Homesteads & Refinancing

The past two Sundays, the Lowell Sun has run a column by Attorney James Haroutunian of Billerica on the Declaration of Homestead. Both the newspaper and Attorney Haroutunian would be impressed with the influence they wield over their readers – this we’ve been flooded with homeowners wanting to record homesteads. Those that we’ve asked have cited the newspaper column as the reason for their visit. Besides acquainting people with the general homestead provisions, the most recent article plunges into the “should you record a new homestead after you refinance” controversy. The article is unambiguous: the headline reads “Record new homestead after refinancing loan.” I’m still not convinced that a new mortgage requires a new homestead. Without a Supreme Judicial Court decision or a clarification of the statute, I’m not sure there’s much point in debating this issue. I suspect that as long as there is a homestead, whether it predates the new mortgage or was recorded afterwards, courts will liberally apply the homesteads protection and not get bogged down in legal technicalities.