Governor Baker’s Executive Order Assuring Continued Operation of Essential Services in the Commonwealth, Closing Certain Workplaces, and Prohibiting Gatherings of More Than 10 People
On March 23, 2020, Governor Baker issued
COVID-19 Order No. 13
, which encourages the continued operation of businesses during the state of emergency but orders the temporary closing of businesses that provide non-essential services and restricts the presence of staff at essential workplaces. The Order further prohibits gatherings of more than 10 people.
The order will go into effect at noon on Tuesday, March 24, and will remain in effect through noon on April 7, unless earlier modified or extended by the Governor.
The order sets out an extensive list of designated
COVID-19 Essential Services
.
Included among the list of essential services under Financial Services are “Workers who are needed to process and maintain systems for processing financial transactions and services (e.g., payment, clearing, and settlement; wholesale funding; insurance services; and capital markets activities).” Also included are “Professional services (such as legal and accounting services)…, when necessary to assist in compliance with legally mandated activities and critical sector services or where failure to provide such services during the time of the order would result in significant prejudice.”
The Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association has informed us that the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth has confirmed that the Registries of Deeds will remain open for recording.
Accordingly, taking all of these factors into consideration it is apparent that Real Estate Attorneys are considered “essential” under the Governor’s current Order.
CATIC will continue to monitor the situation and may send out updates as circumstances warrant. As always, our staff is ready to help you in any way that we can. Please
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