Condo Lawyer Massachusetts
Nearly 50 Years of Expert Condominium Counsel.
Marcus Condo Law provides expert legal counsel to condominium associations, property management companies, developers, lenders, insurers, and attorneys across Massachusetts and New England. Founded by Stephen Marcus — practicing condominium law since 1979, past president of the national College of Community Association Lawyers, and tri-chair of the CAI National Building Inspection Task Force convened after the Surfside collapse — the firm focuses on the matters where judgment based on deep experience in condo law is critical.
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Expert counsel for the people who run, build, and finance condominiums.
Marcus Condo Law works with a narrow set of clients — by design. The practice focuses on the matters where experience and judgment matter most: large associations, complex disputes, structural and insurance strategy, document amendments, and the kinds of decisions that impact everyone in a building.
01
Property Management Companies
Veteran condominium counsel your boards can rely on. We support property managers across the region on the matters that fall outside the day-to-day — major repairs, document amendments, insurance restructuring, lender eligibility, and difficult board decisions.
02
Condominium Associations (30+ Units)
Strategic legal counsel for the matters that affect every unit owner and resident. From document amendments and rule enforcement to capital projects, special assessments, and disputes with developers, we work with boards that need experienced judgment, not boilerplate.
03
Developers
Document drafting, conversion projects, turnover negotiations, and defect defense. We advise developers building condominium and mixed-use projects across Massachusetts, with particular depth on the issues that shape long-term liability and saleability.
04
Lenders & Insurers
Condominium lending eligibility, secondary market requirements, master policy review, and HO-6 strategy. Stephen has worked on these issues at the local, state and national levels — and brings that same depth to individual transactions and policy reviews.
05
Attorneys
Peer consulting and referral support on condominium matters. If you're a lawyer who's hit a condo question outside your usual practice area, we work with attorneys throughout New England as a expert consulting resource, a referral partner, and on co-counsel arrangements.
HOW WE HELP
Nearly 50 years of expert condominium counsel.
Condominium law is a specialty — like personal injury or medical malpractice. It sits at the intersection of state statutes (Chapter 183A in Massachusetts), the individual association's master deed and governing documents, federal lending and tax rules, and decades of case law that most general practitioners never touch. Marcus Condo Law focuses on three service areas where that specialty matters most.
Condo & HOA Law
General counsel and strategic advice for condominium associations and HOAs. Document review and amendments, rule enforcement, board governance, vendor disputes, special assessments, collections, and the full range of legal matters a community association faces over its lifetime.
Construction Defects & Structural Safety
Defect identification, developer claims, litigation strategy, and post-Surfside structural safety planning. Stephen was tri-chair of the CAI National Building Inspection Task Force convened after the infamous Champlain Towers collapse — and brings that experience to associations dealing with serious building issues today.
Condo Insurance
Master policies, HO-6 requirements, lender insurance requirements, fidelity bonds, deductible allocation, and the strategic decisions boards face when policies don't fit the building. There's no one-size-fits-all condominium insurance — and the wrong policy can affect mortgages, sales, and the financial health of every unit owner.
THE MARCUS DIFFERENCE
There are condo lawyers in Massachusetts. There are not many who helped shape what condominium law in Massachusetts actually is.
Stephen Marcus opened his condominium law practice in 1979 — when Chapter 183A was just over fifteen years old and very little of the statute had been tested in court. He has been practicing in this field for every meaningful chapter of its development.
Over nearly five decades, that experience has translated into national leadership. Stephen served as President of the College of Community Association Lawyers in 2015 and was honored in 2017 as only the fifth-ever recipient of the Don Buck Lifetime Contribution Award. He played a leading role in securing priority lien legislation for condominiums in Massachusetts in the early 1990s, helped shape federal bankruptcy and telecommunications law as it applies to condos, and most recently served as tri-chair of the CAI National Building Inspection Task Force — which produced the Condominium Safety Public Policy Report now informing legislation and best practices in states across the country.
What that means in practice: when a Marcus Condo Law client has a question, the answer doesn't come from one lawyer's experience. It comes from five decades of work, a national network of fellow condominium attorneys, engineers, and policy experts, and a working knowledge of how condominium law actually got built — including the parts that aren't written down yet.
That's the difference.
WHO WE REPRESENT
Marcus Condo Law works primarily with condominium associations of 30 units or more, property management companies, developers, lenders, insurers, and attorneys seeking condominium counsel. We do not typically represent individual unit owners, smaller associations, or landlord-tenant matters. If you're not sure whether the firm is the right fit for your situation, send a brief note and we'll be honest about whether we can help — or refer you to a trusted colleague who can.
FAQ
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What kinds of associations does Marcus Condo Law work with?
Primarily condominium associations of 30 units or more across Massachusetts and New England, along with the property management companies that serve them. We also advise developers, lenders, insurers, and attorneys on condominium matters.
Do you represent individual unit owners?
Generally no. The practice is built around association-level matters — board governance, document amendments, capital projects, insurance and lender compliance, and disputes that affect the building as a whole. Individual unit owner disputes and landlord-tenant matters are usually better served by other counsel, and we're glad to refer.
What's the difference between a condominium and an HOA in Massachusetts?
In Massachusetts, most multi-unit community associations are organized as condominium trusts under Chapter 183A. The term "HOA" (homeowners association) is more common in other states or for planned single-family developments. The underlying legal issues — governance, documents, enforcement, insurance — are largely the same.
What does "expert consulting" mean in practice?
It means we're typically the lawyer a property manager, a board, or another attorney calls when a routine question becomes a hard one. Examples include: document amendments that have to actually pass at a unit owner meeting, insurance programs that have to satisfy both lenders and the master deed or defect matters with serious dollars at stake. The kind of work where experience and judgment matters more than volume.
Where is Marcus Condo Law based?
The practice is based in Massachusetts and serves clients across Massachusetts and New England.
REQUEST A CONSULTATION
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For consultation requests, peer referrals, and inquiries from associations, property managers, developers, lenders, insurers, and attorneys.
Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Eastern). By appointment outside business hours.
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