Hull v. Ferrera

Summary

The Massachusetts Appeals Court held that the derelict fee statute, G. L. c. 183, § 58, did not give the defendants title to a disputed portion of Beach Avenue because their predecessor did not own the fee interest when the defendants acquired the property. The court concluded that the fee had previously been conveyed to Eben D. Jordan and then to the Town of Hull, and that the statute could not retroactively nullify those conveyances. The court vacated the summary judgment and remanded for further proceedings, including unresolved counterclaims for adverse possession and a prescriptive easement.