Section 58 Municipal charges lien - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 58. Any city or town may impose a lien on real property located within the city or town for any local charge or fee that has not been paid by the due date, said lien shall be known as the “municipal charges lien”; provided, that a separate vote at a town meeting, or by a city or town council is taken for each type of charge or fee.

A municipal charges lien authorized under this section shall take effect upon the recording of a list of unpaid municipal charges and fees by parcel of land and by the name of the person assessed for the charge or fee in the registry of deeds of the county or district where the land subject to the lien lies.

If a charge or fee which is secured by a municipal charges lien remains unpaid when the assessors are preparing a real estate tax list and warrant to be committed under section fifty-three of chapter fifty-nine, the board or officer in charge of the collection of the municipal charge or fee, or the town collector of taxes, if applicable under section thirty-eight A of chapter forty-one, shall certify such charge or fee to the assessors, who shall forthwith add such charge or fee to the tax on the property to which it relates and commit it with their warrant to the collector of taxes as part of such tax.

If the property to which such charge or fee relates is tax exempt, such charge or fee shall be committed as the tax. A lien under this section may be discharged by filing a certificate from the tax collector that all municipal charges or fees constituting the lien, together with any interest and costs thereon, have been paid or legally abated. All costs of recording or discharging a lien under this section shall be borne by the owner of the property.