Massachusetts Statutes

Section 31. The treasurer shall give notice of the time and place appointed for such sale, and of the amount due on each share, by advertising the same three weeks successively before the sale in a newspaper, published in the county where the corporation is established; and an as…

Section 32. A corporation shall not begin business until the whole amount of its capital stock has been paid in and a certificate of that fact, and of the manner in which the same has been paid in and, at the time of making the certificate, been invested or voted by the corporati…

Section 33. The capital stock, except as provided in this section, shall be paid in in cash. The conveyance to the corporation of real or personal property at a fair valuation shall be a sufficient paying in of its capital stock to the extent of such value, if a statement, made, …

Section 34. Absent stockholders may vote at all meetings by proxy, authorized in writing, which shall be executed and dated within six months previous to the meeting at which it is used.

Section 35. Every corporation may determine by its by-laws what number of stockholders shall attend, either in person or by proxy, or what number of shares or amount of interest shall be represented at any meeting, to constitute a quorum. If the quorum is not so determined, a maj…

Section 36. If doubts arise as to the legality of the organization of any corporation created by special charter for a purpose mentioned in this chapter, which is in the exercise of its franchise, or as to the regularity or sufficiency of the proceedings of any such corporation, …

Section 37. Every corporation shall annually file in the office of the state secretary, within thirty days after the date fixed in its by-laws for its annual meeting, or within thirty days after the final adjournment thereof, but not more than three months after the date so fixed…

Section 38. If a corporation fails for two successive years to file such annual certificate, the supreme judicial court, upon application by the secretary, after notice and a hearing, may decree a dissolution of the corporation.

Section 39. A corporation shall, upon an increase of its capital stock, within thirty days after the payment or collection of the last instalment thereof, file a certificate of the amount of such increase and the fact of such payment, signed and sworn to by its president or vice …

Section 4. For the purpose of carrying on any other lawful business for which corporations may be formed under this chapter, three or more persons may associate themselves, with a capital of not less than one thousand dollars. The capital of such companies other than gas and elec…

Section 40. A corporation shall, within thirty days after a reduction of its capital stock is voted, file in the office of the state secretary and also, if the corporation is subject to chapter one hundred and sixty-four, in the office of the department of telecommunications and …

Section 41. The certificate or copy which is required by section eleven, fifteen, thirty-two, thirty-seven, thirty-nine or forty to be filed shall, before filing, be submitted to the secretary, who shall examine the same; and if it appears to him to be a sufficient compliance in …

Section 42. A corporation which omits to file any certificate or copy which is required by section thirty-seven, thirty-nine or forty shall forfeit two hundred dollars, to be recovered in an action of tort brought in the name of the commonwealth in Suffolk county or in the county…

Section 43. The fees for filing certificates and copies of votes required to be filed with the state secretary shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven for the following: Of Organization.—The certif…

Section 44. The officers of a corporation shall be jointly and severally liable for its debts and contracts in the following cases, and not otherwise: The president and directors shall be so liable— First, For making or consenting to a dividend if the corporation is or thereby is…

Section 45. The members or stockholders in any corporation shall be jointly and severally liable for its debts or contracts in the following cases, and not otherwise: First, For such as may be contracted before the original capital is fully paid in; but only those stockholders wh…

Section 46. A stockholder or officer in a corporation shall not be held liable for its debts or contracts unless a judgment has been recovered against it and it has neglected for thirty days after demand made on execution to pay the amount due, with the officer's fees, or to exhi…

Section 47. The clerk or other officer who has charge of the records of a corporation against which judgment has been so recovered and execution so issued and returned unsatisfied, upon reasonable request of the judgment creditor or of his attorney, shall furnish to him a certifi…

Section 48. If an officer unreasonably refuses to give the certified list mentioned in the preceding section or wilfully gives a false list, he shall be liable to the judgment creditor for double the amount of all damages occasioned by such refusal or false list.

Section 49. After the execution has been returned unsatisfied, any creditor may file a bill in equity, in behalf of himself and all other creditors of the corporation, against it and all persons who were stockholders therein at the time of the commencement of the suit in which su…

Section 5. The agreement of association shall state that the subscribers thereto associate themselves with the intention of forming a corporation, the corporate name assumed, the purpose for which it is formed, the town, which shall be in this commonwealth, where it is establishe…

Section 50. Such sums as may be decreed to be paid by the stockholders in such suit in equity shall be assessed upon them in proportion to the amounts of stock held by them respectively at the time when the suit in which said judgment was recovered was begun; but no stockholder s…

Section 51. If a defendant dies during the pendency of such a suit in equity, it shall not abate thereby; but his estate in the hands of his executor or administrator shall be liable to the same extent as he would be if living. Such executor or administrator may voluntarily appea…

Section 52. Such suit in equity shall not be dismissed by the plaintiff without an order of court and such notice to other creditors as the court may find reasonable under the circumstances.

Section 53. No such suit in equity shall be abated by reason of the non-joinder of persons liable as defendants unless the plaintiff, after being notified by plea or answer of the existence of such persons, unreasonably neglects to make them parties.

Section 54. If, in an action against a corporation, it appears to the court that one of the objects of the action is to obtain a judgment against the corporation in order to enforce an alleged liability of a person who has been or is a stockholder or officer thereof, any such per…

Section 6. The first meeting shall be called and record made as provided in section eight of chapter one hundred and fifty-six.

Section 7. The subscribers to the agreement of association shall hold the franchise until the organization has been completed; and, unless it is otherwise provided in such agreement, each subscriber who elects to take such shares at the first meeting may take such proportion of t…

Section 8. At such first meeting, or at any adjournment thereof, the incorporators shall organize as provided in section nine of chapter one hundred and fifty-six.

Section 9. The president, treasurer and a majority of the directors shall forthwith make, sign and swear to a certificate setting forth a true copy of the agreement of association with the names of the subscribers thereto, the date of the first meeting and the successive adjournm…

Section 1. Every common carrier of merchandise or other property shall receive, transport and forward all property offered for such purposes by other such carriers as promptly, faithfully and impartially, at as low rates of charge, and in a manner and on terms and conditions as f…

Section 10. The department of telecommunications and cable shall enforce this chapter to the extent that it relates to telecommunications. The department of public utilities shall enforce all other provisions.

Section 100. Such action shall not be maintained unless begun within sixty days after the plaintiff ceased to perform such labor or to furnish such materials.

Section 101. (a) Whoever fraudulently evades or attempts to evade the payment of a fare lawfully established by a railroad corporation or railway company, either by giving a false answer to the collector of the fare, by traveling beyond the point to which the person has paid the …

Section 102. No railroad corporation or railway company or any officer or employee thereof shall use or deposit a torpedo or other explosive upon or near the tracks of any railroad or railway for the purpose of signaling or otherwise, unless there is plainly and conspicuously sta…

Section 103. Whoever unlawfully and intentionally injures, molests or destroys any signal of a railroad corporation or railway company, or any line, wire, post or other structure or mechanism used in connection with such signal, or prevents or in any way interferes with the prope…

Section 104. Whoever wilfully throws or shoots a missile at a locomotive engine, or railroad or railway car or train, or at a motor bus or trackless trolley vehicle, or at a school bus, or at a person on such engine, car, train, motor bus or trackless trolley vehicle, or school b…

Section 105. The jurisdiction, powers, authority and discretion delegated to the department by sections ten to twenty-six, inclusive, of this chapter and section one hundred and eighty-five of chapter one hundred and sixty shall not be limited by other provisions of law contained…

Section 11. Every vote, recommendation and order of the department relative to common carriers shall be entered of record.

Section 12. The department shall, so far as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of law relative thereto, have general supervision and regulation of, and jurisdiction and control over, the following services, when furnished or rendered for public use wi…

Section 12E. (a) (1) A company that provides third party verification services pursuant to section 109 of chapter 93 shall apply for registration with the department. (2) The department shall allow a company to register as a third party verification service provider only if it: (…

Section 13. The department may inquire into the rates, charges, regulations, practices, equipment and services of common carriers in this commonwealth, and elsewhere, rendering any service of a kind subject to its jurisdiction.

Section 14. Whenever the department shall be of opinion, after a hearing had upon its own motion or upon complaint, that any of the rates, fares or charges of any common carrier for any services to be performed within the commonwealth, or the regulations or practices of such comm…

Section 15. Except as provided by section two hundred of chapter one hundred and sixty, no common carrier shall, directly or indirectly, issue or give any free service, free tickets, free pass or free transportation for passengers or property between points within the commonwealt…

Section 16. If the department is of opinion, after a hearing had upon its own motion or upon complaint, that the regulations, practices, equipment, appliances or service of any common carrier are unjust, unreasonable, unsafe, improper or inadequate, the department shall determine…

Section 16A. The department before authorizing any railroad to discontinue or abandon any of its lines, stations or other service, may consider, in addition to other facts, the revenues of said railroad from all sources.