROPERTY covers the provisions of this Deed stating: “Section 23. Conditions or restrictions, unlimited as to time, by which the title or use of real property is affected, shall be limited to the term of thirty years after the date of the deed or other instrument or the date of the probate of the will creating them, except in cases of gifts or devises for public, charitable or religious purposes. This section shall not apply to conditions or restrictions existing on July sixteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, to those contained in a deed, grant or gift of the commonwealth, or to those having the benefit of section thirty-two.”

His response was clear:

“The restriction is in perpetuity based upon the statute.   Moreover, I have the largest title insurance company in the state (and one of the brightest legal underwriters) telling me that they could not insure the title if the property is conveyed for private use based upon said restriction and statute. At this juncture, one need only forward your findings to a buyer’s attorney and if they are worth their salt, they will advise their buyer appropriately –that it’s a bad title and not insurable.”