Long v. Martha's Vineyard Land Bank Commission

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission (Land Bank) may exact a fee in the amount of two percent of the purchase price whenever a “real property interest” in Duke’s County is transferred. St. 1987, c. 673, amending St. 1985, c. 736. “Real property interest” is defined in § 1 of the Act broadly, but there are a number of exemptions. One of the exemptions is “the interest of a stockholder in a corporation, or a partner in a partnership unless any real property interest has been transferred to such corporation or partnership for the purpose of evading the fee imposed by [the stat*547ute] .”2 The…