The Massachusetts Marine Trades Association is thrilled to announce that on February 6, 2008 House Bill 4188, An Act Relative to the Disposition of Abandoned Vessels was signed into law by Governor Deval Patrick. 

Thanks in large part to the collective voice of the MMTA membership through phone calls, emails and letter writing campaigns launched over the past three years (and often in a moment’s notice!), we hope you share in this tremendous victory for the marine industry, public safety, environmental soundness and fundamental fairness.  The days of storing and ditching will soon be a distant memory! 

At the launch of MMTA’s Legislative Action Team (LAT) in 2004, the members determined that the issue of abandoned vessels had languished long enough (not to mention the eyesores on our properties!) and requested that MMTA Government Relations/Legal Counsel, Jamy Buchanan Madeja draft legislation to streamline the process and reduce costs incurred with removing these potentially dangerous “squatters” inhibiting marina and boatyard business growth and safety.  Attorney Madeja did so and found an interested and sympathetic ear in State Representative Anthony J. Verga, for whom this issue had presented countless problems for the constituency he represents throughout Gloucester, Rockport and Essex.
 
During the bi-annual bill filing rush at the State House, legislators offer upwards of 8,000 bills, the vast majority of which never reach the Governor’s desk.  The legislative process is not for the faint of heart.  Not only must legislation be well crafted, it must be backed by committed supporters, be they elected officials or members of the public.  Securing passage of the Abandoned Vessel Legislation within 36 months is a tremendous victory that is a testament to the dedication of the Massachusetts marine industry, the MMTA membership and staff and the bill’s lead sponsor and Boating Caucus Chairman, Anthony J. Verga. 

Please express your thanks to Chairman Verga, a true friend of boating and small businesses, to whom the Massachusetts marine industry owes a debt of gratitude for his tireless efforts the Bills Chief Sponsor and advocate for this legislation.   

“The relationships that MMTA has forged with key elected officials, particularly the 50-plus members of the Legislative Boating Caucus, should renew our faith in the legislative process and the desire of so many legislators to truly serve their constituencies.  The Abandoned Vessel Bill offered a common sense solution to an unfair situation and it was recognized by the Caucus members who offered favorable testimony, attended hearings and kept the bill alive without fanfare or gloss,” stated Kurt Saunders, MMTA President.

So will your boat yard or marina be blight-free by the start of boating season? 

While Attorney Madeja worked diligently to attach an “emergency preamble” to the bill, a few State House sticklers maintained that the standard 90-day implementation for signed bills must be heeded.  While the new law takes final effect in 90 days, the notices that business owners must send to the public and to [former] owners of abandoned vessels in order to dispose of or auction them will take about that long, so getting started right away with the notices is smart.

In the meantime the bill text may be found below and MMTA will soon provide its members with a bill summary and recommended steps for swiftly and legally dispensing with vessels abandoned on your property, thereby enabling you to free up valuable storage space to become revenue producing! 
 

Below is the test of House Bill 4188 As Signed Into Law on February 6, 2008
to become become effective 90 days henceforth:   
 
H 4188 Chapter 23
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
In the Year Two Thousand and Eight
An Act Relative To the Disposition of Abandoned Vessels
 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:
 
SECTION 1. Chapter 10 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 35FF the following section:-
 
Section 35GG. There shall be established and set up on the books of the Commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Abandoned vessel Trust Fund to be used, without appropriation, by the department of conservation and recreation for the purpose of removing from the public waterways vessels on which title may be presumed to have been abandoned. Available revenues from the sale of abandoned vessels, as provided for in chapter 255, and appropriations from the General Fund shall be deposited into the trust fund. The proceeds of a sale of an abandoned vessel shall be held in trust for the former owner of record for a period of 2 years, after which time the funds shall become property of the trust. All monies deposited into the fund shall be expended exclusively for the purpose set forth in this section. No expenditure from the fund shall cause the fund to be in deficiency at the close of a fiscal year.
 
SECTION 2. Section 17 of chapter 255 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "action", in line 4, the following words:- in the district court or.
 
SECTION 3. Said section 17 of said chapter 255, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following 2 paragraphs:-
 
No civil action shall be required for a lienholder to sell at public auction or dispose of a vessel on which a lien exists pursuant to section 14 or 14A and on which title is presumed to have been abandoned. Title to a vessel shall be presumed to have been abandoned if: (i) the lienholder sent a notice to owner of record by certified mail at his last known address and shall include, but not be limited to, the amount of the lien and any proposed disposition or sale of the vessel; (ii) the lienholder published a notice of
the lien, which shall include, but not be limited to: a description of the vessel, a description of where the vessel is located and a proposed disposition or sale in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or town of the owner of record's last known address for 3 consecutive days; and (iii) no response or reply was received from the owner of record within 90 days after the date of publication indicating an ability to satisfy the debt to the lienholder.  The lienholder may dispose of the vessel upon filing with the marine title division of the department of environmental police a notarized affidavit stating no reply was received from the owner of record within 90 days of the lienholder sending certified notice or within 90 days after publication pursuant to this section, whichever is later. The filing by the lienholder shall include legible copies of the affidavit and notice. If the lienholder of a vessel presumed to have been abandoned elects to hold a public auction of the vessel then, upon receipt of the notarized affidavit and notice, the marine title division, shall issue an abandonment of title document to the lienholder, if requested, and thereafter, shall issue new title documents to the purchaser of the vessel at public auction.
 
SECTION 4. Section 20 of said chapter 255, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- All proceeds of sales in excess of any liens thereon shall be placed in the Abandoned Vessel Trust  Fund established in section 35GG of chapter 10.

Passed to be enacted House of Representatives, January 29, 2008
Passed to be enacted In The Senate January 29, 2008
Approved Deval Patrick, Governor On 6 February, 2008