Sutherland v. Aolean Development Corp.

The defendant landowner (Aolean) has appealed from an order of a Superior Court judge, entered pursuant to G. L. c. 184, § 15, as amended by St. 1985, c. 809, allowing the plaintiffs to record a memorandum of lis pendens against certain property in a subdivision in Hopkinton. At the heart of the appeal is a dispute as to the scope of a judge’s function in determining, in the words of § 15, “if the subject matter of the action constitutes a claim of a right to title to real property.” If it does constitute such a claim, § 15 directs the judge to make a “finding” to that effect and to endorse…