Meltzer BLawG Offices

Zoning Appeal is part of mortgaged premises: Lender owns security interest in zoning settlement.

Judge Young, in Blue Hills Office Park LLC v. J.P. Morgan Chase, et al, --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2007 WL 755202 (D.Mass. 2007) has determined that an owner's interest in a zoning appeal is part of a mortgagee's interest in a property.  The mortgage, in pertinent part, provided that the "the words 'Mortgaged Property' shall include any portion of the Mortgaged Property and any interest therein."

In Blue Hills, Judge Young found that the plaintiff/mortgagor breached the terms of the mortgage when it negotiated a settlement in a zoning case with a neighbor for a $2 million cash payment, and then disbursed that cash to the principals of the plaintiff, all without the lender's knowledge or consent.

The "Zoning Appeal was included in the mortgaged property.  The Zoning Appeal is a cause of action related to, derived from, and used in connection with the mortgaged property.  [Plaintiff's] standing to bring the Zoning Appeal derived from its ownership of the mortgaged property."

To read the full text of the opinion, click HERE.

Boston Globe Highlights ME!

Meltzer BLawG Offices was highlighted in this past Sunday's Boston Globe Real Estate Section: Brokers in Blogsville.

Evidently, according to the article, "[real estate] [a]gents are going online to get knowledge and information."

From me, I guess, they are getting "basic advice and reminders of what consumers should be aware of, and wary of."

Go figure . . .