Property Law Developments—Joseph William Singer

Massachusetts statutes limit covenants to 30 years unless they provide for renewal for new periods of up to 20 years at a time. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 184, §27. Because the language in the original grant did not provide for the possibility of renewal, the land use restriction in Berger v. 2 Wyndcliff, LLC, 2015 WL 1775527 (Mass. Land Ct. 2015), ceased to exist 30 years after the date of its creation. Although the covenants were amended to allow renewal, the court interpreted  the statute to prevent renewal if it was not provided for in the original document creating the covenant. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 184, §27(b)(1).