Abate v. Fremont Investment & Loan

In this appeal, we determine whether a respondent in a try title action brought pursuant to G. L. c. 240, §§ 1-5, may test the substantive merits of a petitioner’s claims in the “first step” of such an action. The issue arises because the try title statute, in keeping with its purpose to allow a person holding record title to compel an adverse claimant to prove the merits of the adverse claimant’s interest in the property, contemplates a two-step procedure in which the substantive merits of the parties’ claims are determined at a trial. Under our interpretation of the statute, the “first…