Massachusetts Statutes

Section 8. Any person, partnership, association or corporation, domestic or foreign, except employee cooperatives organized under chapter one hundred and fifty-seven A and co-operative banks and corporations organized under section ten, transacting business for profit in the comm…

Section 9. The fee for filing the articles of organization required by section three or three A or three B, including the issuing by the state secretary of the certificate of incorporation, shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of …

Section 1. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Employee Cooperative Corporations Act.

Section 10. (a) An internal capital account cooperative is an employee cooperative whose entire net book value is reflected in internal capital accounts, one for each member, and a collective reserve account, and in which no persons other than members own capital stock. In an int…

Section 11. (a) When any employee cooperative revokes its election in accordance with section four, the articles of amendment shall provide for conversion of membership shares and internal capital accounts or their conversion to securities or other property in a manner consistent…

Section 2. As used in this chapter the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings: ''Employee cooperative'', a corporation which has elected to be governed by the provisions of this chapter. ''Member'', a natural person who h…

Section 3. Any corporation organized under chapter 156D may elect to be governed as an employee cooperative under this chapter, by so stating in its articles of organization or articles of amendment filed in accordance with chapter 156B. A corporation so electing shall be governe…

Section 4. An employee cooperative may revoke its election under this chapter by a vote of two-thirds of the members and through articles of amendment filed in accordance with section seventy-two of said chapter one hundred and fifty-six B.

Section 5. An employee cooperative may include the word ''cooperative'' or ''co-op'' in its corporate name.

Section 6. (a) The articles of organization or the by-laws shall establish qualifications and the method of acceptance and termination of members. No person may be accepted as a member unless employed by the employee cooperative on a full time or part time basis. (b) An employee …

Section 7. (a) No capital stock other than membership shares shall be given voting power in an employee cooperative, except as otherwise provided in this chapter or in the articles of organization. (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of section seventeen of said chapter one hundre…

Section 8. (a) The net earnings or losses of an employee cooperative shall be apportioned and distributed at such times and in such manner as the articles of organization or by-laws shall specify. Net earnings declared as patronage allocations with respect to a period of time, an…

Section 9. (a) Any employee cooperative may establish through its articles of organization or by-laws a system of internal capital accounts, to reflect the book value and to determine the redemption price of membership shares, capital stock, and written notices of allocation. As …

Section 1. The purpose of this chapter is to foster safe, decent and affordable housing in the commonwealth by enabling individuals to form cooperative corporations for the purpose of developing, acquiring, owning, and operating multi-family housing on a cooperative plan.

Section 10. The articles or by-laws may provide: (a) for election of directors and other officials by unit or district; (b) for voting by stockholders on the basis of one vote per member or one vote per dwelling unit rather than one vote per share; (c) that any action required or…

Section 11. At least once a year the board of every cooperative corporation shall, after first setting aside an adequate portion of the net savings in a reserve fund for the general operation of the business, apportion the remainder of the net savings in one or more of the follow…

Section 12. A cooperative corporation may terminate all of its proprietary leases, but only by agreement of proprietary lessees holding at least 80 per cent of its stock or any larger percentage the specified in the articles or by-laws.

Section 13. Any financial institution organized under the laws of the commonwealth and supervised either by the commissioner of banks or the commissioner of insurance shall be authorized to make loans secured by a pledge of a proprietary lease and the appurtenant stock of a coope…

Section 2. This chapter applies to all cooperative corporations organized under it. Any corporation organized under any other chapter of the General Laws may become a cooperative corporation by adopting an amendment to its articles electing to become subject to this chapter and b…

Section 3. All cooperative corporations shall be subject to laws as may be enacted affecting or altering their corporate rights or duties or dissolving them.

Section 4. In this chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings:— ''board'', board of directors; ''by-laws'', the by-laws of a cooperative corporation as they exist from time to time; ''cooperative corporation'', a corporation organized or existing under this ch…

Section 5. The provisions of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B shall be applicable to cooperative corporations, and they shall enjoy the powers and privileges, and be subject to the duties, restrictions and liabilities of other corporations, except where inconsistent with the l…

Section 6. Three or more persons, residents of the commonwealth, may organize a cooperative corporation by filing articles of organization with the secretary of the commonwealth. The articles must meet the requirements of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B, and, in addition, sha…

Section 7. The name of each cooperative corporation must comply with the provisions of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B and, in addition, must contain the word ''cooperative''.

Section 8. Any person, partnership, association or corporation, domestic or foreign, except cooperative banks and corporations organized under chapter one hundred and fifty-seven, transacting business in the commonwealth under any name or title containing the word ''cooperative''…

Section 9. The power to make, amend or repeal by-laws shall be reserved to the stockholders.

Section 1. The provisions of this chapter, unless expressly limited in their application, and except so far as they are inconsistent with other provisions of law relative to particular corporations or classes of corporations, or with the provisions of special laws, shall apply to…

Section 10. A corporation may in its corporate name purchase, hold and convey real and personal property necessary for the purposes of its organization; may carry on its business, or so much thereof as is convenient, beyond the limits of this commonwealth, and may there purchase …

Section 11. A corporation may, by a vote of all its stockholders at a meeting duly called for the purpose, alter, add to or change the business for the transaction of which it was incorporated, but it shall not engage in any business which is not authorized by law. A certificate …

Section 12. Corporations organized for the purpose of transporting the United States mail, merchandise and other articles by means of pneumatic pressure or power, corporations engaged in or organized for the purpose of manufacturing, buying, selling, distributing or dealing in ar…

Section 13. If a person who is injured in his person or property by a defect in a highway which is caused by the operations of a company or corporation described in the preceding section in laying down or repairing its pipes or otherwise obstructing such way recovers damages ther…

Section 14. The aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town in which pipes or conductors of such company or corporation are sunk may regulate, restrict and control all acts and doings of such company or corporation which may in any manner affect the health, safety, convenience …

Section 15. A corporation which is organized for the purpose of opening outlets, canals, sluiceways or ditches for the introduction and propagation of herrings and alewives, before making any purchase of real estate or doing any acts in pursuance of its organization, shall obtain…

Section 16. If a corporation which has a franchise in and the use of the public streets of a town for the supply and distribution of gas, water, electric light or power, or for the maintenance of communication by wire or otherwise, holds for a longer period than six months money …

Section 17. As herein used, ''bank'' shall mean any bank as defined in section one of chapter one hundred and sixty-seven, any national banking association doing business in the commonwealth and any domestic corporation organized under general or special laws of the commonwealth …

Section 18. The business of every corporation shall be managed and conducted by a president, a board of not less than three directors, a clerk, treasurer and such other officers and agents as the corporation authorizes for that purpose. The directors shall choose one of their num…

Section 19. The directors, clerk and treasurer shall be chosen annually by the stockholders by ballot, and shall hold office for one year and until others are chosen and qualified in their stead. The manner of choosing or appointing all other agents and officers, and of filling a…

Section 2. Any persons, to the number hereinafter provided, who associate themselves by a written agreement hereinafter described with the intention of forming a corporation for any purpose permitted under section one, upon complying with section nine, shall be and remain a corpo…

Section 20. The clerk shall be sworn, shall record all votes in a book to be kept for that purpose and shall perform all other duties assigned to him. The treasurer shall give bond for the faithful performance of his duty in such sum and with such sureties as shall be required by…

Section 21. Every stockholder shall be entitled to a certificate of his stock, sealed with the seal of the corporation and signed by its treasurer or assistant treasurer and such other officer as the by-laws may designate.

Section 22. In case of the loss of a certificate, a duplicate certificate may be issued upon such reasonable terms as the directors shall prescribe.

Section 23. The amount of the capital stock of every corporation established by special charter shall, at the first meeting of the corporation, unless the charter otherwise provides, be fixed and limited by the corporation and divided into shares, of which a record shall be made …

Section 24. Every corporation, unless otherwise expressly provided, at a meeting called for the purpose, may increase or reduce the amount of its capital stock and the number of shares therein, within the amount limited by its charter, if a chartered corporation, and by the provi…

Section 25. A corporation may, by a vote of three fourths of its general stockholders at a meeting duly called for the purpose, issue special stock, the total amount of which outstanding at any time shall not exceed two fifths of the actual capital paid in on the general and spec…

Section 26. A corporation may, by a vote of its general stockholders at a meeting called for the purpose, issue employees' stock to be held only by the employees of such corporation. The par value of the shares of such employees' stock shall be ten dollars, and the purchasers the…

Section 27. If a dividend is paid by a corporation to its stockholders, the holders of employees' stock shall receive upon each share which has been paid for in full in time to be entitled to a dividend, an amount which shall bear such proportion to the amount paid as a dividend …