BOSTON (AP) — The highest court in Massachusetts on Friday clarified protections in state law for homeowners facing foreclosure but said its ruling applies only to future foreclosures, disappointing some advocates who had hoped the closely watched decision would apply more broadly.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled in the case of a Boston woman who sued after Green Tree Servicing LL sold her house to Federal National Mortgage Association, Fannie Mae, at a foreclosure sale in 2010.