Legal interns' work supports statewide effort to remove discriminatory language from property records
/filters:quality(90)/prod01/production-cdn-pxl/media/umassdartmouth/news/law/Law-Essex-County-Deeds-(1).png)
Three UMass Dartmouth School of Law (UMass Law) 2L students, Patrick Wilson, Adyen Artica, and Nathan Gudas, helped North Shore government officials verify approximately 200 property deeds containing racist or discriminatory language, contributing to a broader effort to clean "dirty deeds" in southern Essex County, as part of their legal internships at the Essex Registry of Deeds.
"This project extends beyond real estate into civil rights and public policy," said Essex County Register Eileen Duff. "The contributions of our three legal interns, Adyen, Patrick, and Nate from UMass Law were paramount in making this project a reality. In just one summer, they helped position our Registry at the forefront of addressing the discriminatory history embedded in property deeds. Their work now serves as a model for Registries nationwide, and we have already been contacted by another state eager to learn how we accomplished it."
The removal effort stems from a collaboration between Harborlight Homes and the North Shore NAACP, which uncovered about 600 such deeds using algorithmic searches and human verification. The Southern Essex Registry of Deeds recorded its first round of affidavits to remove "discriminatory restrictive covenants" from property deeds along the North Shore on July 21.
"While the language has been rendered unenforceable by policy and statute, the explicit removal of such language still functions as a marker of the history behind property rights in Massachusetts," said Gudas. "The removal aims to make groups targeted by the restrictive language more comfortable buying and living in homes in Essex County."
In Massachusetts, discriminatory covenants in deeds have been unenforceable for decades, but the language has often remained in place. In Southern Essex county, hundreds of deeds contained language forbidding certain races, religions, and ethnicities. A deed in Lynnfield noted that premises won’t be occupied by someone "not of the Caucasian race."
"It's important to acknowledge and create a change with these deeds," said Artica. "The language in these deeds restricted access to property for diverse groups, making this an issue of concern to society as a whole to realize, learn from, and move forward."
When Register Duff sought law students with a commitment to public service, UMass Law was a natural partner. The school requires every student to complete at least 30 hours of pro bono legal work to graduate, and Artica, Gudas, and Wilson chose to dedicate that time to the Registry's "dirty deeds" project — ultimately exceeding the requirement while gaining firsthand experience in how legal research can advance equity and justice.
"It was an honor to be a part of such an important project," said Wilson. "Growing up in Massachusetts, I had never known this was a part of our history. Register Duff and her office are making Southern Essex a better place to live for everyone, and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to spend my summer with the Registry."
As the only public law school in Massachusetts, service is a cornerstone of UMass Law's identity. This spring, the school completed over 250,000 hours of public service and pro bono work. U.S. News & World Report named UMass Law a top 25 law school in the nation for public interest law employment, and preLaw Magazine recognized UMass Law as a top school for practical training.
"I am really proud of the work our students did on this important project," said UMass Law Dean Sam Panarella. "Our public law school's mission is to Pursue Justice, and I cannot think of more fitting example of making good on that mission for the benefit of the Commonwealth."